16 Personal Essays About Mental Health Worth Reading

"I was serious about killing myself. My best friend wasn’t — but she’s the one who’s dead."

"After a lifetime of hypochondria, I was finally diagnosed with my very own medical condition. And maybe, in a weird way, it’s made me less afraid to die."

"It wasn’t easy, or cheap."

"When you’re labeled as crazy, the “right” kind of diagnosis could mean the difference between a productive life and a life sentence."

"When my closest friend’s first baby was stillborn, we navigated through depression and grief together."

"I’ve become obsessively afraid that the people I love will die. Now I have to teach myself how to be OK with that."

"It took me two years to even acknowledge I’d been depressed after the birth of my twin sons. I wonder how much it had to do with the way I had been taught to be strong."

"I still tell my friends I am in recovery so they will hold me accountable."

"I didn’t expect it, but stand-up comedy has given me the freedom to talk about depression and anxiety on my own terms."

"My entire life was shaped by violence, so I wanted to end it violently. But I didn’t — thanks to overcoming the stigma surrounding African-Americans and depression, and to building a community on Twitter."

"The best way I’ve found to fight my anxiety is with a pair of knitting needles."

"I’d known for a while that I needed to see a therapist. It wasn’t until I felt like I could do without help that I finally sought it."

"After a lifetime struggling with disordered eating, I’m still figuring out how to have a healthy relationship with my body and what I feed it."

"Dehoarding my partner’s childhood home gave me a way to understand his mother, but I’m still not sure how to live with the habit he’s inherited."

"I had to learn how to love myself enough to take care of myself. It wasn’t easy."