When Cynthia S. was diagnosed with schizoaffective bipolar disorder, she was terrified. Though she had been struggling for some time, the official diagnosis was a difficult pill to swallow, and the road to feeling better proved to be bumpier than she first imagined.

Her therapist suggested support groups, but after attending a few, Cynthia felt hopeless, scared that she wouldn't be able to find a community that gave her the guidance she craved. Thanks to a little luck, she discovered the National Alliance of Mental Illness, and suddenly the silver lining appeared from behind the clouds. "From the moment I walked in, I thought, 'Wow! Thank you, Lord, I am home. This is my family,'" she shares. "I found total acceptance -- of both my illness and myself -- and felt more hopeful than ever before. It changed my life forever because it got me around people who understand me." Now, Cynthia volunteers with NAMI-NYC, helping to give back to those who were once in her shoes.

Image via Cynthia S

Dawn Daum grew up in a dysfunctional, abusive household. With a history of mental illness on both sides of her genetic pool, she knew she was conditioned to have symptoms herself, and fought through feelings of depression and anxiety in her 20s. But when she became a mother, her condition worsened and the coping skills she had developed weren't working anymore. Suddenly, she was experiencing flashbacks to childhood traumas and intense panic attacks. Over time and with therapy, she realized she wasn't just experiencing postpartum depression but post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

"The turning point for me in getting my recovery back on track was the realization that it was basic acts of parenting -- showing and giving affection, disciplining, bathing, diapering -- that were triggering me. I began to understand that the triggers were the key in getting through this, because they offered me clues into the parts of myself that still needed healing. I realized that in raising my children, I needed to be gentle with the concept of re-raising myself," she explains.

Today, she is a founding member of the annual #FacesofPTSD social media campaign, which raises awareness for trauma survivors living with PTSD.

Image via Dawn Daum

When Stephanie McDonald, a recruiting consultant, realized that her family and friends were keeping secrets from her because they couldn't manage her anxious reactions, she started to wonder if something was wrong. It wasn't just sad personal information, like a family member falling sick or a friend facing a miscarriage, that they were keeping from her, but local news broadcasts that might upset her, too.

Her conversation with her physician about it was eye-opening. "He told me that I'm more concerned about my health and dying than terminal cancer patients are," she says. After that doctor's visit, she was prescribed medicine for severe anxiety and psychological treatment. Over time, she developing coping mechanisms that she puts in place when she knows her anxiety might be triggered -- like when she has a big client meeting or is attending a large social gathering.

"Imagining things going right (versus my typical process of imagining every scenario that could go wrong) has been particularly helpful," says McDonald. "Keeping on top of details, deadlines and staying busy keeps my mind from assuming the worst. Now, I spend much more time enjoying life in the moment versus imagining how things are going to go wrong. It's a much more pleasant place to live."

Image via Stephanie McDonald

Even though Tiffany Yelverton considers herself successful -- she owns a house and business, and does what she loves -- her internal struggles have been far worse than her external persona lets on. Describing herself as a "tortured soul," Tiffany says that when she went to therapy for clinical depression for the first time in her 20s, she was shocked to hear that "thinking about suicide isn't a normal thing."

She went on to try several antidepressants, in addition to therapy, to balance the chemicals in her brain. For several years, this proved ineffective for her, eventually pushing her to a critical moment. "I was so low that I literally looked at my boss and said, 'I need to go to my doctor right now.' I was at a breaking point, ready to give up and do myself in," she explains. That day, her doctor gave her a sample of Cymbalta, which Tiffany now calls a 'light switch.' "I thought, So this is how most people feel. This is amazing!' It was a clearing,'"

Now, to manage her symptoms, she takes a combination of prescriptions, sees a therapist and a life coach who uses the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) -- a form of emotional acupuncture -- to combat negative feelings.

Image via Tiffany Yelverton