When I found out I had a mental illness, it was already so bad. I had tried to commit suicide twice and already got addicted to self harm. I even used prescription drugs to overdose. I got diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety. I was out on this medication that made me hallucinate and my doctor would not take me off of it. I switched doctor’s and now I am on my 5th medication and I have to take a sleep medication, also.

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I am a survivor of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, an eating disorder, self harm, and suicide. Although I am a survivor my fight is not over. Far too often people think that a mental illness can be cured and that is far from the truth. Back in October of 2010 I felt as if my life had fallen apart and I was admitted into a psychiatric hospital for the first time. I never really knew that these types of hospitals existed or that the things I was struggling with were common among people my age. I was 16 at the time and I truly felt so alone. From October 2010- May 2013 I was admitted into 6 different psychiatric hospitals. I was admitted so many times that I cannot even give you a number. When I was struggling through those years in my life I honestly did not see myself having a future. I stopped planning my future and I did not care about the long term effects that my choices had on my life because I did not foresee myself living through it all.

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Hi. I’ve been struggling with mental health illnesses (and abuse)  since middle school and I’ve been bullied in grade school except my senior year of high school. I’m 22 now. I also struggle with self harm and social thoughts and have had a few attempts. I feel I have no support. Even from my family because they don’t really believe in mental health disorders and I don’t really have any friends to talk to. I can say what has kept me strong is my beliefs. Whether you believe in God or some other higher power really helps in feeling that you are not alone and gives you some sort of hope. With mental illness it can feel like you don’t have any but I can say it does get better. Always put positive affirmations in your mind. You may not believe it right now and it won’t happen overnight but it will happen. Most of all be patient with yourself through the process. The disorder is hard enough on us as it is. If you don’t feel anyone believes in you just know that I do. Stay strong guys! 

I have lived with mental illness for most of my life. I was diagnosed at 16, but my issues started before that. The constant rotations through psychiatric hospitals made my life chaotic. I began to self-harm in many ways. Constantly, my thoughts turned to suicide. I wouldn’t talk to anyone…literally. My mom took me out to lunch everyday just to help me say a few words in a relaxed setting. For several reasons, I became overweight. I am still struggling with that today. Staring off into space and swimming in my own thoughts became my most common pastime. Second to that was cutting. I went into a group home when I turned 19 to try to sort out my clouded mind. I wouldn’t talk to my therapist or doctors, so there was not much that anyone could do for me. I lived in the home for 6 years; finally I left to move with my family to South Carolina. There I found hope…yes there is hope! I found a Clubhouse that is Accredited with Clubhouse International. We work and train in the Clubhouse Model. I found my home. I found accountable friends. I found my dignity. At the Clubhouse, meaningful work replaces the need to isolate inside my head. I am needed and wanted. Slowly, my shell was cracked and I found myself…my true self…I am not a mental illness. I am a person who has a few issues. (Besides, who doesn’t have issues?) I now live in my own apartment. I have for 5 years. I talk to everyone. I even speak at church services. I advocate for the Clubhouse and to break stigma by telling my story to anyone who will listen. I am no longer ashamed of who I am. I have hope for the future. Currently, I attend a local Technical College. All this is possible for anyone with a mental illness. An important point I like to clarify…no one’s problems are smaller than anyone else’s. Everyone’s issues are just as big to them as my issues are to me. If I can find hope and dignity, so can you!

i was born to an alcoholic father and druggie mother. she left when i was 3 months old my dad was in and out of my life. i grew up between him my aunt and cps. i never knew a stable home. i have battled to keep a relationship and all my friends and family have turned there back all i have is my kids and husband. we are going on 5 years. i have battled self harm suicide bulimia. i hope others can learn to love there self even through there horror of mental health .

