Mental Health: Inspiring Stories of Perseverance and Resilience

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.

Jennifer Orozco

Anxiety and depression are things I’ve lived with since a very young age. I still fight with them as a 24 year old woman today. Following me around like a shadow because I managed to block my own light from shining through me again. I grew up in a chaotic home environment, that eventually made me become a mute. The elephant in the room. Everywhere all the time people wanted to know why I didn’t talk, why I wouldn’t. I became the quick and easy joke in an awkward setting. The jokesters ranging from family, teachers, classmates, strangers, and the list goes on. How common is it to meet a child who refuses to talk when instructed to.  Read more>>

Tc Moore

In reflecting on the past few years, it’s clear that many of us have faced significant challenges. Conversations with others reveal a shared experience of grappling with immense struggles, often all at once. Personally, this period has been particularly difficult for me. I’ve navigated the uncertainties of finding a new career, dealt with the loss of a significant partner, and faced the passing of a few close friends. It truly felt like I was hanging on by the skin of my teeth. Read more>>

Equiller Mahone

Generalized anxiety and depression. As I sat in the psychiatrist’s office I tried to process these words. It was the first semester of graduate school and I instinctively knew something was not quite right. I was barely eating or sleeping. I struggled to complete basic everyday tasks. I was prescribed medication. I remember telling myself as soon as I felt better I was going to stop taking the medication. Unfortunately, this was not a sound plan. I went from 1 pill to almost 6 daily over the years. Read more>>

Debi Boyette

“Throughout my life, I have faced significant mental health challenges, particularly since 2017, when I survived a traumatic drive-by shooting. Over time, I’ve relied on various strategies to navigate these difficulties, including meditation, gratitude practices, and mindfulness. However, I’ve discovered that art has been the most transformative and healing outlet for me. It serves as a constant reminder that even the darkest storms pass, and that I carry a light within that drives me forward. I often reflect on my younger self and remind myself that it’s her strength and spirit that I continue to fight for.” Read more>>

Kiersten Trismen

Mental health issues have pretty much plagued me for most of my life. From the time I was a child, I never felt like I was “enough” – smart enough, pretty enough, successful enough, etc. Due to various factors in my personal life, school bullying, and my own insecurities I developed depression, anxiety, and an eating disorder all by the time I was in middle school. I was in high school the first time I went into therapy for my problems. I’d love to say that it was all smooth sailing from there, but that would be far from the truth. There have been relapses, years in and out of therapy, medications, and countless hours of self-care and self-help books to help me reach the point I am at today. Read more>>

Jennifer Andresen

I can definitely attest to persisting during onslaught of mental health issues. I feel extremely blessed that I had music in my life at such a time as this past year which has been extremely difficult for me. Music and DJing, was my stability when the chaos around me seemed to be too much. No matter where I was at physically, whether it was in a hotel, or at my moms, or at a friends house…I never missed a gig. Except for when my car was in the shop due to being broken into-I missed a live gig I was scheduled for in Houston because the car shop was so back logged with repairs. I lost my job, I lost my safety, I lost my apartment because it was no longer safe for me to live there-I was being attacked and my apartment was broken into when I was out of town at a gig in Austin TX. Read more>>

Morgan Phillippi

The short answer to this question is ‘through support and community’. Depression and anxiety are masters of isolation, and so through seeking support and being honest in my relationships in order to build stronger community I am, for the first time in my life, properly diagnosed and medicated with a loving and kind support system around me. Read more>>

Noelia Sevillano

Mental health is an important topic in my life, something present in it since I was a kid, and as an artist is something that heavily influenced my work and creativity. Since childhood I had many troubles developing social skills due to undiagnosed autism, and my first safe place was my art. Using colors, figures, and drawings I found a way to communicate better with others. That moment defined many aspects of my present life. Read more>>

Becky Lyter Mccleery

I was first diagnosed with postpartum depression after my second child was born. After the fact, I realized I had gone through it after my first child was born, I just didn’t realize what it was. Since then, I’ve had periods of struggling with anxiety and depression. Read more>>

Kait Scott

There is no “quick fix” or “life hack” for mental health. Overcoming mental health challenges is not easy, it is some of the most difficult work that a person can do, but it is worth it. I have learned the importance of caring for mental health and prioritizing it as highly as my physical health. I have learned how to become kinder & more patient with myself by intentionally carving out time for self care. For me, self care looks like routine, movement, journaling, healthy eating, and a lot of mindfulness. Being grounded in the present moment is a key factor to overcoming mental health challenges. Read more>>

Abi Stegman

My life has revolved around my struggles with my mental health for as long as I can remember. I have known about the problems surrounding my anxiety and depression my entire life, I just never had a set name for them. My parents used to call it the “Sunday blues” because every Sunday before school, I would make myself sick over the thought of even leaving the house to go. Not that anything was wrong with school itself, I just couldn’t even stomach the thought of doing it. I would become so distraught I would physically get the sweats, throw up and get dizzy, fully believing I had a fever that would prevent me from going to class the next day. This would happen week after week, and my parents caught on.  Read more>>

Yasmeen Martinez

This can be a controversial topic but I grew up believing in God. He always seemed like a far away kind of God until I started to face some struggles in my early adult life. Trauma resurfaced for years and years and I assumed it was just normal to feel the way that I had felt. I had struggled with severe anxiety throughout my life and that became my drive. In early 2023, I faced the realities head on. I knew something was wrong and I also knew what I was trying to cope with, was not working. I remember finally breaking and acknowledging that I couldn’t do this on my own. From that day on, I persisted in prayer, asking for direction, and was lead to therapy. Read more>>