Finding Common Ground
For me, being isolated was the scariest thing. The days I felt most depressed and suicidal were only enhanced when I isolated myself; when I decided that no one wanted to hang out with me or loved me. Those days were the worst.
Topic: anxiety
Working It: The Mighty’s Mental Health Editor Sarah Schuster Talks About Managing Her Depression and Anxiety
In college, I would put on gym clothes, tell my roommates I was going to workout, and sneak to counseling. As soon as I started being more open about my mental health struggles, my life got exponentially better.
What Does It Mean to Be Brave?
Some days, brave means choosing to stay. Even though I’m afraid. Even though I’m hurting.
Coming out of Hiding
It’s like being stuck in a game of hide and seek, wondering why no one has found you yet—but maybe I was hiding so well that nobody could find me.
You Don’t Have to Suffer for Your Art
You don’t have to suffer for your art. You don’t have to prioritize your creativity over your health. You don’t have to destroy your life because of a lie stigma wants you to believe.
Working It: Joel Leon on Using Storytelling to Cope With Mental Illness
Writing has saved my life more than once. It has allowed me the space and room to heal and to learn, and to also let go of the pain and hurt I may have clung to from my past. It doesn’t have to be New York Times worthy either—just something to help loosen the illness’ grip and get the clouds out of the way.
Working It: Vivian Nunez Shares the Importance of Challenging the Lies You’ve Told Yourself
Running my own business and going to therapy are two things that my family never expected from me as a first-generation Ecuadorean-American.
To Hope Is to Fight
My name is Michelle and I have Major Depressive Disorder. It’s severe and it’s recurrent. But I am not my depression, and my depression is not me. MDD is a part of my story, but it isn’t my identity.
Working It: Hannah Brencher Uses Her Story to Inspire Honest Conversations About Mental Health
My first run-in with depression was my first year after college. I was living in New York City and, at the time, I had no idea what depression was or how it could affect me.
A Safety Plan for When Life Gets Rough
We need to learn how to create elbow and knee pads for our mental health.
A Veteran’s Truth About PTSD
It was devastating, in a single moment I felt that I had lost everything. Never in a million years would I have thought that I’d suffer from such a diagnosis.
Working It: How Whitney Fenimore Balances Her Mental Health and Being a Contestant on The Voice
I stopped music, stopped working out, stopped doing all the things I loved to do. I hit rock bottom. I thought, 'this is the end for me.'
