“After every storm, there is a rainbow. If you have eyes, you will find it. If you have wisdom, you will create it. If you have love for yourself and others, you won’t need it.” – Shannon L. Alder
Some of the most successful folks in our community thrive despite experiencing mental health challenges. We are inspired by their strength and honored that they would share their stories with us below.
Amber Lambda
Unrealistic worries and paranoia. Racing thoughts. Breathing difficulties. Breaking down at the idea of interacting with people, when I just want to combust into a puddle on the floor. From chilhood through adult life, I didn’t always have the words to explain it, but it’s always been there in different ways. My nemesis and yet somehow a part of me I couldn’t shake. Anxiety. Read more>>
Daena Caitlyn Saputra
Overcoming challenges related to mental health has been a significant part of my journey, shaping who I am today. When I was younger, I struggled with feelings of purposelessness and isolation, which culminated in a near-fatal attempt on my life at the age of 13. Diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), I often felt like I didn’t belong anywhere. Read more>>
Andrea Yorita
Mental health has always been difficult for me. It is a challenge that I, like many others, have come to realize not only how important it is, but also know that it is a constant journey that ebbs and flows. I used to think that mental health was a stagnate goal that I needed to reach. Like a finish line where I’d be “happy”. I’ve realized that “happy” is too simple of a word for the complexities of the human mind and emotions and that I have actually learned more about myself and the world around me in the darker times. Read more>>
Jaron Smalls
The mind not only stores information but also acts as a defense mechanism against past pain or trauma. Life is an exchange of energy—some experiences replenish us, while others deplete us. I realized my environment was not conducive to growth, and the people around me reflected a version of myself I no longer recognized. Change had to start within. To strengthen my mental well-being, I chose to confront my emotions through therapy, prayer, and months of solitary meditation. By regulating my emotions and surrendering to the process, I transformed my life forever. Read more>>
Jordan Romig
I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression at times throughout my life. For me, climbing has always been the best way to cope with that struggle. No matter what was going on, climbing always helped me get out of my head and reconnect with myself. It helps to move around and release endorphins, get out of my mind and into my body, be around a supportive community, and focus my attention and energy on something positive, like solving a boulder problem or sending a hard route. Climbing has always been my asylum, and it’s shaped who I am today. Read more>>
Gabriel Vaquedano
There are many ways to cope with mental health issues such as physical activities, therapies, and meds if needed. I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety when I was 22 years old. For sure I felt depressed several times before that. However, It took me 7 years of work to find my right path, I faced many times manic-depression episodes in an attempt to fit into a better life due to my mental illness. Period, my determination to achieve that change for my mental health made me build a strong resilience. Read more>>
Aza A. Shukura
My motto is “Your Authenticity has the Power to set someone Free”. That someone has to first be yourself. You cannot effectively do anything for anyone else until you can sufficiently do something for yourself. The best thing I ever did for myself was go through the recovery process and learn how to truly live in my authenticity. Read more>>
Debbie Vu
Diagnosed at 24 years old with bipolar disorder, I had an identity crisis because of the deep stigma surrounding mental health. Before then, I was exercising my creative skills on a regular basis. Then when my mental health was at stake, the creative block set in and I didn’t stand a chance. By framing it as a mental “illness” and bipolar “disorder”, there’s this confusion with how to “treat” it. I had to shift the way I thought of it. I am not supposed to “cure” it but really, I’m supposed to “manage” it because it’s my reality. Being bipolar is an existence, not a temporary health status. Writing was how I got through the hospitalizations. Being admitted for a total of 8 times has taught me about resilience and determination. I have so much to live for and I am not settling for less. Read more>>
Rachael Marie Shenyo
My family intergenerational trauma started long before I was born. My grandmother and her sister were orphaned in the 1918 flu pandemic, and sent to an orphanage for several years. The girls were taken in as indentured servants by extended family, where my grandmother got her nursing degree but also rebelled and was frequently beaten. One day, she turned on her foster mother, beating her with the hairbrush being used on her, and left, pretty much with the clothes on her back. She was from Rhode Island, and had a pen pal in Pennsylvania, who she went to stay with. She ended up marrying the pen pal’s cousin a coal miner, and had 13 children in 20 years before he died of black lung. My mother was the youngest. Read more>>
Errin Davis
Navigating mental health challenges has been one of the most transformative aspects of my journey as a Black woman business owner. Earlier this year, I restarted therapy after having felt that my emotions and thought process were fundamentally different from others and the cause of many of the issues I was facing. Through therapy, I was diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety, which brought a whirlwind of emotions—relief for finally having an explanation and shame for the negative thoughts it stirred. Read more>>
Jules Mcdonald
I’ve overcome and persisted through mental health challenges by channeling my experiences into helping others through yoga and mindfulness. For me, yoga isn’t just a physical practice—it’s been a lifeline for finding mental clarity and emotional balance. It’s given me the tools to navigate tough moments and reconnect with myself, and that’s something I aim to share with others. Read more>>
Brian Elder
Being a songwriter, I write about what I’m feeling or going through. That can help get it out. And if you don’t write music, you can also journal what you’re feeling. Spending time with Jesus and telling Him how I feel is helpful a lot of times. Knowing that I’m not alone and that I’m not the only one going through depression helps tremendously. When you think you’re the only one struggling, it keeps you in bondage by not wanting to talk about it or share it with others. Often times we don’t want to talk about it out of fear of being judged or looked at differently. Read more>>
Chace Rains
My ADHD is severe enough that I’ve been putting off this interview for 3 weeks. It effects everything I do, every second of every day. Lists, alarms, calendars, fridge notes, new routines, prescription…you name it, I’ve mastered it in 10 minutes and forgot what we were talking about. Also, where is my thing I just had in my hand right now?
Aylin Marsella
Mental health has always been a different concept for me to understand. Though I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2022 and I understand aspects of psychology in a theoretical sense, I have often found myself struggling to understand my own mental health. Especially in regard to finding explanations and alternatives for coping mechanisms that I have acquired throughout my life. Currently at this stage in my life, I am attending therapy after struggling to stay consistent in the past and I have been dedicating this chapter of my life to healing. In the past, I have struggled to accept help and previously believed that I needed to figure things out on my own due to my knowledge of psychology. However, after experiencing a very tumultuous life change recently, I decided that I could no longer delay my healing journey. Read more>>
Anesa Trisch
In early 2022, I was at my heaviest weight. My mental health was awful. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to be alive but I didn’t want to take my own life. I finally gathered up the courage to talk to my doctor about what was going on and I was put on an anxiety/depression medication. We talked about my weight and the options to help. I decided to start the process for weight loss surgery. In August of 2022, I had gastric bypass surgery, then in October 2022, I became pregnant and quit my anxiety/depression meds cold turkey. I was so afraid that I would slip back into a dark place, but it did the opposite. I had my son in July of 2023 and my mental health was back in check without medication. Times can get tough, but you have to keep going for the ones you love. Read more>>
