Lessons From The Stressors: How I Learned to Navigate an Anxious & Depressed State

Lady Lay begins Lessons From The Stressors by recounting her upbringing in Washington, DC in the early 90s. From an early age, she exhibited subtle signs of anxiety and depression that would follow her into adulthood. She concealed this inner turmoil under the guise of people pleasing, shrinking, and collecting accolades. However, when her anxious tendencies and depressive episodes were intensified through trauma, she struggled to keep her condition concealed behind the facade of kindness and academic success. As she matured, her conditions intensified.


Gradually, Lady learned coping strategies to better manage her physical, emotional, and mental states. Through perseverance and self-care, she learned tools to alleviate her suffering just enough to start building herself back up. Those tools would ultimately assist with anticipating triggers, redirecting obsessive thoughts, and nurturing her overall mental health.


In her memoir, Lessons from the Stressors, Lady traces her journey from childhood into adulthood as she learns to understand, accept, and overcome the challenges of anxious and depressive episodes. The lessons from those stressors are shared in hopes that readers find their own light when dealing with darkness.