Leading From Empathy: Owning my truth around mental health and addiction
What are you working through? I bet you’ll find out that you are not alone.
(This essay is written for the NAMI: National Association for Mental Illness #notalone mental health stigma reduction campaign. The stigma attached to mental illness, it’s often hard for those struggling and their families and friends to talk about. Hearing and reading the stories of others helps.)
Sometimes, when you’re doing well in life, you can hide the fact that you’re hurting. Even from yourself. If this resonates for you, know you are not alone.
At this moment, as we kick off mental health awareness month, I am grateful for my emotional strength and security. But I’d be a fraud to pretend I’ve always been this way.
When I sit to reflect with compassion, I recall the decade-plus of impulsive and risky behavior. The deep and loving relationships that were damaged. The escapism through work, sex, drugs, and alcohol. The neglect of my own well-being. And the family dynamics that I’d later discover were at the route of it all.
