JOIN OUR ONLINE PEER SUPPORT COMMUNITY Schizophrenia Peer Support Community: www.schizophreniapeersupport.com General Mental Illness Peer Support Community: www.onlinepeersupport.com

I also want to praise the way you empower the viewer. Usually advice comes with "don't do this to yourself" or "you're addicted, addiction is bad" or "this isn't healthy and needs to stop". Which is all well and good, but I feel "your coping mechanisms are yours to evaluate and re-evaluate as needed" and "think of how to make your life better in the long term" are more helpful pieces of advice. It is very empowering. I'm rambling today, sorry. Thank you

Saturday will be one year alcohol free! This channel has been a blessing. Thank you.

ive seen things, heard things, and believed abnormal things since a kid. i first smoked weed when i was 13. at 14, i had a very bad trip. i blacked out, and woke up shaking. i thought i was dead and had to ask repeatedly if i was alive still. later on that year, i started to have these episodes. i would see little things like smoke and bugs. i would hear things like phones vibrating or ringing. it progressed into voices, shadows, heavy breathing, whispering, etc. i have a wide range of psychotic disorders in my family. before you smoke, please check your family history!

The biggest addiction I quit, crystal meth, 11 years ago. There’s a million tips that I learned through years of trying to quit. Don’t give up. Learn to listen to the right people, harm reduction, AA, CA, DRA all learning forums. One more time will never be enough so never fall for that. I’m currently battling horse racing addiction and this video was helpful

5 yrs ago quit smoking, 3 weeks ago quit alcohol. :)

The way you said "good for you for finding something to keep you alive"... wow. This lack of judgement is exactly what we need more of.

I developed an eating disorder when I was 11 years old that was very much tied into my OCD. I finally recovered in 2014 and felt great! About two years later I developed symptoms of psychosis and mood swings and was eventually diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. While trying to cope with the psychosis I slowly made my way back to controlling food and relapsed with anorexia. While I was in and out of hospitals the eating disorder became entangled with the psychosis and I had a hard time trying to recover ultimately from both the anorexia and schizoaffective disorder. When I finally went into residential treatment the treatment team focused on both issues and started me on an IM of an antipsychotic. Wonderful things started to happen with both diagnosis's and I slowly became more clear mentally without the psychosis and was able to also recover from my eating disorder once again in 2018. I'm so glad you shared your story because there are so many people out there struggling with the same things and need to know they aren't alone. Thank you!

Thank you for sharing your experiences. You’re an amazing woman and your strength is admirable. God bless you

My addiction was religion. Now that I've developed healthy coping mechanisms, I have learned to put religion aside and live my life in the moment. Thanks for the wonderful video!

This channel has quickly become one of my favorites not only as a person interested in mental health but also as a medical student. Thank you so much for this education.

Lauren I don't know anyone with schizophrenia but I love your content, how you naturalize mental issues (just part of the human condition!!), your calm poised manner is very inspiring, what you've been through and how you live. For example I'm very interested in the content relating to motherhood. Anyhow, my point is that you guys' work is phenomenal and we need more content like this: open, informative, non judgemental, insightful. Love this channel!

Don’t ever stop making these videos, I love them, I suffer from psychosis and these videos get me through the day!!!

Thank you 🙏🏼 thank you 🙏🏼. My oldest brother has schizophrenia but refuses to admit it to himself and refuses to take meds. He says he doesn’t need them but sees hallucinations and hears voices and even says he hears things over his phone. He is now living on the streets and refuses to move out of state where I am. I have been forwarding your videos to him in the hopes that he won’t feel shame in being sick. I just love him and it kills me that I can’t help him. 😭😢

Thank you for being honest. Nothing to be embarrassed about truly, The only people that would judge are not people that are worth our time.

Lauren youre so strong and courageous for sharing your experiences. My girlfriend has schizophrenia and shes addicted again after a year without smoking and your videos help me a lot to understand and deal with it all so I can do my best to help her. Thank you so much, God bless you❤

Woah! A brand new video by this gorgeous and well educated woman. I am a trained psychologist and I learn a lot from you. Thank you for giving so much support to people being in contact with psychosis/schizophrenia the one or the other ways.

thank you for this video. I'm a recovering poly-substance addict with SZA and getting pregnant with my angel baby saved my life. I find with schizophrenia and other related disorders its so hard to NOT use a maladaptive coping mechanism to try to escape your own brain. thanks for your vulnerability, Lauren.

