City: Sioux Falls, SD

Age: 44

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

When I was 19 years old, I found myself in a deep, deep depression. Almost everything seemed pointless. I was engaging in activities that ultimately were merely masking the empty feeling I had after a few big life events. Thankfully, I had a daughter at 17 years old, which kept my mind from ever wandering into suicide. However, I remember listening to the ONE song for a two-month stretch as it reflected my mood of “what’s the point of all of this.”

It was at that moment I was invited to go to church with a friend. I thought, why not—as I had nothing to lose. It was that pivotal moment that gave me hope. I found myself being around positivity weekly on Sunday mornings. That helped to elevate my path of discovery: I had worth and began developing purpose, slowly, steadily, surely. That trajectory brought me to a place where I now am impacting thousands of people, living as a testimony of possibilities when you are shown a path to better and make the decision to walk in it, even when we don’t “feel like it.” 

What resources have helped you to address this challenge?

Doubling down on personal development. Though it was a longer climb, it built a confidence that putting the work in directly, works. This is a basis for our saying at Think 3D that “A Better YOU Is Better for Everyone,” including yourself. My long haul of reading books, learning, and developing helped to build my mindset to be able to go back and tackle some of the harder issues that put me in a space of dealing with depression and hopelessness. 

Think about the system that affects our mental health in our society, including aspects that are damaging to mental health and aspects of the system that improve mental health. Based on your experience, how might we improve that system to build resilience and better address the mental health needs of ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities?

We believe that workplace culture plays a major and significant role in where we’re currently at around this topic, and also is a key area of focus to help provide a better path forward. Given that the average working professional spends between 50-75% of their waking hours around work, when this is less than desirable, it dramatically impacts our ability to work on the other parts of our lives to improve upon mental health. This is besides the direct impact that work often significantly contributes to the mental health challenge. 

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

Everyone’s story is unique and different. Get to understand the backstory before making assessments of others. Be willing to come alongside these individuals once you understand their stories and pour positivity into them.