in an emotional Instagram post and revealed she is “good at pretending” she is okay.
Isabel wrote: “Currently, I am not. And only a few people in my life right now know how deeply I am not. Pretending became easier than showing others how broken I was when my brother passed away eight years ago and everyone else around me, understandably, fell apart.
"The light of our lives was ripped from us, and we all lost ourselves one by one. But I pretended not to. I held it together. I didn’t see a choice. I made big decisions for the family, I answered the door every time, I went to school. I pretended.”
Isabel explained how she continues to pretend to this day, as she smiles, nods and says she’s “okay” without thinking.
She continued: “No longer can I pretend that losing my brother and then my mom within a year of each other has not affected my mental health greatly.
“Now, I am paying for it in a major way. My anxiety keeps me from trusting anyone or living much of a normal life. My depression keeps me from seeing that I deserve joy, and peace. It always feels so far out of reach.”
She ended the caption with: "I have finally made the steps to see a therapist, after all this time, to let down those walls and finally admit to somebody, ‘I am not okay.’
“A lot of people see me as strong. And maybe I am to some degree. But I’m also just really good at pretending. And I don’t want to be anymore.”
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