I’ve struggled with spending. What has helped me is to say to myself is this a want or a need. When I’m feeling down the shopping has definitely given that rush. But it doesn’t last. Coping is everything.

Thanks for sharing! Love your content! I'm schizoaffective bipolar type and weed addiction had me in its grip for decades. Lately it's been under control, I haven't had weed in months. Coming off of weed made my paranoia skyrocket for a couple of weeks. Hopefully I can stay away from it forever.

No shame in anything done to survive, my dear. You are such an inspiration. Both my sons use alcohol and marijuana to manage the discomfort of suffering from their severe mood disorders and it breaks my heart.

I am a recovering drug addict as well. I've been sober for quite some time and am incredibly grateful as a result. Thank you so so much for your empathy and honesty. You are an incredibly lovely human being- keep doing what you're doing.❤❤❤❤

I find, for me anyway, that anxiety will lead to a strong desire to control ones environment, and that can come in many forms, and that desire to control ones environment can easily become an addiction. The paradox is that the more I try to control my environment, the more it leads to increased anxiety. I think this is because it lulls you into a false sense of control, and when things really do go wrong, it results in a total mental breakdown.

Oh man...I'm not crying, you're crying! Thank you for sharing. You are very strong and I am in awe of your clarity with such a heavy burden. Hope you are feeling well! Much love to you, Lauren 💜

You are heroically honest. Thank you for sharing. It is so hard to make ourselves vulnerable.

You are so strong, you inspire me to try to be more open about my issues. Thank you for your courage!

I struggle with mental illness. Your channel is very helpful and comforting. Your channel helps me feel not alone. Thanks for sharing. I’ve dealt with addiction (Ritalin, opiates, alcohol in my past. How I got through it was because I wanted to like myself when I looked in the mirror again. I am on medications that help deal with my anxiety, depression, and at times psychosis) my mental illness started at about 17 and it seem like it happened all of a sudden because one day I was in a mall with my sister and all of a sudden I was afraid of being around people. I’m 65 now and I would encourage anyone struggling with any kind of mental illness there is hope💗

What I had gotten from one of my counselors was you never really get rid of an addiction. It just changes form. You mitigate it as best you can and move it to something less damaging, but it is an aspect of yourself that's always there. Might as well make peace with it. Change of environment can help to adopt better behaviors.

Thank you for these videos I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder a year ago at the age of 16 and although I am on a good treatment regimen ; I still struggle with acceptance of my diagnosis. Its people like you who don't allow the stereotypes to define others and themselves I appreciate your videos and its nice to be able to relate to someone.

Lauren, thank you so much for sharing this. It was obviously very hard on you. It is greatly, greatly helpful. I have issues with impulse control (the dopamine hit thing, probably stemming from ADHD), as well as body image issues. Both lead to self-loathing and the more sneaky kind of shame for even falling prey to body image issues in a world where "your body is your temple". Thank you for talking about this. It shouldn't be something to feel shame over.

You continously amaze me with how well you articulate your thoughts on these topics, and how open you’ve been with your journey. Thank you

I don't have schizophrenia but recently went into a psych ward for a night and diagnosed with Bpd or eupd. I met mainly scitzophreniacs in the ward and was pleasantly surprised. Lovely people and my heart really goes out to you all dealing with hullicinations and voices. I know myself that anxiety and depression is terrifying in itself and I couldn't imagine hearing or seeing things people can't see. :( I truly hope we all get well and live healthy lives. Life is a blessing and I hope you understand all of us dealing with mental illness are living with the stigma around it and together we can break it ❤️

Lauren- Thank you for your honesty and courage. I really appreciate your perspective.

I rarely comment on youtube but I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your personal struggle with the disease of addiction publicly. That’s some courage you have to face the world so openly. I have struggled with mental health problems since childhood and to self medicate I used substances to disconnect from reality and numb the pain. I have only recently come to terms with the fact my body’s response to drugs makes me go into psychosis and have psychotic symptoms. I’m just finally getting off anti-psychotics after 4 years of struggling with the aftermath of long term substance abuse. Drugs did not help, it made my problems much worse. All the best with your journey in life, your content has helped me a lot. Thanks.

