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Mental Health Color Run
Stories From The Community
Want to share your story?
Student Senate is looking for individuals to share their stories about times they have struggled with their own mental health issues that could be shared on the website. You can choose to keep these stories anonymous or not. We are hoping that these stories will show the community that mental health needs to be taken seriously as they read stories from students. If you are interested in sharing please fill out the google form below.
Please continue scrolling to the bottom to see GHHS student's stories
Where will these stories go?
The stories will be posted on our website below. They will also be posted throughout the course the day of the race.
Trigger Warning:
Please read these with caution.
Stories
I have always had mental health issues most people don’t know this but sometimes I act happy but I’m not happy I’m broken inside
Anonymous
Some times I have thought of hurting myself or some times I would think that the world is better with out me but things are getting better I have an outside counselor and I’m proud to say that I made it to 12 grade And that I will be graduating May 19
Anonymous
I struggled with health anxiety and depression throughout the pandemic, especially last year during quarantine. It can be so difficult when you can't easily connect with people like you used to. Things got really bad and I withdrew from my friends and family. Eventually I realized that my loved ones were there to help me get through it, and it is okay to lean on people sometimes. The best advice I can give to anyone is use your resources. Therapy has never been available to me, but I found meditation apps, talked to people who I knew had been through it, and took mental breaks when I needed them. A little over a year later I am doing much, much better, and I look forward to things instead of dreading them. Don't give up, things will get better I promise! <3
Anonymous
As a 11 year old, growing up with PTSD and Anxiety was tough. It was hard. Growing up today with these same problems is harder with all the stigma around mental health. I feel like it's always "you'll be fine" or "just think happy thoughts." It's hard to do these things when it feels like everyone around you doesn't care. I want to end the stigma around mental health so kids like me can reach out for help.
Anonymous
Growing up, I haven't really talked to much of my family outside of my immediate family. My parents never really had the best relationships with their parents, and with many other family issues added to the mix, talking to my relatives was kinda out of the question. While it's probably for the best, I often times find myself missing them, wishing that I had someone to spend some time with every once in a while that aren't my parents or friends. The only person we would talk to was my Great Grandma who lived in Tennessee, along with alot of my other relatives, but then she passed away this past summer, so that was like the last straw. I remember when I used to go to WMAAA, every year they would do this thing called "Grandparents Day". For like the first two, my grandma on my moms side would come, but it was always awkward due to our lack of communication. But some years, I had nobody there with me at all, and those were the worst. Seeing everybody else spending quality time with their grandparents made me feel left out. When things like this would happen to me, it would always remind me that while all of my other relatives get to spend time together, me and my family are kind of like the outcasts, and nobody really wants to see us, and at the same time, we don't really wanna see them either. Things like this really do take a toll on my mental health, and seeing my parents sad because they don't have a relationship with their parents either also hurts, because I can't even imagine what it's like. Sometimes, I'll get depressed about it all, but I always try to remind myself that just because I don't see them, doesn't mean that I can't find other things to think about. Because I still have my family and close friends to help cheer me up when i'm down, and i'm very grateful for them. I would like to thank my friends that I made this year for always being kind and supportive, and offering me a spot at their lunch table during the beginning of this year. We have all become such close friends, and I really do appreciate how much they listen and give me advice when I need it most :)
Anonymous
More coming soon
Anonymous
Stories
I have struggled with mental illnesses my entire life. I have major depressive disorder, severe anxiety, ADHD, Borderline Personality Disorder, and ptsd. That was a long list of illnesses, but I'm still human, no different than someone who doesn't struggle. I get into episodes of extreme depression and sadness where I feel like no one cares about me, that everything would be easier if I wasn't here, and feeling like I just don't want to live anymore. I was 15 when I first began to struggle with suicidal idealation, and suffered from multiple failed attempts. I thought It would be easier If I ended my life rather than continuing it, but I've learned that life is so much better spent doing things I love, trying to get better and once I truly chose myself and my own happiness that's when I realized that my life is worth it. If I ended my life I would've missed out on things like adopting my cat, meeting my best friend, and several other great experiences. A factor that plays a huge role in my depression is borderline personality disorder, this is something that unfortunately is incurable. It's a mental health disorder that impacts the way you think and feel about yourself and others. It comes with things like, overly intense emotions and mood swings, impulsive behaviors, unstable relationships, and possibly self harm. These are all things that I silently struggle with. Self harm is one of the hardest things I have had to deal with, its an addiction just like a drug. People see my scars, they stare, they make an assumption. They don't understand how hard it is. A lot of the time I am silently struggling. It may look like I'm doing good and nothing is wrong, but in reality I'm fighting a never ending battle. You never know what someone is going through, so at the end of the day, just be kind.
