“Keep going, because life gets better.”

Share your stigma experience.

When I was 11 I was in a mental hospital for almost two months straight. About a month after getting out I went back to school only to realize that my best friend had told everyone about my depression, anxiety, and hospital stay. Turns out she wasn’t that great of a friend… but anyway, people stopped asking questions to my face and I was walking around the playground one day at recess and I saw a few girls huddled together whispering. When I walked up they fell silent. I walked away. They continued whispering. About a year later I had gotten in a huge fight with my best friend and I didn’t have anyone that would talk to me at school. My teachers would yell at me for asking to take breaks and being so scared I was unable to talk. My principal told me I was causing issues and I needed to stop misbehaving. My homeroom teacher told me she wanted to help but verbally harrassed me about my faults when nobody else was looking. I was constantly ignored in school and I made friends with the boys. Some of them were cool but some of them yelled and bullied me, but I had no other choice than to be lonely.

How did you overcome this experience?

I continued onto homeschooling and I became much happier. It’s been a month since I left and without the negativity, my mental health has become much better. It’s good to give people second chances but don’t give them so many chances that they have the opportunity to destroy you.

Help others by sharing a brief, positive message.

It’s hard. It sucks. My battle with depression and anxiety is not over after a year of fighting. Keep going, because life gets better. Once you make it through, the world will seem even better than before.