Our Stories

EZ: Steps to Managing My Anger , Age: 19

How did it all start? When did you first start experiencing symptoms or using?

Well, I didn’t consider it mental health; I just thought I had a short temper. I was like 3 years old when I got into my first fight and I tried to stab a kid in the neck with a pen. I’ve been in and out of Anger Management since 3 years old.

What kind of help did you get at first? Did it work?

I was 16. That’s when I first went in the hospital in Hartford. I was there for like my whole summer learning ways to control my anger. At that time I was still having issues with my family. I thought it was better but then I went to the hospital, and that just made me feel worse. But then after a while I started to realize it was worth it. I was in Waterford Country School, a residential school; they taught me different ways of controlling my anger.

Were there any turning points where things really started to change for the better?

What got me really to realize it was when I was homeless. That really got me to notice that I really need the help, and when me and my girlfriend broke up, that really…’cause she’s the one who told me that I have a bad temper and stuff like that, and I need to learn how to control it. I never listened to her until I lost her, and that’s when I was like “yeah, I really need the help.”

What’s your life like now? What have you been able to accomplish, and what are you working towards?

Back then I didn’t think anything of it, but then I started noticing what triggers my anger and all that. I can’t talk to my family about it because nobody in my family would understand. And nobody in my family takes me seriously. . So instead I always wrote everything down as poetry. Poetry and staying out of the house, finding ways to keep busy going to my neighbor’s house and watching TV with them; all those things really helped.