Lincoln's Story
Depression! Sounds cliché, doesn’t it? When you hear news about a certain event incessantly, you are bound to become desensitized to it. To no longer resonate with the weight it carries because if you do something often enough, it becomes routine, a part of you. In all forms of media, there are myriad campaigns, tidbits, discussions, and whatnot along the lines of mental illness. What it means, how we can protect our own,and how we can be there for those who are struggling. In the depth of my depression, this was both a promise and a curse. I will explain that in a bit, but first, let us tell this story properly. Imagine you are a bird, and you just learned that your wings can carry you to the clouds. Imagine the feeling of unending euphoria and boundless hope. You are on top of the world, and you feel like you can pierce through the sky. This is how I felt a lot of the time. My life was picturesque, everything was moving as it was projected to be.
Danielle's Mental Health Journey
PAY ATTENTION…
My Story
I do not clearly remember being present in my body before I was 9; the last time I was not in dissociation mode, I was likely too young to remember.
I only came to this realization in my early twenties, after I burned out from masking for so long, and decided to make changes in my life. To make said changes, however, I had to find out the root issues.
The first time I began to suspect something might be wrong, I was 18, in my final year of high school. I was studying the science trifecta PCB: Physics, Chemistry and Biology, and way further out of my depth than anyone, not even I, could have guessed or imagined. As the family “genius”, the only one in a legacy government school, with the ambition of becoming a doctor, I was under a lot of pressure to perform well but I was struggling to get even passably good grades. Most of the time, I was simply going through the motions.
Mirembe Mary's Depression Story
I always wondered what went through the minds of people who contemplated death by suicide. In November 2018, I became part of that statistic. My name is Mirembe Mary and I am a Depression Survivor.
My emotions flare up as I write this because I am reminded of the time I almost gave up on life. At some point, it stopped making sense. The two most important people in my life had passed away so what was the point of my existence?
How do you wake up and want to live when the people you were biologically, psychologically and spiritually attached to are no more?
My mother passed away in January 2017 and took a piece of my heart with her. This particular kind of loss was new to me and I struggled heavily to cope. There are no words that I can use to explain the pain of losing a mother.
I stayed briefly with my maternal grandmother who played the soothing part well, an emotional pillar that gave me hope that I would get through this unfamiliar world of grief. However, that same grandmother also passed away in June 2018 and took a piece of my soul with her. While I was still adjusting to life without a mother, my grandmother’s death felt like my already broken heart was shattered into more pieces.