Today I cant tell if I am sad or angry. Or maybe both. It's been almost 1 year since Michael died. I am sad because I miss him and I am angry because of the damage that suicide does. In the beginning you hear from others, " now he is out of pain". And you reason...

There are no meal trains when your kid is mentally ill. No benefits to help with expenses. No one stops by to mow the lawn or plow the snow. Those watching want to know why. They want it to be someone’s fault.  The kid looks normal. Mom must have done drugs...

I couldn’t save my son. He was mine to protect, and I failed. Gone forever, by one emotional choice that offers only one permanent solution. Everyday, I wish I would have done more. I carry a mother’s guilt, not deserved, but an attachment to what was, what could have...

Honoring a life. Stomping a stigma. Supporting the cause. Finding the cure. Our Jackson was a talented, passionate young man who also faced challenges. Jackson created his website jacksonroeder.com in December of 2016 to build a portfolio of his talents in preparation...

Mental health is always something I've been an advocate for but until the last few years I didn't realize how much I wasn't caring for my own. When I was younger I had experienced physical, mental and emotional abuse which eventually lead me to essentially shutting...

My first eleven years in this world were marred by physical, emotional, and an instance of sexual abuse, mainly at the hands of my father. He was one of the two people I should have been able to trust most in life, yet he left a very broken child in his wake. What...

To ask the question of how mental health has impacted my life does not give enough strength to the power mental health can have over one’s life. It has not only impacted my life, it has completely grabbed my life by the horns and forced it on an entirely different...

February 14th, a day that fills most with happiness and love. Is now a day that fills my eyes with tears and my heart with loneliness. Many years ago I knew I needed to get myself help, my depression finally took over my life and I could no longer take it.  I...

When asked to write about my experience with my struggles in mental health my first thought was “Sheesh, got a while?” Then they said “500 to 700 words.” I audibly laughed. How on earth do I encapsulate 40 years of struggle in such a small amount of words? What can I...

Mental illness….. it’s been a lifelong battle of mine. I’ve been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, Borderline Personality Disorder and PTSD. A result of the sexual abuse I suffered as a child. Regardless of the diagnosis or label, I’ve struggled. My first suicide...

The first time I sat down on a therapist’s couch, I didn’t really know why I was there. My Grammy had asked me to talk to someone before undergoing exploratory surgery to find the cause of the extreme pain in my right hip/thigh that had me taking a lot of pain killers...

When I was approached to share my story for this wonderful movement, I became instantly overwhelmed, but I knew I needed to do it. Where do I even start? Which part of my story will resonate most with others? How do I sum up the many battles of this mental war I’ve...

My parents divorced when I was 2 years old leaving me to grow up with an alcoholic father that showed no love or care for my sister or I, but gave everything to my step mom and step sister as soon as he re-married which was pretty much right away. I was always a...

I don’t even know if mine counts. I don’t know what qualifies as the worst case scenario. I know mine was very intimate and isolating. Both starting with an “I” for a reason. I never had any bad feelings for my husband, my child or friends and family. Just me. “I was...

Not a lot of people know the struggles and obstacles I have overcome in my life. I was a bit hesitant to share my story and put it out for the world to see, however, I have found strength in knowing I am not the only one that has suffered. I want to share my story to...

Starting at about 17 years old I made a lot of poor life choices and definitely wasn't taking care of myself. I continued on this downward spiral until, at 19, I finally tried to kill myself with alcohol and pills. While I was in the hospital, there was a nurse who...

I was a carefree little girl who made friends with everyone and anyone. My parents always said I came home with a new friend every day, no matter where we were. I remember being happy, never thinking I was different. At ten, I started fifth grade. I had previously...

I heard the gunshot and the burning in my chest, as I fell to the floor in my own pool of blood. On May 10, 2017, I wanted to REALLY DIE. I awoke in the hospital pissed off at the world. How was I still alive? I had a DNR in my health care directive but I guess it can...

Truthfully, i have doubts about sharing my struggles. when the bad days become more intense and regular, when my ability to function is limited to the bare minimum, when my thoughts and emotions become more than i think i can cope with, when i have to step back and...

Parker's struggles became apparent to me, very early on. He had a lot of melt-downs (even for a toddler.) It also took him a long time to recover. He had extreme anxiety, if everything didn't go exactly as he thought it should, (which was always.) His dad and I...

December 2nd 2012 is a date that changed my life forever, I was 32 years old with a husband and 2 children ages 8 and 4, a thriving career as a hairstylist, a couple goofy dogs, life was good. I had struggled in my early twenties trying to figure out my way in the...

16 stitches to the wrist, It’ll have been 9 years on December 21st. I have always been embarrassed about it and never one to talk about self harm and I always made up an obviously false story to cover the truth of what I was dealing with and what had happened that day...

4 years ago, my family fell apart, mental health took over. My grandma Laverne was the best grandma in the world and treated us all with kindness and never didn’t have a smile on her face. One day she lost it all her depression...