The journey out of darkness

Now on top of her mental health, former Pakenham woman Daniela Venturi is ready to make a difference to others.

By Jessica Anstice

Now on top of her mental health, former Pakenham woman Daniela Venturi is ready to make a difference to others.

In a video shared to YouTube, Daniela illustrated her journey battling depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder and bipolar for a university assignment and to raise awareness for mental illness.

The 24-year-old art therapy student was asked to create an individual presentation that shared something about herself that most people may not know about her.

“I was unsure about what to share or how deeply I wanted to share but I felt compelled to briefly talk about my experience with mental health and how it made me into the person today, especially how it led me down the path to studying art therapy,” she said.

“I felt it was important to be open and honest about these things, and not feel ashamed or insecure as so many people do go through dark times in life.

“I feel that sharing my story shines a light on dark moments, and gives people a sense of connection that they are not alone when it comes to mental illness, and they can get through it.

“The more we talk about it, the more people can be aware and feel comfortable in opening up and then learning how to heal.”

The start of the video shows Ms Venturi drawing a lone figure surrounded by darkness on the first page of an empty scrapbook.

After flipping the page, she began to reflect on the time she spent her 18th birthday in a psychiatric hospital.

Following her time in and out of the hospital, Ms Venturi’s life changed when she enrolled in dialectal behaviour therapy (DBT) – an intensive therapy course that in the end played a huge part in her recovery process.

“I had been on multiple different types of medications, some worked well, some caused a lot of damage to my mind and body, but what I realised is that therapy was what was going to get me out of the darkness in my head,” she said.

“The medication was only a way to ‘stabilise’ me to cope with the therapy and help get me through it, it was never intended for me to be on them forever, which for a long time was what I thought.

“DBT taught me a lot of skills and coping mechanisms to handle intense emotions, interpersonal relationships, but also slowly changed the way I thought about myself, others and the world, which in turn helped me overcome a lot of my mental illness to the point where I no longer need to take medication today.”

Ms Venturi said she can now safety say she feels happy and healthy in her life – even thrilled for it.

A lot of her time is now dedicated to spreading awareness for mental health, hence the video.

“I feel that it is important to spread awareness because a lot of people feel incredibly alone and isolated from the rest of the world due to their mental illness and how it affects them,” she said.

“When people realise they are not alone, and they can reach out for help, it opens up the door for self-reflection and healing.

“When we are shamed or feel like no one understands, we end up having to fight a war within ourselves, by ourselves.”

Her mother, Carina Tomietto, said she is incredibly proud of how strong her daughter is.

“I cried when I watched the video,” she said.

“No one could do this for her, she had to do this for herself and it just goes to show her determination and willingness to find purpose and live a happy and fulfilling life.”

Having a support network in place is vital for recovery, Ms Venturi believes.

“Sometimes we don’t have the strength within us to keep us on our own two feet, and that’s okay,” she said.

“Recovery is not a straight line upwards, it goes up and down but hopefully every time it goes up it gets a little higher and we get to know ourselves a little better.

“The more we know, the better we can become.”

Ms Venturi likes to remind the community that everyone is on their own individual journey through life, in every aspect including mental health.

She also believes that it is important for people to be kind to themselves and to not compare their own journey with others.

A good friend to her once said: “Once you’ve start comparing yourself to others, you’ve already lost.”

“Not everyone can get through intensive therapy the first time around, and that’s okay,” she said.

“Not everyone’s journey through recovery is the same, and that’s okay. The most important step is accepting there is a problem and we are not okay, and then deciding to do something about it.

“When we do that, we open doors to better wellbeing and health. It might be hard at first, but I promise you it is always worth it.”