I am so glad that you decided to talk about addiction. It has such a high co:morbidity rate with so many other mental illnesses. Alcohol, for example, seems to be “justified” with our society as a way to let off steam or deal with the crazy work week. I have struggled with severe anorexia for most of my life, including many hospital stays. While I have turned a corner now, I was also struggling with bipolar disorder, which was never diagnosed at the same time. I cannot tell you what a relief I feel being able to talk about this. It is awful to feel so out of control and suicidal in the past. I do not know how I survived, but here I am! I struggle, but with my med. and therapy I want to live again! Thank you for your channel. Sending you all love and light!!! 🙏❤️🕯🕊😇🌈

I really appreciate you exploring the fact that a myriad of things can become an addiction or a maladaptive coping strategy. My life was ravaged by a partner's pornography addiction. But when I tried to talk to others about it, several have said, "pornography use isn't an addiction!!!" It was incredibly invalidating. Just because pornography use is normalized doesn't mean it can't be an addiction. Thank you 💕

Thank you for sharing! Found this very helpful. As a daughter of someone who continues to survive with schizoaffective disorder, some of the maladaptive coping mechanisms that you mentioned I have found myself to use to an extent. It’s refreshing to see them being discussed in an open manner.

I wanted to say thank you. Thank you for helping me feel like I am not alone. I’ve struggled with ED and mental health issues for about 25 years. It helps so much to be able to to talk about things out loud, thank you for creating such a safe and supportive space.

You are so strong girl, you make people who struggle with mental health and addiction (me and others out there too) feel so less alone. Love you Lauren

Wow I have so much respect and admiration for your courage and generosity in sharing this stuff. I can hear and " feel " the stress in your voice and yet yet you keep going and share what you have to say in order to help people. 👍 Thanks.

I’ve dealt with my own alcohol addiction. I’ve learned that so much of dealing with addiction is re-learning to love yourself. Addicts can be really hard on themselves. Self love often leads to better choices.

I've been dealing with with my addiction's to alcohol and my secret taste for drug's while struggling with my schzophrenia , thank you for your vlog knowing I'm not alone

I learn so much from you with every video, both personally and professionally. You are an amazing role model in your vulnerability and wholeheartedness.

You're doing a great service to society by sharing your experiences so candidly. Thank you for that. Hope you are well.

Your channel is such a blessing to youtube, it's amazing to see so many people becoming more educated and understanding of schizofrenia/schizoaffective, and the stigma being reduced, and at the same time making me feel less alone with my own schizoaffective disorder

Thank you Lauren, you’re incredibly brave! All my respect and admiration 💖

This must have been hard to share. Thank you for putting yourself out there.

Glad to hear from you. Thank you for opening up about addiction. It's not something often thought of but is compounded by mental illness. I suffered, got over it, and slipped back into it when i started suffering with depression/anxiety. It was a way to distract myself from the pain, but pulled me back in. Getting out requires conscious effort, i.e. a loved wanting my attention, family responsibility, and my own health. It's hard, I'll admit, but admitting i have a problem has made me proud that i am fixing it. I over came addicting once, i can do it again. Yes i realize that sounds counter intuitive, but with a gap of at least 10 years, i think it counts. ;)

This came in for me just in time. I neuer thought that my eating disorder is some kind of an addiction, which helps me cope with my mental disease. I'm so grateful for your videos and sharing your struggles with us. Thank you so much.

So much respect to you for sharing your story to help others heal. It's a true calling. I'm also dual diagnosis (quite a few)...but not schizophrenia. I absolutely found my purpose as well in telling my story from years of complete despair to healing my brain and getting my life back! 💟🦋🕉

I've developed a rhythm of watching videos from this channel every few days. Although I was initially driven by curiosity now I'm responding to Lauren herself. She is an incredible example of the courage in vulnerability and the value of honest, constructive, self interrogation.

I needed this. I am a schizophrenic currently really struggling with an eating disorder. Thank you for being so vulnerable, it helped me a lot

