City: Sioux Falls, S.D. / Minneapolis, Minn.

What is the story related to mental health, suicide, and/or resilience that you’d like to share?   

I have severe obsessive compulsive disorder in several forms, as well as clinical anxiety — for me experiences with suicidal ideation and the most difficult moments of my mental health journey all revolved around wanting pain to end, and to not feel so broken and alone. 

What resources have helped you to address this challenge?  

Medication, therapy, journaling, spirituality. 

Based on your experience, how can we work to build resilience in ourselves, our loved ones, and in our communities to better face life’s challenges? 

When I realized that my experience with mental illness does not define my worth, and that I’m certainly not alone in those experiences, I felt more able to ask for help and support. 

What is one thing related to mental health, suicide, or resilience that you wish everyone could understand? 

Most people contemplating suicide, or finding themselves withdrawn in response to their mental illness, are often just actually trying our best to survive. Grace and understanding in the face of that is everything.