At the age of 37, writer Stephanie Schroeder was diagnosed with bipolar disorder following two suicide attempts and a psychotic break. However, it wasn't until her third psychotic break landed her in a locked hospital ward that the breakthrough started to take form. Unfortunately, the hospital where Stephanie was being treated released her and didn't follow up on the psychotherapy and psychiatric services promised to her because her income was too high to qualify for outpatient care. The reality was her work was freelance, she was unemployed and barely getting by. Her anger toward the healthcare system that failed her fueled and jumpstarted her recovery, inspiring her to become a mental health advocate.

"I decided not to be a victim of the mental health care system and instead became a supercharged mental health advocate for myself, and, eventually, for others. That's when I knew I could be okay. And I also knew not only would I survive, but I would thrive," she says.

Today, she encourages others through her writing, and at the age of 53, has learned not to be so hard on herself and take each day as it comes.

Image via Stephanie Schroeder

When you make the choice to seek help, the first direction most talk therapy goes in is backwards. Specifically, to your childhood and young adulthood, helping you to understand why you might believe the things that you do, based on how you were raised and the experiences you had in your youth. And even if you were raised by wonderful parents, learning to separate what you were taught from what you believe in your gut can be a difficult process. Through her recovery process from bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder, Debbie Jacobs says she learned how to reprogram herself and alleviate negative thinking, which, she notes, is the "root of anxiety and depression."

"Using positive affirmations and reprogramming my subconscious mind help changed my thoughts from negative to positive. This mindset work helped me to overcome depression, anxiety and PSTD. This was the process of learning how to control my thoughts and choose the thoughts I think. I no longer allow thoughts that don't serve me to ruminate through my mind," she says. "My thoughts love, support and encourage me, and if they don't, they are not welcome in my mind. My commitment to my recovery and happiness is to be vigilant of my thoughts and to use effective coping skills that best serve my well-being and happiness."

Image via Debbie Jacobs

It wasn't until an incredibly scary experience that author Allison Williford finally had a name for what was going on in her mind. She attempted suicide and was put into the hospital, where she was officially diagnosed with type 1 bipolar disorder. "Being able to finally put a name to the total chaos that had been going on in my mind gave me the power to fight it," she explains. "I see the day of my suicide attempt, August 19, 2008, like the chasm between the former chaos and my road to recovery."

What's helped the most to manage her illness and live a happy life? Though she's been through two additional hospitalizations since 2008, she's now able to ask for what she needs, a shift that's helped her accept and work through her darker days. Additionally, Allison received electroconvulsive shock therapy, a controversial practice that, for some, is the golden ticket to feeling better. Since Allison's experience with medicine started to destroy her thyroid and shut down her kidney, ETC therapy has been what she calls the "mainstay" in keeping her healthy, along with some "kickass" psychiatrists.

Image via Allison Williford

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