Childhood

In my  case, it was  a childhood trauma.  Because  that trauma wasn’t  properly acknowledged,  it  festered and grew into several mental  illnesses  that  I  now  combat  daily.  In  my  first  book,  Guess What’s  in my Purse:  Thriving  with  Mental  Illness, I go into detail  about  the trauma  that  occurred  along  with  the  illnesses I struggle  with: posttraumatic  stress disorder  (PTSD),  bipolar  I and  manic depression, and cluster  B personality disorder  with a combination of  narcissism and antisocial personality  disorders. Each  of  these was  triggered by various circumstances in my  life, all  stemming from a need to be loved  by my mother, my childhood rape, and the  demands from my mother to be completely silent.