Areas of Personal Experience

Hello everyone. It's been quite a bit since my last forum post, but today's form post is in regards to something different from my previous ones. As a listener, I aim to support others' in their findings of peace and stability in life. However, I've found that a lot of members are incapable of finding the right listeners for them! With this forum, I'd first like to introduce myself and all the topics I have personal experience in, and if possible, I also encourage other listeners to share what topics they're comfortable with here and a little 'about me' for members to see! I think it would be beneficial for members to be able to read through this and pick out which listener can provide them the most support in their area of assistance. Whilst we do have the broad listener list that all members can access, it would help to in addition, have a forum attributed to that as well.

Without further ado, I will now introduce myself. I am Panda, a sixteen year old female who has been on 7cups since March of 2026. I became a Verified Listener as of recently and am currently an intern at 7cups. As a practicing Buddhist layperson, I aim to support others' in finding peace, and mental tranquility in their lives. I have went through my own difficult hardships in life that have brought me to various lower states of being, but I know now that all of that pain was worth it since it taught me an incredibly valuable lesson: to let go. As a teenager, I am most likely not certified to assist adults in their problems as I, myself, am not one within that age category and do not know of the problems adults may face (besides general mental health issues). Therefore, if you are facing any type of financial hardships, or physical health problems I strongly encourage you to reach out to a professional rather than to me. Now, here are my areas of personal experience (in which these are all the topics I've directly went through myself)! The only exclusion being BPD, as I have not been diagnosed with this regardless of any symptoms I encountered. When I speak about this, it is most likely from the symptoms I lived with or it was from other people I encountered with this issue.

Anxiety ◞ BPD ◞ Breakups ◞ Bullying ◞ Depression ◞ Dissociative Disorders ◞ Eating Disorders ◞ Exercise Motivation ◞ Family Stress ◞ Forgiveness ◞ General Mental Health ◞ Getting Unstuck ◞ Grief ◞ LGBTQ+ Issues ◞ Loneliness ◞ Managing Emotions ◞ PTSD ◞ Recovery ◞ Relationship Stress ◞ Self-Esteem ◞ Sexual Health ◞ Sleeping Well ◞ Social Anxiety ◞ Spirituality ◞ Student Life ◞ Women's Issues

I have talked to many members who have had the issues listed, and a lot of them have found it very helpful to reach out to a listener. I also would like to note that my beliefs stem from my strong faith in Buddhism. Among the topics listed, I will share a broad history of my experience with them. 

I struggled with Depression for roughly 7 years of my life. It transitioned into being something 'mild' to something 'severe' that nearly took over my entire life only a few months ago. Whilst causes of depression can be various, I will state that mine stemmed from the ignorance I had due to the amount of relationships I'd been in. Amongst the topics of Breakups, Relationship Stress, Sexual Health, Self-Esteem, Recovery, PTSD, Loneliness, Anxiety, BPD, LGBTQ+ Issues, Grief, Getting Unstuck, Managing Emotions, and Women's Issues, I will say that all of them are interrelated and happened due to the same reason. From a young age, I started dating and gradually it became an obsession- an addiction for me. It got unhealthy to the point that it led me to a bunch of other, minor and some major issues, like Depression. Due to this experience of dating quite frequently, I have a lot of knowledge to offer in the areas of Breakups, Relationship Stress, Sexual Health, Self-Esteem, Recovery, PTSD, Loneliness, Anxiety, BPD, LGBTQ+ Issues, Grief, Getting Unstuck, Managing Emotions, and Women's Issues. In regards to the issues of Bullying, Dissociative Disorders, Eating Disorders, Exercise Motivation, Family Stress, Forgiveness, General Mental Health, Sleeping Well, Social Anxiety, Spirituality, and Student Life, I have experienced them all broadly in my social life.

