Aubrie's Page

It is here I would like to share why mental health means so much to me. And more specifically, how NAMI has time and time again taken away isolation and hopelessness and has replaced it with people who care and tools to fight the darkness.

 Mental Illness has touched me in many ways. I have seen many friends and family members struggle with their diagnoses. I have talked to people wanting to end their life, I have seen many people turn to addictions to fill in voids, I have seen people reduced to a former self, alone, homeless, with no support system around them. I have heard 11 year old children contemplating suicide and teenagers who admit they have been cutting and burning themselves for years because they had no other way to cope with their internal pain.

I, myself, have gone through a ten year journey of very dark times due to my depression. And I will admit, there were times I truly believed there was no one who cared and no way the darkness would ever lift....I know what that's like and I shudder even remembering the dark place I once was in.  

I say all this because I do not want a SINGLE PERSON to feel like they are alone in their struggle. There are so many people who struggle with their mental health in isolation, believing they would be judged, misunderstood and even loose friends in the process. I want you to know you are NOT ALONE. I know that seems like a cliché. It's not. It is the truth. 

Why do we struggle alone? We need to struggle together.

I won't share all that NAMI does, you can look that up on their website www.namirc.org. But the main thing....we share hope. We share resources that can help. And we share that mental illness is not the end of the line. It is the content of your story. You can still be happy, successful and inspiring when your story holds the pain of mental illness. Just keep going and keep trying because you are a beautiful inspiration.