Stories about Depression

How Being Indian Shapes My Conversations About Mental Health

Being raised by immigrant parents shaped the conversations around mental health that we had as a family. I’m an Asian-Indian woman and mental health is not talked about openly in my culture. Mental health, as a concept overall, is generally seen as taboo.

Fighting Loneliness Through Connection

2017 was a tough year for me. My heart had been broken. I was plagued by a medical issue throughout a good portion of the year. The new job I thought was going to be lucrative wasn’t.

Respect and Love Are Lifesaving

When we extend respect to people and love them, it truly is lifesaving. I know this because it has been people’s respect and love that has saved my life more times than I can count. Most of the people who had a positive impact on my life didn’t know the impact they had on me in those moments.

I Want to Grow Up: Seeing a Future After Attempting Suicide in Grade-School

For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled with anxiety. My earliest memory of it was in the first grade. I talked in class, trying to make a friend – unfortunately, I did it while the teacher was speaking. She got angry, and made me walk to the front of the class. I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

Dancing Our Way to Mental Health: Presenting the “It’s Real” Program for Teens

A lot of the dance families and I will often help each other out by car-pooling, which is where I interact with other dancers from the studio. I enjoy being able to help, and to hopefully be a trusted and safe adult to teens from our dance studio.

Depression Hell: White-Knuckling Mental Illness After a Suicide Attempt

I then went into what I call Depression Hell. I was inconsolable for months. I decided to head to Nashville to make a name for myself – and when I got frustrated with that, I became more and more depressed. It was at this point that I began to experience suicidal thoughts.

What We Can All Do About Maternal Suicide

When Robin learned she was pregnant, she and her partner were ecstatic. They chatted about names, discussed colors for the baby’s room, and planned maternity photos.

Why I Draw Comics About My Depression

Around the same time I was feeling suicidal, I started drawing my thoughts and feelings, and posting them on Instagram as a comic series about living with depression. I wanted to show some of the (sometimes darker) humor and absurdity in feeling sad or anxious all the time, and named my series “Just Peachy Comics.”