THUNDER BAY -- Latasha Schaller was trapped with anxiety.
New challenges in her studies had left the Lakehead University English major feeling overwhelmed and alone.
Schaller's passion for writing led her to share the story of overcoming mental illness to raise awareness among those living with anxiety and depression.
After graduating with a masters degree the writer hopes to release the experience as her first book.
"I wanted to take my own experiences and translate that into a book to show not only people suffering from mental illness that there are people out there that understand you are not alone," she said.
"The big part for me was showing people that probably have no outside experience with mental illness what it's truly like so they can better understand it."
Trapped details the internal thought processes of Schaller's struggle with mental illness striving to reach those who don't understand. Throughout the novel, the reader has the opportunity to see the difference between how the protagonist might appear on the outside versus what's happening on the inside.
"I put a lot of my own experiences into it and there was times when I would laugh at what I wrote and there was times that I would cry at what I wrote," she said.
"To me, it's extremely powerful to have a book that shows the real life experiences of someone living with anxiety so people can read and be like, 'oh I am not alone. There's someone out there who understands.'"
Schaller feels the release comes as society is moving toward more concious awareness of the need to talk about mental illness. Her five-year trial culminated in a five-month writing spell. which evolved her own perception.
"It was a large task and it was cool to sit back and see how much it had changed through the different versions of it that I had done. I felt very happy and proud."