I have maladaptive daydreaming, and I know it isn’t the same as drinking or substance abuse, but it really effects my life heavily. I’ve had it for 4-5 years, and the major depression that I was going through all those years ago when I started is practically gone, and I feel really happy, but I don’t do anything with that joy because it relies solely on this ‘addiction’. I ended up dropping out of school to be homeschooled, I have no friends, i never leave the house, I have a lot of sleeping problems. I don’t have time to do anything productive, because I am so busy with my daydreaming. I recently started going back to school and I can no longer daydream like I usually do, and my depression has come back with a vengeance. I no longer feel happy. I don’t do any of my homework because I am so busy spending my afternoons making up for the lost hours. My sleep is even worse then it used to be. I have started falling back down the kill yourself rabbit hole, and I don’t know what to do. I don’t have anyone to talk to because the only people in my life are imaginary, and the few times I have tried to talk to my mum have failed miserably; I don’t think she takes it seriously, and she underestimates this dependence I have on it, (she hears imaginary friend and thinks I’m just mucking about with my overactive imagination). This dependence terrifies me, but at the same time I can’t give it up because it’s my only reason to live. I have no idea why I decided to share this, but I’m currently sitting alone in my room on the verge of tears, and i feel really lonely, and wanted to get this off my chest, (not that I will help all that much). I know it doesn’t sound as serious as all these addictions mentioned in this video, but it’s taken over my whole life (before I returned to school I would spend anywhere from 9-17 hours a day just daydreaming), and I feel really lost. Have a good day!

Love your videos so much! I used to study psychology, but changed my career because I lost interest, but when you come out with a new video, I always immediately watch it. The way you talk about these subjects can educate people who are not familiar with schizophrenia in an engaging way, and at the same time help people going through these problems by representing them and making them feel being seen.

Thank you so much for sharing your vulnerability and providing hope for fellow sufferers. I just want to note that it might not always be the best idea for someone to comment on another's addiction, especially given that addicts very often are already burdened by the knowledge that they are harming themselves (and maybe others). Holding up a mirror to someone who is suffering from addiction can exasperate the guilt and shame and result in the person distancing themselves from you, which would ultimately be harmful for them, given that addicts are prone to self-isolation anyway.

Thanks for opening up about your struggles with addiction, I understand how difficult it can be.

Thank you so much, I feel comfortable and learnt things that I wasnt aware. Your channel really helps me with learning more about schizophrenia. Thank you once again 💛💛💛

Thank you for this video! I am watching this as I am drinking and I know I need to cut back. Alcohol makes my depression worse, not better! Your candid discussion and sharing is comforting. And I do appreciate that you recognize that maladaptive coping, whatever that may be, has served some kind of purpose. That recognition helps soften the shame that we often feel for being ‘messed up.’ I’m not messed up, I’m coping in the way that has served me so far. That perspective makes me feel empowered, rather than down on myself. Thank you for all your wonderful videos, you are making a positive impact. ❤️❤️❤️

This was a gem to come across. Even though I don't personally struggle with Schizophrenia (as far as I know) much of what you shared applies to nearly anyone and everyone seeking to better understand their mental health struggles in their lives. Thank you for that. Your honesty and vulnerability is refreshing and inspiring. Subbed

Thank you Lauren!! This was incredibly brave, and I think it believe it will help a lot of people reach out and feel accepted, it helped me

I can tell how difficult it is for you to share this part of you. I hope you read this because you are so brave to talk about this. Please ignore any negative comments, you are absolutely awesome(and beautiful to boot)!!!

If i didnt find your videos idk if id be here. Im trying to cope everyday, with no hope for the future! Persons question my illness and i cant tell if they are real, everyday is a struggle for the battle of my mind, trying to communicate with others who arent sick, im so misunderstood! I got recently diagnosed and struggle with acceptance and being all alone! Nobody understands addiction and how it has played a role in my mental health! It is so hard to shower, eat, plan for holidays because idk if ill be with my family or if ill be lost in the struggle that is trying to cope! I feel I dont have the right medications but the ones im on help! But it is the worst time of my life! Idk where to turn, so I found you videos, they give me some hope, but never know what tomorrow holds! Thank you for educating the public and me as well!

You make a lot of sense!! I imagine you're helping many people.

Thank you for posting consistently great content. I am a big fan of the channel. I have bipolar disorder and have also used restrictive ED behaviours in the past after hospitalizations with psychotic episodes to get a sense that there is at least one aspect of my life that I can fully control. When you have had to stick to the daily ward schedule, medication regime and constantly respond to questions regarding your mental state for some time it becomes important to have one thing, which is truly yours to decide - even if it's unhealty secretive meal-skipping and purging.

It takes a lot to admit to struggling with an eating disorder. When I started struggling more with depression as part of my schizoaffective disorder, I relapsed on my ed for the first time since I was 11. It took 3 years, 4 hospitalizations, a stay in residential, and so so much therapy, but I finally achieved staying in recovery. What really helped me was having a strong group of friends. They didn't know I had an eating disorder until I went public while in recovery, but they all knew that I was depressed and they stuck by me and lifted me up through that. I cannot stress the importance of having reliable friends enough!

