“I wanted to share this for anyone who can resonate with any bit of what I wrote, because the stories of others have actually been the reason I asked for help.”

“The last thing that the disease will try to take is your life. OCD nearly succeeded in taking mine, yet, through some stroke of good fortune, my story did not end there.”

“I lost someone incredible, who meant the world to me, and showed me how to find the light even on my darkest days.”

“I am replacing my unhealthy coping strategies with healthy ones and using my various creative outlets to channel my emotions, and share my stories.”

“Nowadays, my family is very vocal about mental illness and suicide. We reach out when we see a change in behavior in each other and we remind each other that we are not alone. That is all any of us can do now.”

“I’ve come to know that the more I forgive myself and choose to move through my trauma, the more likely I am to experience an inner happiness that is unchanged by that little voice telling me I’m unloved and unworthy.”

“My road to recovery isn’t over yet, and maybe I’m not even close to completely healing. But I am now strong enough to share my story, something I would’ve never been able to do 5 years ago, or even a month ago.”

“I still battle with depression, anxiety, and PTSD, but I have learned healthy ways to cope. I have made friends with these demons — I hold their hands, I know what awakens them, and what calms them.”

“You are not your story, you are the author. It takes time to heal and you can not rush the process but trust you are being held even when things come crashing down.”

“I told her, ‘I am having scary thoughts, and I don’t feel safe by myself.’ Saying those words felt more freeing than anything I had done before.”

“My own experience tells me that old ideas of masculinity are changing and in fact, talking about your emotions is now deemed a strength.”

“I am not bipolar. I have bipolar. I am not my diagnosis. I don’t need your sympathy. I need your advocacy.”

“What I’m learning in this new phase of recovery is how much beauty is on the other side of just being alive.”

“Today my recovery is far from over, but I can 100% say that I have grown more in the past few years than ever before, and these dark times always remind me of my resilience.”

“Years of covering up my identity to avoid feeling negative emotions and avoid not looking ‘cool’ caused me to never really explore who I was. Now, I am involved in many things I love. And I am comfortable with myself.”

“My greatest mission in life is to remove the scrutiny around mental illness in the church community and in the Black community.”