Quantae "Elder Que" Ragin-Duncan,
Founder of Healing the Broken Minds (HTBM)
Founder of Healing the Broken Minds (HTBM)
My Story |
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If you're anything like me, you want to know who is she and what gives her the right to discuss this topic and so on. Well, let me tell you a little about myself.
I am a wife and a mother of two sons. I am currently an Associate Minister and an Evangelist. In 2000, I lost my mother, I was 24 years old. I gained custody of my three younger sisters and raised them as my own. I battled with suicidal thoughts and panic attacks during this time,but I did not know what was wrong with me. I self-medicated and gained some control of my life. 7 years later, I had a car accident while 9 months pregnant with my oldest son, I was sitting at a traffic light and a car and a truck ran into me, head on. Thankfully, by the grace of God, I was physically fine, but mentally it triggered memories of several accidents that I had had in the pass. I began having anxiety attacks and went to two different therapist, but the medications that they gave me, seem to make it worse and neither one could help me get to the root of my problem. I was a new mother, with a beautiful new baby, but I was depressed and anxious about everything. This was not postpartum depression. I began again to try to deal with it on my own. It got worse. By the time I had my second child in 2011, I could not even sleep. The OBGYN had to prescribe me medicine to help me sleep. On top of this, I was in a very stressful and demanding job, a full time student in a PhD program, evangelizing, a wife and mother. My mind began to shut down. I got in my car one morning and felt a paralyzing fear. I was afraid to drive to work, I was absolutely certain that I would drive off the road into a ditch or something. I could not shake this fear. I began having severe panic attacks whenever I drove. It was a struggle to go to bed because all I could think about was having to drive the next day. I began taking Benadryl to go to sleep at night, of course the made the anxiety worse. It affected every area of my life. I couldn't sleep, I had no patience with my family, it was hard to focus or concentrate at work. I felt like my life was falling a part and I had no control. This went on for a few years. I didn't know where to turn. I couldn't seem to express verbally what I experiencing, so it was hard to explain it to anyone. On top of that, the fear of judgement was so strong that I just thought that it was better to suffer through it. I prayed, I fasted, I read my Bible, I cried out to God. I wondered, why isn't God hearing me? But he did. Finally, I heard of a local therapist through a conversation with a client on my job. I scheduled an appointment. After my first session, I felt like it was divine intervention. I had finally found someone who could help me, God was really listening. To make a long story short, my healing process began and I have not looked back. I am not where I would like to be, but I am so far from where I used to be. I do drive and I don't feel the same fear, although I still have some issues, I am much better than I used to be. Gradually, God is bringing me to a place of healing and that is what has motivated me to help others who may be experiencing what I have gone through. I may not know all of the answers, but I will share with you what I do know and together we can take the journey to heal our broken minds.
I am a wife and a mother of two sons. I am currently an Associate Minister and an Evangelist. In 2000, I lost my mother, I was 24 years old. I gained custody of my three younger sisters and raised them as my own. I battled with suicidal thoughts and panic attacks during this time,but I did not know what was wrong with me. I self-medicated and gained some control of my life. 7 years later, I had a car accident while 9 months pregnant with my oldest son, I was sitting at a traffic light and a car and a truck ran into me, head on. Thankfully, by the grace of God, I was physically fine, but mentally it triggered memories of several accidents that I had had in the pass. I began having anxiety attacks and went to two different therapist, but the medications that they gave me, seem to make it worse and neither one could help me get to the root of my problem. I was a new mother, with a beautiful new baby, but I was depressed and anxious about everything. This was not postpartum depression. I began again to try to deal with it on my own. It got worse. By the time I had my second child in 2011, I could not even sleep. The OBGYN had to prescribe me medicine to help me sleep. On top of this, I was in a very stressful and demanding job, a full time student in a PhD program, evangelizing, a wife and mother. My mind began to shut down. I got in my car one morning and felt a paralyzing fear. I was afraid to drive to work, I was absolutely certain that I would drive off the road into a ditch or something. I could not shake this fear. I began having severe panic attacks whenever I drove. It was a struggle to go to bed because all I could think about was having to drive the next day. I began taking Benadryl to go to sleep at night, of course the made the anxiety worse. It affected every area of my life. I couldn't sleep, I had no patience with my family, it was hard to focus or concentrate at work. I felt like my life was falling a part and I had no control. This went on for a few years. I didn't know where to turn. I couldn't seem to express verbally what I experiencing, so it was hard to explain it to anyone. On top of that, the fear of judgement was so strong that I just thought that it was better to suffer through it. I prayed, I fasted, I read my Bible, I cried out to God. I wondered, why isn't God hearing me? But he did. Finally, I heard of a local therapist through a conversation with a client on my job. I scheduled an appointment. After my first session, I felt like it was divine intervention. I had finally found someone who could help me, God was really listening. To make a long story short, my healing process began and I have not looked back. I am not where I would like to be, but I am so far from where I used to be. I do drive and I don't feel the same fear, although I still have some issues, I am much better than I used to be. Gradually, God is bringing me to a place of healing and that is what has motivated me to help others who may be experiencing what I have gone through. I may not know all of the answers, but I will share with you what I do know and together we can take the journey to heal our broken minds.
Everyday has a different story, try to smile anyway ....