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.
Avika Penaloza
As a screenwriter and storyteller, I know that art is life. And art gives life. I live with bipolar disorder 2. Meaning I have major depressive episodes studded with what is called hypomania. In 2018, the depression worsened. Kate Spade, the fashion designer, hung herself. Three days later, Anthony Bourdain hung himself. Their suicides hit me between the eyes. I was emboldened and I set about to research how I could successfully hang myself. Fortunately, I was hospitalized immediately. But that didn’t stop me. I attempted hanging by a rolled-up bed sheet. Read more>>
Anguezomo Mba Bikoro
“Sometimes you don’t survive whole, you just survive in part. But the grandeur of life is that attempt it’s not about that solution it is about being as fearless as one can and behaving as beautifully as one can under completely impossible circumstances. It’s that that makes it elegant”. – Toni Morrison Read more>>
Paloma Rodriguez
I have been able to overcome so much when it comes to my mental health. I have suffered from generalized anxiety and severe depression for majority of my life. In my young adulthood I became heavily dependent on anxiety and depression medication. After college I had post grad depression that hit extremely hard, despite this I was able to find a job I liked and excelled in and found help through therapy. Sadly, life happened again and I relied on antipsychotics when I started having auditory hallucinations due to abusing my meds while under the influence. Read more>>
Ria Patel
Most acting teachers and mentors will say, “if you can do anything else, do that”, a lot of mine definitely said that. Being in the entertainment industry can have a huge impact on your mental health, especially as an actor. The countless rejections, the unpredictability and the emotional demands of the character. Read more>>
Nikki Vice
It isn’t easy living with mental illness. The bad days can be debilitating, and sometimes it can seem like my situation will never improve. But with the help of my support system and self care routines I’m able to see past the doubts, imposter syndrome, and negative intrusive thoughts to find something positive, however small, on even the worst day. Read more>>
Tijuana Miller
Growing up with unhealed childhood trauma has been a struggle for me in a lot of different ways. It has affected how I parent, how I am in relationships, and it has held me back from accomplishing a lot of goals that I had set for myself over the years. When I separated from my now ex-husband, I had to slowly work to pick up the pieces of my life to start rebuilding. Cosplaying was something that I always wanted to do but was afraid of looking silly or childish. When I finally got to a point where I wanted to start gaining control over my mental health issues, I started with therapy and giving myself the freedom to explore cosplay. Read more>>
Stacey Pierre
During my undergraduate experience, I quickly became involved in extracurricular activities. I clearly remember being in my dorm and finding out about a program called the Freshman Leadership Institute (FLI). A program designed to teach leadership skills to incoming students. When I found out about the program, I eagerly put my best foot forward and applied for the opportunity. Weeks later, to my delight, I received an acceptance email. Following that email, I waited weeks before starting the program. Read more>>
Talbot Hall
As someone who suffers from depression, OCD, and chronic pain, I have certainly faced atypical challenges for an artist my age. I think the first thing that I try to consider is the fact that I am a human being. Not a machine. Human beings are fallible. And fragile. We make mistakes. Our bodies break, our brains break, and a great deal of things will happen to us in life which are outside of our control. Those are the simple facts of being human. Read more>>
Margaret Pendergrass
I have suffered from anxiety since childhood and this is something that I am usually very upfront with my clients about. I don’t just tell them tools that I have read in a textbook- I’m giving them tools and techniques that have worked and continue to work for me to manage my own anxious thoughts. Anxiety, like so many mental health issues, is lifelong and never goes completely away. However, learning the tools that I now use in my practice around acceptance, identifying patterns and living by one’s values have made a world of difference in making daily life more manageable. Read more>>
Jennifer Quirk
Depression and anxiety has plagued me for as long as I can remember. To this day sometimes it still creeps up on me and wants me to question myself, my abilities, my self worth and my value to myself and others. Of course therapy helps but I think what helps the most is staying in the company of people who encourage me, support and remind me of the work and the contributions I’ve made to our community, how valuable and important they are. Also, looking back at how far I’ve come combats those feelings of failure and feeling worthless. Read more>>
Samantha Schmuck
I’ve experienced depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation since I was a teenager. This all began after having to quit competitive gymnastics from systemic inflammation that doctors couldn’t diagnose. Their recommendation was to leave the sport, rest, and hope that it went away. If it didn’t go away, I would have to learn to live with it. It was those words, the physical pain, zero guidance, and losing my community/identity over night that brought on the storm of mental health for me. I explored therapy briefly, but after a psychiatrist yelled at me for not wanting to take anti-depressants and the financial strain of the recession on my parents, I was back to figuring it out on my own. Read more>>
Rich ”JKR70 Lester”
I have a wonderful support system of close friends and contemporaries that keep me going. Through their successes and failures, they simply keep going forward creating art that inspires, and I aspire to do the same! Read more>>
