Year: Senior
Major: Elementary Education
Minor: English/Language Arts
I became a mental health advocate because I understand how seeking help can help restore power for survivors. I specify “power” because in my journey, I have survived sexual assault. Through the attacks and the reporting process, I felt shame and guilt. Even the day I finally reported the attacks, I got disappointed looks because I had waited to report. I thought I was damaged and worthless.
Who I was had been slipping away slowly and at the time of reporting, I was sure I was gone. I was told I would qualify for disability because of the damage it did to my mental health. The doctors and therapist were quick to diagnose me with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and offer to check me into a mental institution if I felt I was a harm to myself. I wanted real help and I needed it. It took me three years and seven different therapists before I found someone who helped me.
Finding help is what sold me on the need to help others find help. I currently work with the organization called It’s On Us to help prevent sexual assault. This work helps me give back to the people and organizations that helped me in the worst time of my life.
Mental health prevention works alongside my passion to stop the feeling of shame surrounding asking for help. Asking for help is, in my opinion, the absolute hardest step in getting your mental health on track. The next is learning that healing is not the same as being cured and that healing is not linear or the same for two people. Everyone heals differently because we are all different.