I was a nerdy, awkward kid with a lot of social anxiety, that experienced a lot of bullying and hazing at school. I would stay up all night playing on the computer, and just sleep in class during school. At home I would draw the blinds and stay in my messy room alone, in the dark. I was overweight, had bad acne, and had no energy.

I was in a lot of pain, and felt like absolute shit, but nobody seemed to understand or care. They would tell me I needed to stop being "lazy" and clean my room, and do my homework. I wanted to really bad... but didn't know why I couldn't focus. I felt an enormous amount of guilt, like I was a total failure.

As an adult, I was able to turn all of that around by focusing on basic health things- exercise, sleep, diet, and processing emotions. It seems like I was just extra sensitive to those issues, more so than most people. As a father, I hope I can help my son from going through the same.