by Tia-Reese Robinson, Age 18
Growing up, I never had a good grasp on mental health. I just assumed being sad was normal, while I grew up in a black Caribbean household, that topic wasn’t consistent. It wasn’t until I high school I realized I was being affected by traumas which were damaging my mental health. My 8th grade year was the first time suicide ever crossed my mind. The kids in my class started sharing this horrible picture of me on social media, calling me slurs and making me feel like a joke. I was always insecure. I was a young dark skin black girl in a predominantly white area at the time; I was always worried about my hair being too short and my skin being too dark but that moment hit me hard. I remember I was crying hard at lunch and when I went home I locked myself in my room finding ways to hurt myself. That was one of the most traumatic moments for me. When I reached highschool I had good moments of course, but I went through episodes where I would have no motivation to get up. My room was always messy, my mom was yelling at me to clean it, almost everyday I would cry myself to sleep. I never knew why being alive was draining. This was around the time a student in a school by mine committed sucide at the campus. Our school district started taking mental health way more seriously. We had mental health Wednesday, where the whole day was dedicated to informational videos on how to get through it. I also did some research by myself. I spoke to my mom about it and she comforted me and has been a great help ever since; we even had a passionate moment where I cried in her arms while she held me. I finally feel safe. The school was very consistent about it. My senior year, a group of juniors were in a bad accident, leaving one girl to pass away; when we all went back to school the whole atmosphere was off; it was such a horrible day, they brought in people to speak to us, confront us and reassure that better days are coming. I believed mental health is something everyone should take seriously; growing up you never understand it really, you may brush it off as having a bad day, but it could be more intense than thought. Now as I’m growing up as a young woman I found ways to cope. I love writing and journaling. I can write stories for hours. I also love spending time with friends and family, they’re my escape. Keeping care of your mental health is just as important as your physical health and I hope to see it more explained at a younger age such as middle or even elementary. Now, writing this, I’m not saying I’m cured 100% from the depression or anything like that, but I found healthier ways to cope and I realize that I am not crazy, my feelings are valid. It's okay to feel sad and have off days. Nobody is perfect; we are all just people trying to make it in this big world.
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Congratulations to Tia-Reese for being selected as a FINALIST in the 2022 Share Your Story Multimedia Contest!
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