Personal Stories

I am a wife, a stay-at-home mom, a writer and a comedian. I am also an advocate for mental health.

I guess mental health is like the weather. Something that you can prepare for, but hard to predict and sometimes devastating.

The notion of getting out of bed each day is exhausting before I have even moved a muscle. The thought of having to deal with other people in the world makes me anxious.

About five years ago, the stability of my life began to slip away. I began to change. I was starting to become paranoid and anxious.

My mental health conditions are genetic and environmental. I knew all the signs and yet I still waited longer than I should have to get help.

My dream is for all nurses to be compassionate toward patients because I know how dark it can be. My biggest advice for people experiencing depression is to know you are not alone.

I continue to struggle daily with my OCD and anxiety. On good days I can ignore it, but on bad days it completely cripples me. I am unable to live my life the way I want to.

My loved one carries on during school hours with a smile, with jokes, attempting to be cool. He comes home and cracks. Due to his depression and anxiety he can only cope for so long.

I have suffered debilitating bouts of depression since I was at least 15 years old. This year I will turn 54. During these bouts I would tumble down a rabbit hole.

It frustrates me greatly when I’m in classes and I hear people say to their friends “You must be OCD.” It isn’t something that should be taken lightly.