OUR BACKSTORY
We aren’t looking to be defined by our experiences with depression & anxiety, but context can help you better see where we are coming from.
I am a relatively optimistic person who has never had something traumatic happen to me. My childhood was happy, but during my life (first when I was in college) there have been seasons where I have battled depression & anxiety and mental health issues. There have been dark seasons where I lost hope, was unable to handle normal life, and even felt like giving up on life. Three different times depression and anxiety became so severe I was unable to cope with normal-day living.
Through the years, I have continual seasons of ups and downs, but I’ve learned the value of medication, how to rely on the Lord and find hope. I may always struggle with this, but I have found ways to better handle the hopelessness and despair.
My desire is to offer you hope that there is a way out of the darkness.
Shaun and I were fresh into our relationship back in college when he sat me down at a park to tell me he needed to break up with me. He had just started to struggle with depression. He didn’t think he would ever be able to provide for me or a family. He felt too overwhelmed at the idea of being in a relationship with anyone. It all seemed too much to handle. But how could I walk away from someone I already cared deeply about just because he couldn’t promise me a blissful future? Seemed to me he didn’t need to walk this alone. I remember feeling thankful for his consideration of me, drawn to remaining a support in his life, and ignorant to what this really meant.
More than twenty years later, we are still together, he still struggles with depression and anxiety at times, and I’m no longer ignorant to what this really involves. Standing by my man when he’s gone off the deep end multiple times is not easy. Making it through the dark for him and our family is not easy. Hopelessness tries to suffocate us all, but we fight for hope. It’s just that sometimes it feels I fight alone.
My desire is to offer you hope that there is a way through the darkness.
We get asked often about this struggle, what to do, how to help. We are working on adding content to address these things because we know how confusing and hard and overwhelming mental illness can be. We are both hoping our story can somehow be an encouragement, a speck of light, a resource of sorts for those of you affected by depression and anxiety.
You aren’t alone. The person struggling is always worth fighting for. Giving up cannot be an option.