Anonymous
​I had some struggles with life at home for the past few years. My dad is an alchoholic and my family has been bouncing the idea of divorce back and forth and putting the stress on me to make a descision that I shouldnt have to. I kept to myself quite a bit, I started to have anxiety, depression, and more stress which I now take meds for. My mom decided it would be good for me to go to counseling, I didnt want to but I agreed. So now every Tuesday I leave school for a "doctors appointment" and people keep pestering me about it and my teachers wonder why I am always gone and criticze me for it when the truth is that I am getting the help I need. I noticed that none of my "friends" at school ever asked me if I was okay, I had a few hobbies that were helping me get through the tuff times and stay but people decided to make fun of them and I think that we need to be more aware becuase this really hurt me and I started to consider suicide, it took time but I have grown and I have learned how to get through tuff things and come out stronger. The most crazy thing is that if anybody knew this was me submitting they form, they would be shocked. So many people think I have a perfect basic white girl life when the truth is that I would go home and not eat, not socialize, and not sleep. We all need to check up on our friends and not make fun of what they love, becuase the truth probably is, thats what has gotten them through some hard times.
Anonymous
I was in fifth grade the first time it happened, and by it I mean an anxiety attack. I remember it like it was yesterday the tightness of my throat the hyperventilating the tears running down my face. I probably remember it so well because it has happened every week since then. Eventually all of the pressure builds, the grades, the college acceptance the social life, and the sports eventually all just comes down. For years I couldn't look at a B on a test without throwing up after seeing my grade. And then 6 ,6 is the number of therapists I've seen. I know you want to hear a hopeful story of how therapy changed my life, but the truth is it hasn't I have spent hours in sessions lying about how I was feeling. It got to the point where it began a physical toll of upset stomachs and headaches, until I gave up. I quit caring I stopped studying for tests because there was no way to let myself down if I never tried, and this filled me with such emptiness, I quit eating to try and fit the perfect image portrayed by social media and I was lost. Those once a week occurrences of the crash became nightly, the joy that outweighed the negative disappeared all together. It wasn't until I was honest, until I said the words out loud: I need help. That brings us to 7 and a fresh start of honesty and putting it out there. Because in reality we all have our quirks/problems. And until we are open and talk we will suffer in silence.
Anonymous
​When I was first diagnosed, with all my medical issues I was entering a dark path. Soon I was always sad and depressed. Never wanted to talk or be with anyone. Even talking with a therapist did not help. I restored to self harm for a way to release some built up anger. After a awhile I manged to get out of it. I still have dark times but over all it is gone.
Anonymous
It started out at 12 years old that I've struggled with mental "illness". Honestly, as all have said to me that 12 is a young age for something like this to come up and to start. It first started out with depression which as time went on it did get worse but I ignored it.
I do not recommend ignoring anything when it comes down to something mental like this.
At 14 I was told I have anxiety. Dealing with depression and anxiety both together is a very big and a hot mess roller coaster. When Covid first hit and we were in quarantine I did not take care of myself what so ever because I was in so deep in a bad mental state.
Recently (2/22/22) I got into a car crash and was told I may end up dealing with some PTSD or stress when it comes to driving or being in the car. And they were right, because I'm dealing with it. I never call the mental things I or anyone who deals with things like this an "illness" or "disease" because that's not what it is. It's not an illness or a disease. It's something that makes me, you, and everyone who they are. This isn't an illness. This is what makes you, you and this is what makes you different from everyone else
Anonymous
Back in October of 2019 I attempted to take my own life. Later that day I went to Helen Devos Children's Hospital were I was connected with professionals to keep me safe. It was understandable and I hear many stories about a attempt but never a lot about the aftermath. Although the whole process effected me drastically, afterwards is what really brought me back down. Once I was out of the hospital everyone thought it was the best to admit me into the out-patient program at Pine Rest. Mental health has effected my life since around 6th grade and I have struggled in silence until high school where everyone is supportive and only wants the best for you. I am still on my road to recovery from mental health and I am going strong. One word of advice is that you will have ups and downs! You will feel like nothing is getting better or that you're falling behind and set backs will happen. However how you handle those set backs is what matters. You are loved and cared for and you are NOT better off to give up. Although many hear this a lot including me, things WILL get better.
