The following is an excerpt from a recent interview with TNA wrestler Orlando Jordan:
“People make fun of you behind your back and I heard it all,” Jordan recalled.
Painfully shy as a kid (and, he admits it’s not much better now as an adult) Jordan dealt with the teasing as best he could, until one day he just couldn’t take it anymore.
“I actually had a nervous breakdown when I was 15 or 16. I just couldn’t deal with it all,” he said. “It’s a wearing [on you] thing.
“When you grow up being told that you’re not normal or that you’re not like everyone else – that’s bullying,” Jordan said matter-of-factly. “It’s not something you can see. It doesn’t leave a scar or a bruise, but it’s there.
“If you don’t speak out about it, nobody knows and you keep it to yourself until you just can’t anymore.”
Holding such heavy emotions inside can lead to breakdowns such as the one Jordan experienced. He believes the recent spate of teen suicides isn’t so much the result of physical bullying as it is the mental anguish that kids who are picked on, suffer from.
“Every time I hear about one of those kids,” Jordan said, “it breaks my heart.”
Check out the complete interview online at SDGLN.com.