Bullying has always been apparent to me in my life, however, I failed to realize when I was younger that it was bullying. A lot of people make tiny, small jokes about you that people tend to overlook. But, these tiny, small jokes may also be the reason for bigger, and more serious mental health issues. A month ago I struggled navigating my way through a friendship fallout that I deliberately decided on. The struggle wasn't because I was upset and grieving over the voluntarily loss of my friendship with those people, but it was because those people weren't willing to accept we weren't friends anymore, and in result of this, resorted to bullying and insulting me. Buddhism helped me navigate through this with peace, kindness, and clarity so that I did not react in an unkindly manner. 

Family Stress has always been a recurring subject for me. In fact, it's still something I struggle with to this day! As a kid, I always used to face the constant problem of hearing my parents arguing nonstop. It did change the trajectory of my life as I was a kid, but.. it also helped me in a lot of ways. Even though I still experience this quite often now, I no longer let it control my life or who I am. I only wish that I may move forward with peace and not with the anger they harbor towards one another. 

On the topic of Forgiveness, Spirituality, Exercise Motivation, General Mental Health, Sleeping Well, and Student Life, I have learned a lot over the past few months that has helped me with these topics. To start, Buddhism is a leading cause for my liking of spirituality. It helped me establish a better relationship with myself, and with those around me. I personally enjoy talking about the topic of Spirituality in and of itself, so if you're interested on learning more on that topic, feel free to contact me! Spirituality has in turn helped me with Forgiveness. I used to struggle finding the value in forgiving others, especially if they hurt me personally or deeply. But, as time went on, and the more that I got connected with myself, I realized there is no reason in not forgiving others if they express genuine sorrow, and remorse for the harmful action towards you or someone else. I also enjoy the topic of Forgiveness, so feel more than free to contact me on this issue. Due to my conversion, my mental health has gotten much better. I no longer feel empty, dull, or lost anymore. And because of this, I've also been having a lot of motivation to wake up early every morning and exercise- to do something nice for my body. I am more than open to talking about exercise motivation and improving mental health gradually! In attribution to my conversion, I've also developed the motivation to fix my sleep schedule and often find that I am sleeping well in comparison to my old sleep schedule. My student life has increased drastically compared to the lack of motivation I had for studying the past few years. Even though school may be exhausting, and lack-luster, I never allow the boredom to be a bad thing. I enjoy being bored. It helps me seek out new opportunities and make things possible. School is also a wonderful place to make new friends and try out new things, too.

And finally, to touch on the topics of Dissociative Disorders, Eating Disorders, and Social Anxiety. I personally have experienced a lot of derealization when I was struggling with depression a few months ago, and often, I find that I still sometimes struggle with this. It got worse at times, like when you're getting ready to shower, and you're already stepping inside the bathtub but you're checking yourself one more time because you think you've forgotten to take off your attire. I have found that mindfulness helps a lot, even if it's a gradual process, with derealization. I am not the best on this subject even though I have experienced it myself, since my experience does not speak for everyone, however, I am more than open to talk about this. My experience with eating was actually always prominent in my life, but I never realized it until about a year ago. It was either I used to eat a lot, or I used to never eat at all. My parents would always complain about this, and sometimes even try to force me to eat by taking away things that were important to me (which inevitably worked). As time passed, and after I realized that it was an eating disorder, I immediately wanted to change and eat healthily, and regularly. It took a year but I've gotten there. I'm more than open to help discuss your issues with eating if you would like to. And finally, to touch on Social Anxiety.. I think that nearly everyone has this issue. Everyone struggles some way with anxiety in their social lives, and everyone finds it hard to speak up confidently at first (even those who may seem incredibly confident). It's hard to reach out to other people first, especially in real life. I know how that feels like myself as I used to have a lot of anxiety over just simple, small things like presenting, or even walking in public. It's dissipated now, as I've grown more comfortable in my surroundings and in my own shoes. I hope that I am able to help you with any of the topics I've just talked about!

I hope that all listeners who find this forum are able to list their areas of personal experience, and I hope that members who find this forum are able to connect with those listeners based on mutual experiences. Thank you for reading this far ahead, and apologies for the long forum message. I hope you all have a great day! ^