On her Bipolar Disorder diagnosis, Rachel admitted that she was “diagnosed multiple times” before accepting the diagnosis. Per Rachel, she didn’t embrace the diagnosis at first as it sounded “really scary.”
However, after experiencing a manic episode, Rachel was ready to accept that there “was something different about [her] brain.”
Rachel went on to call that manic episode “far scarier than being suicidal.”
“It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced,” Miss Utah shared. “I lost touch with reality for three or four days, but in those three or four days 20 years happened. Time was completely distorted.”
Following this incident, Rachel chose to advocate for her own treatment and hasn’t had a manic episode since.
She added, “There’s sort of this death sentence that happens with Bipolar Disorder but, if you actually receive treatment, especially at a younger age, there’s a lot of potential for your brain to heal.”