I live with BiPolar disorder, and I have for my adult life. Much of your mental health development parallels that of my own. Even more than the clinical parts, the way you describe how you felt through your journey resonate with me. Thank you for stories, and your very personal descriptions.

I love it when people are brave and vulnerable. Being real. Thank you

I am really glad that you shared your addiction issues publicly. I was nervous about doing the same on my channel. The more we talk about dual diagnosis, the more people can be educated to how difficult it is

I am really struggling today with my maladaptive coping. Thanks for helping me feel more hopeful that someday I won't need my crutch.

Hi Lauren. Thank you for your courage and frankness in your videos! The image in my mind for people with schizophrenia-spectrum is a person who can't function at all, often homeless, unable to hold a job, maintain hygiene, and in need of care. Part of this is from working in care facilities, and people are usually in that state by the time I see them. Thank you for blowing that idea out of the water!!! Certainly not someone who can function as well as you. I love learning to see people differently. I'm in school getting a CADC degree, and specializing in people with addiction and mental illness, and these videos are an amazing resource. God/dess bless you in your healing journey. I know that sounds cliché, but I truly mean it. Thank you for being an amazing guide.

Thank you for this video. I lived with someone who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. There was a lot of stigma, isolation of family, and loss of hope and shame. We all suffered with the family member, and eventually the patient did not want to be married anymore. We are divorced now but I care deeply about these sufferers still. All my clients who had substance abuse, was very difficult to treat.Hope is a life line, and compassion

You know, Lauren, the way you articulate your messages brings hope to so many. You are a godsend.🥂

Lauren, you are so courageous in sharing your personal story. I know it must have been extremely difficult to be so candid, but I also know that in doing so, you are helping many people with their own struggles towards healing. My hat is off to you, and my heart goes out to you and to everyone else facing similar challenges. All the best to you along your journey towards wholeness!

it takes so much strength to share these parts of your life and it will help many - it's great that you're self aware I think this is the first step to getting help either reaching out or helping yourself. Thank you for this content, Lauren 💜

You deliver every message so openly, vulnerably, inspirationally and genuinely. I hope you’re able to post these knowing that you are really touching people, and are a wordsmith for people to be able to advocate for themselves. You (and your partner- we see you putting in your work too!) make it easier for people to get help simply by helping people put these experiences and feelings into succinct wording. I personally don’t have experience with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder but I resonate so much with your content and mission. Truly amazing work you’re doing❤️ To that end- I’ve struggled with spending and technology to cope and it was eye-opening to hear you speak to your experience with spending. Spending is a hard one because it’s easy to justify what you buy as “useful” (at least for me) but it’s really clutter. Thanks for your openness:)

This lady is so well spoken, so beautiful, so sweet. Probably many other very positive things too. She may be afflicted, but aren’t we all? By something? I want to encourage you if you are reading this! You rock!

Thank you for being courageous and brave and sharing your story. This is helping so much with a family member 💕 Your story gives hope

We all think you're the greatest, Lauren.

Hi Lauren, I don’t have a serious mental illness but I do relate to what you shared. Also, thank you for having the courage to share your experiences. I am a high school health educator and we talk about everything in this video. Blessings to you.

Hi Lauren, I'm 44 years old and after watching your videos, I finally know what is going on with me and I can explain it to my family. I've been going to therapy for about 14 years and not one time had any of my therapists mentioned Schizophrenia, even after telling them that I am exhibiting signs. I have lots to learn and I'm very happy you are making these videos for me and others with the same challenges. Thanks SO much!!!

Thank you for taking my advice and sharing more personal things. It's refreshing.

Lauren, you are simply amazing. I learn so much from you about mental health, but your courage and compassion and wisdom just bowl me over. I wonder how many people you are literally saving by sharing and teaching as you do. You are truly a Godsend. Much respect and thanks.

You are so incredible!! You are so inspiring. Thanks for teaching us so much. i dont suffer from Schizophrenia but your challenges really make me think about my behaviours. Thank you so much!!

This is one of the best channels on KZfaq. You are so articulate and helpful for anyone watching your videos. Thanks you for having the courage and grace to share your journey. Bravo.

