Many people struggle with a form of mental illness, but not many will ask for help. The following people have shared their stories with the hopes of helping others struggling with something similar.

Ashleigh Bertrand- English Teacher at South.

I couldn’t even tell you if I started medication in high school or in college, I don’t remember. I just remember realizing that there were times when I thought I should be happy and I wasn’t. Relationships in my life were good, school was going well, sports were going well, everything was fine and there would definitely be periods where I did not feel fine. So I thought that was normal for the most part, and I don’t even know why I chose to share it with my mom. She never doubted how I felt or thought I was exaggerating or thought it was just typical teenage stuff. I went to counseling for just a couple of sessions, and I think some things work for some people and counseling was not ideal for me. I talked to my physician too and starting either late high school or early college I was on medications for depression and anxiety. Often times especially during college and even during my early and mid 20’s, I would think “Oh, it’s fine, I’ve gone a month without any kind of swing at all or feeling really low. Awesome, I don’t need this medication anymore.” And so I would go off of it. It took me I don’t even know how many years to realize I need the medication, and when things are going well it’s probably because of the medication. My mom always made the point if I had a broken arm, I would go to the doctor and get it fixed, and so if I have a chemical inbalance and there’s a medication for it, I need to take the medication. She by far always supported that, I was lucky.

My mom is super supportive of it, and my husband is too. I don’t know if it’s special, but it is hard to deal with sometimes. We’ll have conversations and he’ll ask what’s wrong, and there’s no answer for it. That’s so not my husband’s personality, he’s pretty regularly if not upbeat he’s at least on level. He doesn’t get super excited and he doesn’t get super low. Even though it may seem super foreign to him and I think in his mind he could easily think I’m exaggerating or make it up, he just knows the best thing is space. He just knows give me a little bit of space and I’ll get through it and we’ll deal with it. If he wasn’t supportive of it, it would just be miserable.

I have had the most rewarding notes and emails from kids in college, who waited until they were in college and they were away to say they were inspired to talk to a parent or talk to someone about it. In the past couple of years that I’ve shared my story with it. I’ve had kids that I would never have guessed come to me and talk about it. I think it’s important to know you just never know what people are experiencing.

Monte Davis- Math, Computer Science and Life Teacher at South.

I didn’t realize I suffered from depression until things got so bad that I couldn’t leave the house. It was then I found out depression runs in the family. If I had known before I may have picked up on the warning signs a lot sooner.

Getting diagnosed was hard because I was of the mindset that this was something I or someone else could just get over. I thought it wasn’t really that bad. I just needed to push through it. I mean, it was just in my head, right? It took me a long time to realize I needed to accept that there was something wrong chemically that was causing my depression. Once I accepted that I was able to start treating it. I don’t take any medicines for it anymore. I tried a lot of medications but they all made me feel disconnected from myself. I didn’t feel like myself. I didn’t feel sad, but I didn’t feel happy either. Because of that nothing was effective because I couldn’t bring myself to stay on a medicine that made me feel nothing. I had the most success with diet and schedule. I try to eat healthy and I stay on a consistent sleep schedule.

Everyone in my family was supportive, but my friends made the most difference in dealing with my depression because I soon discovered a lot of people I knew had or were dealing with the same problems. That made me feel less like something was wrong with me. It made me realize a lot of people suffer from the same problems and that made it easier to accept.

I think anything that brings awareness and encourages people to talk is positive. The more people see that they aren’t alone in their struggle, the more likely they are to accept their diagnosis.

When I chose to start talking openly about my depression, it was a difficult decision. There is a stigma attached to it and there are still people who think depression is not a big deal or that the people suffering from it need to just get over it. I talk openly about my depression so that my students, my colleagues, and my friends who are suffering from the same thing wouldn’t feel alone. I want them to know that it is possible to move beyond the dark times they might be going through right now. It is possible to have depression and live a happy life.

Hannah Hood Johnson- Senior at South.

I was first diagnosed with major depressive disorder when I was 13 while receiving in-patient treatment. Before receiving treatment, I definitely knew something was wrong but I was hesitant to use the word “depressed” due to stigma surrounding mental illnesses (specifically the common trope that depression, especially within youth, is merely for attention). I wouldn’t say I’m affected by my depression every day; some days are way better than others. I think it’s important to understand you don’t have to be depressed all day every day to have depression; that does not make your depression and your experience any less valid.

To be finally diagnosed was a miracle in that I could receive treatment, which, like depression and its effects, differs depending on each person. For me, treatment consists of medication combined with therapy, both of which are extremely important. Depression is definitely a chemical imbalance that in some cases like mine requires the intervention of antidepressants or the like. But depression also can require cognitive therapy and adjustments. I think it’s important and potentially life-saving for those with depression, or any mental illness, to find treatment that is appropriate for their individual needs. However it can be extremely hard for people to do so, which, again, I blame on the stigma surrounding mental illness.

It’s this stigma that made me question telling my experience with depression. But I think the best way to eliminate the stigma is to talk about mental illnesses and to properly educate people on them. I appreciate the fact South and the Blue Springs School District have taken measures to increase suicide prevention and awareness, but I don’t necessarily believe it’s effective. To properly educate students, I think it’s important for educators to all be educated on mental illness and suicide. Once students have an understanding of mental illness, it’s easier for them to be more understanding to those who have a mental illnesses.

Visit the Editorials page to read about the stigma that comes with mental health, and how it prevents people from getting treatment.