As the prevalence of mental health issues increases and affects an ever larger number of our friends and family, it becomes essential that we create spaces for folks to talk about how they overcame or persisted despite mental health challenges. Here, we’ve tried to create a safe space for people to come together and discuss their stories, experiences, triumphs and failures with managing their mental health issues.
Lilla Jenkins
I have had terrible depression, anxiety, and OCD my whole life. But something I did have was drive. At 17, I decided to start my own UGC business and it has come to a place unimaginable for me. Doing this has definitely helped me with my confidence and helping my mental health immensely. Read more>>
Steven
Growing up with ADHD, I always felt misunderstood, even by my own family and friends. Most didn’t have the care, patience, or the tools to support me, so I felt uncomfortable in my own skin for many years trying to understand my disability on my own. That made me really hard on myself and gave me anxiety around anywhere I felt pressure to succeed. The fear of repeating the trauma I went through as a kid pushed me, but it also weighed on me heavy. Read more>>
Joshua & Jacob Schultz
At school and at home, with family and with strangers, I was constantly put down as a distraction and relegated to the kids’ table. Even as I grew and faced real problems, had genuine thoughts and fears and emotions, I was still disregarded and seen as a joke. I was told to quit crying wolf, to calm down, to shut up. I was annoyed. I was a lot. Which meant I spent most of my time alone. Read more>>
Kristen Smith
Mental health has always been a significant challenge for me, dating back to my childhood. I struggled with depression and anxiety at a young age, never fully understanding what was going on inside my head. Over time, I found out that it wasn’t just that—it was ADHD and Autism. It’s taken me 30 years to really understand myself and start to get the hang of it all. Read more>>
Jade Stepper
Mental health used to be something I was never vocal about. I was scared of talking about how I felt until I was encouraged to do so. A powerful moment for me. My mother had suffered from a disease called Lupus and was always in and out of hospitals for as long as I can remember. About a month after my 15th birthday she eventually passed and I was left completely distraught. The agonizing pain of never being able to say the words “I love you” was a constant flicker inside my head. I was severely depressed and on a path of self-destruction because I didn’t know how to cope properly. I was isolating and doing everything you shouldn’t do when going through a traumatic loss. The process of grief is a lot more complex than what is understood, to experience an emotion of such magnitude in literal waves and random intervals of time is something to grapple with and to take seriously. Through confiding in others I was able to healthily reconcile with myself and realize that all it takes is one talk. All I did was talk, once. And little by little I poured everything out. Addressing mental health is never easy and apart from speaking up, it is most likely the hardest part. To anyone who may find themselves in similar situations or has gone through it, I understand and please, take care of yourselves. Never suffer in silence! Read more>>
Lydia Theon Ware I
“This too shall pass.”
For 28 of my 55 years on earth, I have had a mental health diagnosis. My mind’s journey into aural hallucinations and illogical thoughts took a stained glass mosaic-turn that would include homelessness, losing family and friends, loneliness, broken promises and lost dreams. After each break with reality, I would be hospitalized. After each hospital stay, I had to rebuild reality, one relationship at a time. Read more>>
Lauren De Jesus
Like many others I’ve struggled with my mental health since I was a kid. I spent most of my childhood to young adult life being told I just had bad anxiety with bouts of depression.
I’ve been a hairstylist for over 10 years now and being in such a social environment has had it’s challenges whilst struggling with anxiety and people pleasing tendencies. Read more>>
Nia Lancelin
Between 2015 and 2019 I was diagnosed with 5 different mental health disorders. As I started to experience my symptoms more and more my life started to crumble. I felt as if I had received some sort of death sentence and my life as I knew it was over. My mental health issues impacted my day to day so much that I felt compelled to share with others what as I was experiencing and the most miraculous thing happened. Read more>>
Kayleandrah Childs
Creating a business of my own was one of the most fulfilling and difficult things I have ever done. I had self-doubt and the anxiety of financial insecurity in the beginning. I had anxiety and restless nights as a result of the ongoing pressure to do well. I sought mentoring, established a solid support network, and put my wellbeing first by practicing mindfulness and establishing boundaries in order to get past these obstacles. Rather than being afraid of failing, I welcomed failures as teaching moments. Read more>>
Nick O’Kelly, CFP®
I’ve lived the mental health stigmas firsthand. I was almost another tragic military suicide statistic. As a former Green Beret and Special Operations Pilot, there’s an expectation, an unwritten rule, that you push through pain and suffering. You don’t talk about the dark moments; you handle them alone in silence. And for a long time, I did exactly that. Read more>>
Dom Draven ( Ventolora )
Mental health has been a lifelong struggle for me, but it became especially challenging after I was severely injured while operating at a house fire in the FDNY. This happened about five years into my artistic journey, and it profoundly changed my relationship with art. What started as sculpting figurines evolved into something much deeper—a tool for healing. Read more>>