Anonymous
​My story isn't so good for I have gone through a lot in my life in the past 10 years, it truly begins back in 6th and that was the year my life would change drastically. At the time, my mom was undergoing strange signs of illness that not even the doctors we currently had could figure out, but later on we got a better doctor and they found out what the illness was: It was Chiari Malformation, a condition to where the brain in the skull is coming out of the skull and is pushing against the spinal cord, causing pressure on the brain and spinal cord which results with headaches and migraines. It was a shock to us when we found out she's had it for a long time and that she got it as a kid instead of being born with it, the doctor told us she needed a brain surgery, and fast. The day of her surgery was coincidentally the last day of the 6th grade and that day mom gave me & my brother a letter, a goodbye letter of her saying how happy she was to have us and that she'll always be with us, that day was not one of joy for me, it was of fear because when I come home, my mom could be dead. But by some miracle she survived and as she fell asleep that night I made a vow, I vowed to do the very best I could to make her proud and to take care of her the best I could. Over the years, I developed a cold personality, I would always easily snap at others for even helping me and growing distant from my friends just to study and work hard in school and taking care of my mother. Whenever I wasn't with my mom I would constantly worry about her thinking of the worse, thus causing me to undergo stress and anxiety over the years to which I still have to this day. What if I came back home from a night out to find my mom dead? I would never forgive myself, right now I've become better in handling my stress but for my anxiety its still there, for every night before bed I check on my mother, chiari is a disease and it can easily kill her even in her sleep. I started to have visions of death for my family members, nightmares of my worse fears cloud my mind and thus making me stay up at night, afraid of falling back asleep, I still have this problem. My mind is still in a battle between fear and stress for both my mother and myself but I've become better at distracting myself from these things. Just last year my stress and anxiety went too far when I had thoughts of suicide, thinking if I was gone then it would be better for my family to have one less mouth to feed and more money to help get by, but I confessed to my mom while on the way to school and we talked, but sometimes...I still think this and I hate myself for thinking this, but the sooner the thought has come the quicker I dismiss it. What I'm trying to tell ya is when something is bothering you very badly then you need to speak to someone about your worries and problems, trust me, it'll help ya later on. The only thing that is keeping me sane is the vow I made to my mom, to be successful and make her proud while also taking care of her and protecting her the best I can.I hope my story has helped you all, if not then at least remember this: One small action can make a major difference, but only if you are willing to take the first step, have a great day and don't forget to live, laugh, and love all those around you.
Anonymous
​I have struggled with mental health for a while now, since 6th grade and now i´m in 9th so its been a while. I have struggled with suicidal thoughts and attempts since then. Last year, 8th grade, finally after talking with a councilor, I got the help I needed and finally got on track to get my life together again by going to the mental hospital. Taking the meds have worked and I´m glad about that! Sadly my first cry for help didn't work all she did was cry and say that I was beautiful and loved but, I didn't feel that way. That´s okay to be like that! If you are struggling with mental health, I just want you to know that even though I may not know you, I promise the people that do know you, love you and care about you. You may not feel like it but I can guarantee that at one or more people care about you and would absolutely heart broken if you died. It may be a Teacher, your Mom, your Dad, your best friend(s), heck, it might even be me!! I love you though and know what you're going through, don´t give up! <3
Anonymous
More Stories Coming Soon
Anonymous
I have battled with depression and anxiety since I was eleven years old. My family had been getting in fights and I felt it was my duty to fix it. It progressed worse over the years until I fell into substance abuse. I am now a year sober, but everyday is still a battle. I am getting stronger and more confident knowing I am getting the help I need.
Anonymous
More stories coming soon
Anonymous
More Stories Coming Soon
Anonymous
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