Anaise

Talking about depression, anxiety, anything dealing with mental health isn’t something you do in the Polynesian Culture. It is rare you will find someone brave enough to speak about what they are going through. Anaise tried to open up to her sisters once but was rejected because to them, she was “over-reacting” and a “wanabe white girl”, so, she has bottled everything up since she was a young girl. Living with her parents only until shortly after she turned ten, Ana struggles with anxiety in her relationships. Her parent’s marriage was nowhere close to healthy. This dysfunctional relationship during her formative years made her feel like she doesn’t deserve to have a happy family. Anaise often feels that every woman is a threat to her marriage; she remembers watching her mother spend time around other men, and worries that her husband will find someone else. She finds herself creating the most pointless fights, tearing her little family apart, even though she truly doesn’t want that to happen. She feels trapped with her own thoughts, in the cycle of expecting – and sometimes forcing – herself to be alone. Thankfully, her husband encourages her and helps build her up emotionally, and she has found healthier ways to react to things. She is working to be stronger for her son and feels that talking about the problems will help her get past the anxiety.