I have been dealing with mental illness for only a year however its only cuz i wasnt aware had mental health issues when i was younger.  I now know that always had issues and i am slowly getting used to it as part of my life. I was abused as a kid both physically and emotionally and it made my life a living hell. My birth mom beat me had sex in front of me starved me and ignored and neglected my needs so she becane homless cus she refused to work to tske care of me her only daughter so i was shipped off to live with my birth father and his wife my soon to be evil stepmother. She would force feed me shove my fish sticks down my throat when i said i was full or feeling sick it didnt matter had to clean my plate. She stole and hid my debit card even tho i worked for all the money that was on it. She would hide my clothes that i would wear alot and that i liked. Make me tske the bus everywhere cuz i didn’t deserve a ride home. I was told and forced to be into guys even tho im gay. I couldnt have friends or girlfriends ext it goes on and on told i was a whore told i desrved to be raped. I moved out finally and lived alone for 3 months and now finally here i am witb my grandparents who took me in when i needed it. SO GLAD I MET MY FRIEND AND HAVE HER IN MY LIFE SHE SAVED MY LIFE WHETHER SHE KNOWS IT OR NOT. I HAVE TRIED TO KILL MYSELF 4 TIMES DUE TO TRAUMA OF MT PAST and depression and bipolar mood swings i have now. But i am finally on my road to recovery. 

Navigating a world that often feels cold, insensitive, and unaccepting of mental illness is lifelong work, a healing journey with ups and downs that has no end. As a highly sensitive person who has lived with anxiety/depression/OCD/ADHD since childhood, struggled with self-harm, substance abuse, and eating disorders, and is a rape and domestic abuse survivor, I have sought out many forms of therapy over my lifetime, both traditional and alternative.

One concept that I became familiar with in Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is having a toolbox. Every individual’s toolbox looks different and will evolve over time. It is essentially a list of our skills and techniques for emotional regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness. I would like to share some of my go-to tools for self-soothing and traversing times of heightened anxiety/the unknown: 

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I am currently 7 weeks pregant and bipolar. I am a mother of 1 daughter and a wife to my husband who we have been together for 7 years. I am a  POC and identified as queer. I am also a survivor of domestic violence, child abuse and self harm. I am currently a photographer who uses this as a platform to Express my humanitarian efforts with self love, mental health and civil rights. I want to be a self advocator of mental health for not only myself but for my loves ones and for my community.  I am currently working a photography project that will highlight the ups and downs of being pregant and dealing with a mental illness. I want to show others that we are human beings and have wishes and needs just like everyone else but our brains are wired differently. I plan to become a photography teacher to teach 6th grade through 12th grade and also be one of the main pioneers to make it a priority in fashion and beauty advertisements to eliminate photoshop and to have an inclusive clientele as models that reflect the real world. 

Hi, my name is Janay Monique Matthews and I have so much to share to you about my own journey through mental illness and my other disabilities I was born with. When I was born, I had so many odds going against me. I was born with a neurological disorder, cerebral palsy, ADHD, a learning disability (dyslexia), and tremor in my left leg, seizures, and a hole in my heart but it closed up. With this, the doctors though that there was no hope and that I was not going to make it past age 12. I'm Black girl who grew up in poverty and abuse. My mother has the narcissistic personality disorder with bipolar and I was abused for many years and decades by her and many others. She favorites biracial people with their so called “good hair" and thus, I thought lowly of myself thinking that I was genetically inferior and wasn’t human or up to standard. I was also sexually abused for nearly 2 years from September 2004 to May 2006 by my godfather who died in cancer in December 2006. With all of this I was also bullied, teases, drowned, screamed, and yelled at harshly by kids and adults and some teachers didn’t have high expectations of me. Some doctors, psychologists, nurses and social workers thought very lowly of me too. With all the abuse that I endured at home, I ran away a few times and got caught to be sent to the hospital. I was first diagnosed with anxiety. After graduating college in May 2012, I was worried,

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Hello.  We all can live a great, purposeful life managing Bipolar Condition or any mental health situations. 

The social stigma of mental illness used to bother me to no end…and contribute to my problems!  I’m over that now, but I prefer to call it Bipolar Condition vs. “Disorder”.  I also prefer to discuss Mental Health vs. “Illness”.

My story in general: 

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