Thank you for this very personal, transparent video. I admire how willing you are to share so many aspects of your life for the benefit of others. You are so courageous. xo

Thanks for being so brave to share this! We relate to a lot of similar struggles, especially with eating disordered behaviors (we pretty well managed currently)....OMG YES, SOCIETY IS TOTALLY COOL WITH UNHEALTHY IN THAT DIRECTION! We used to be way underweight and no one was concerned but now that our body has further struggles from physical disabilities and we are overweight, we get told by doctors all the time to lose weight, even when I say please don't keep saying that when I'm saying all the healthy ways I try to and say I have eating disorder in the past... Compassion, love, and support! That's what will change the world! :) Thanks so much for sharing! We really really appreciate your sharing your voice and experiences! It really makes us feel more self compassion and it's just really really wonderful representation and we very thankful to you for putting yourself out there and for all the work and energy that goes into it behind the scenes! Ps we get really angry about the complete lack of ads on this channel. We haven't seen any other channel treated like this, and it's especially irritating because we get ads on *other* channels, advertising once monthly injections for Scitzophreia [I can't spell lol]... Also plenty of other stuff like migraine meds etc that would make sense on this channel, but the fact that we get ads for meds specific to the condition your channel focuses on, but not on this channel's videos... It's infuriating! KZfaq keeps getting increasingly ableist, I'm not sure why they've somehow targeted your channel specifically and it truely upsets us, we would like to donate to patrion but are unable to do so, but it also is horribly unfair that your channel is being discriminated against in this way and I know it's a private site and all that jazz so maybe there's not much you can do, but it's really messed up, maybe if other creators speak out against it along with you, KZfaq might be lead to reexamine their choices. If/when we make content and get any sort of following, we will call attention to this discrimination against you because it is unacceptable for a platform to discriminate against you based on disability! It's truely stunning. Channels that discuss DID and BPD and NPD all have ads... We've not seen *any other channel *completely devoid of ads! DID has a lot of stigma, yet youtube manages to monitize videos on DID/OSDD, so why they can't do similarly for you makes no sense. Even from an advertisement standpoint, it makes no sense, because there is no specific medication for DID, yet there *are* medications, that *are* on KZfaq, that are specific to the condition discussed on your channel, so it's not even serving their advertisers well! It's ableist discrimination against one specific condition though and I'm so sorry you're being discriminated against. Please know that you shouldn't feel shame for your struggles. The shame lies on those who use their power to silence your content from reaching as wide an audience and from receiving financial compensation for your time and energy in the same way every other creator has those opportunities. You're doing great work and you're an awesome content creator, your work is highly valuable and important and it's what the world needs more of! Thank you so so much for all the hard work you do!

The first problematic coping mechanism I recall in my life was pulling out my hair. It progressed to addiction stuff, for sure...almost 4 years sober now...

My son, a schizophrenic, sadly passed from an overdose. He struggled for years..... He refused all treatment. In his world, he was ok. He wasn't an addict. I wish I found you prior to his death. Am glad you are doing these series. You are helping a lot of people. Keep up the good work.

Thank you for sharing your struggle with addiction. This videos is one of my favorites of the channel. Take care 😘

Thanks for the good information and videos.

Your honesty is wonderfully breathtaking! I hope you feel all of the support coming back your way from all of us! ❤

I could hear in your voice how hard it was for you to explain this and share this next piece of your story, thank you for trusting us enough to share something hard.

This is a great video, I cannot think of any other time I’ve experienced someone offering this kind of help so openly. You should be very proud. Also I think your haircut is cool

2:00-2:06 is exactly the same that my psychiatrist told me, when I was first diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Lauren&Rob: Your channel is the only one I allow to send me notifications. :)

Thanks to Lauren , acceptance amongst public is growing.Her warm , compassionate personality is a light that shines on us. : ) Let me share a little poem with you : " I'm sitting here quietly , doing nothing and look ! .... The grass grows by itself ."

Thank you for gathering up the courage to be vulnerable and truthful. Thank you for sharing your story.

Someone told me once that eating disorders are about control more than anything. I’ve had periods where I struggle with disordered eating and have seen that in myself as well. Maybe that’s true for you but thank you for sharing!! This was such a vulnerable video to make, so many people will benefit from your bravery in talking about thai

Great take on addiction. I quit smoking at 25. It was very hard. I have no tips though. I really did just power through it.

Thank you for sharing girlie. It’s is so difficult to have a MI and AD. I’ve dealt with both. I am managing through therapy and medication.

I really appreciate the very personal direction you guys have been taking the channel in recently. I believe your vulnerability is no doubt making a difference in the lives of your viewers. Thank you!