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.

Xia Freeman

I would be an advocate for advocating for oneself and developing a treatment team that you trust and can build a healthy sounding board for decisions. Ensuring that involvement is mutual in importance and can be emotionally progressive as challenges and accomplishments take place. Very often the stigma of mental health can weigh on a person just learning to cope with early or repeated signs of a disability. To have a team to fall back on that is separate from family and friends allows for a natural balance. Read More>>

Izeyah

Honestly, every day is a new day to take on that challenge, if I’m being honest.
A lot of people who’ve met me, whether for a moment or a lifetime, say the same thing: that I look like I’ve got it all figured out.
Truth be told, I feel far from it. Read More>>

Ginger Fatale

I own a dance studio for adults that provides trauma-informed dance instruction that is specifically queer-friendly. I am a mental health professional – specifically I am a dance/movement therapist. I am the clinical director of a queer-focused group private practice. And I have depression and ADHD. Read More>>

Erin Diehl

In 2022, I went through a self-healing journey that completely transformed how I see myself and my life. I was physically, emotionally, and mentally burnt out, living with chronic pain that I didn’t realize was connected to years of unprocessed emotions. Read More>>

Dave Weber

I grew up being incredibly shy, anxious about change, had low self esteem, was very codependent, and was nervous in public settings. These situations included going to K-12 school everyday, church on Sundays, field trips, church ministering visits, and sometimes even just going to the store with my parents. Dealing with other health issues didn’t make my mental health any easier. Read More>>

Jennifer Hill

It’s been a day-by-day task in battling depression, anxiety and most recently being diagnosed with ADHD. All of these things I identified as being part of me as an adult, but I can easily see how this affected me as an adolescent and as a young adult. Read More>>

Dr. Sasha Faust

First, thank you—truly—for the invitation to share a piece of my story. If even one person reading this feels less alone or more hopeful, then it’s all worth it.

As a licensed clinical psychologist and spiritual healer, I spend my days holding space for others in their most tender moments. I work with what I call alchemists … clients who turn pain into wisdom and resilience into strength. But what you might not guess is that I, too, have had to alchemize! Read More>>

Yuhao Lin

I am a particularly nostalgic person, and whenever I enter a new environment or a new network of relationships it always makes me feel uneasy, so much so that I often immerse myself in memories of the past, or go looking for scenes and places that are familiar to me and that make me feel at ease. Read More>>