Jennifer Marshall, co-founder of the nonprofit This Is My Brave, speaks at one of its storytelling performances, where individuals living with mental illness share their personal story through words, song and dance. The group’s goal is to end the stigma associated with mental illness. A performance will take place April 6 in Baltimore. Photo by Jeff Elkins, courtesy of The Washingtonian

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Baltimore comedian Michele Wojciechowski had her first full-blown panic attack when she was a freshman at Loyola College (now University). “I remember exactly where I was,” said Wojciechowski, who is now 51 and a writer, editor, humorist, speaker and stand-up comic.

“You know how if you’re driving and a car comes close to hitting you and you get that rush of adrenaline to your heart? That’s what it felt like,” she said. “But my heart kept racing.

“From that day forward, I began having panic attacks regularly. Literally from the time I got up in the morning, throughout the day, and until I went to bed at night.”

Despite her panic attacks, Wojciechowski still made outstanding grades in college, and was able to write and perform stand-up comedy during that time. “I never had a panic attack on stage. I’d have them before, but never while up there.”

Wojciechowski began seeing a counselor, and eventually the panic attacks subsided and then disappeared. For the past 19 years, Wojciechowski hasn’t had one attack.

Erasing the stigma

One in five Americans has some kind of mental illness: panic disorder, depression, OCD, PTSD, bipolar spectrum disorder and the like. Since mental illness is so common, Wojciechowski objects to the silence around the subject, and has vowed to speak out.

“It’s ridiculous that there’s still a stigma even attached to it,” she said. “If I had diabetes and took medicine, no one would think twice. I believe it’s important to speak out on this. The more we speak out, the more it’s accepted by society. And the stigma disappears.”

So, when Wojciechowski learned about This Is My Brave: The Show, she knew she wanted to become involved.

Along with fellow Baltimorean Phila Hoopes, Wojciechowski is co-producing the one-time performance on Saturday, April 6, from 4 to 6 p.m., at Notre Dame of Maryland University’s LeClerc Auditorium, 4701 N. Charles St.

The show is sponsored by This Is My Brave, Inc., a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the stigma surrounding mental illness through storytelling.

The performance features Baltimore-area community members sharing true stories about their personal challenges with mental illness and health. Stories are shared through spoken word essay, poetry, dance and original song.

Performed nationwide

Since its first show in 2014 in Arlington, Va., This Is My Brave: The Show has featured more than 665 people sharing their stories in 55 performances across the United States and in Australia.

Founded by Jennifer Marshall and Anne Marie Ames, both of whom were impacted by mental illness and the efforts to conceal it, This Is My Brave has 10 shows planned this year.

“People come away from these shows with a feeling of gratitude and a better understanding of mental health,” Marshall said.

This Is My Brave continues to support storytellers after performances through a strong online network of fellow cast members.

Speakers are filmed at every show, shared online via YouTube, and alumni will often share updates and written pieces through the organization.

For Hoopes, a Reiki practitioner, blogger and copywriter, her first encounter with This Is My Brave was at last year’s show in Baltimore.

“I came away profoundly inspired and challenged by the courage of the storytellers,” she said. “I realized that this was a movement I needed to support.”

Both Wojciechowski and Hoopes will be sharing their stories at the April event. Other storytellers include publicist/actor Dan Collins; mental health advocate Alnicia Gibson; spoken word artists Gina Brown and Theresa Scott; author/talk show host Andrea Landry-Brown; and technical writer Lauren Marshall.

The April 6 event in Baltimore is sponsored by Greenbook TMS, the nonprofit So What Else, and the Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry.

Tickets for This Is My Brave: The Show. For more information about the organization, visit thisismybrave.org.