Our Stories

There is a growing understanding of the interrelated relationship between both physical and mental health. Having poor mental health can often lead to negative physical health, and poor physical health can impact one's psychological well-being. At “Bootcamps for Change”, we...

Throughout our lifetime, we lose many people – friends, colleagues, and family members. Sometimes we lose people naturally, such as moving to different schools and changing jobs. But sometimes we lose people because of a force completely out of our...

2020 has been a year of shifting our focus away from ourselves, and onto the events that are changing our world as we know it. For many of us, it has become second nature to mentally prioritize other people’s struggles...

ELI BROWN IS THE FOUNDER OF SHINE THE LIGHT ON. THIS IS HIS STORY.   Shine The Light On (STLO) from Shine The Light On (STLO) on Vimeo.   From the outside, my life looked perfect. I was in college,...

I used to think depression was this thing for the sad and lonely. I used to think it was something people were just born with. I used to think it was something that came with automatic tears- happiness sold separately....

Sometimes I bottle all my emotions up and they just get stuck inside and I’m only ever angry at myself.... but please don’t tell anyone. Everyone thinks I’m handling everything okay so I don’t want them to know.” I wrote...

For as long as I can remember, I have been weighed down by insecurities and self-doubt. This stemmed from having an over-achieving family who, completely unintentionally, set some pretty high bars for me as a child. Me, not being the...

Well here goes nothing... Growing up I was an outgoing child, a wild one many would say. I was silly, full of life, always ready to party, brought smiles and laughter to everyone around me. I was the one that...

The first time I was exposed to a counsellor or social worker was when I was 16 and in the hospital recovering from a very serious car accident. It was a head on collision on the highway and resulted in...

Perhaps my story is a little different from the rest perhaps that is why I didn’t consider it valid or relevant for most of my life. However I am human, i experience, I feel, I hurt, and self-awareness has been a pathway towards healing for me. Mental illness does not always start with a doctor, a diagnosis, and medication.

Here’s a quick little story that really sheds some light on my childhood. I was born with a cleft palate and underwent my first plastic surgery at eight months old. I guess I’ll never be able to say I haven’t “gone under the knife.” I didn't really have much of a choice, I was a baby. For the next 18 years my jaw is all I saw when I looked in the mirror.

I never knew what this dark feeling was. I was 15, and it was difficult to describe to anyone who had not felt it before. This feeling of feeling no emotions, I was numb. I didn’t know that feeling this way for such a long period of time was not okay.

My name’s Andrea Auerbach Vieira. I’m a social media influencer, I was born in Brazil.

Everybody knows Brazil for its stunning beaches and perfect bodies wearing tiny bikinis. Since my childhood I struggled with eating disorders,always overweight, by 12 I started taking amphetamines, by 15 I had my first anorexia crisis, but I was happy because I lost weight...

I recently started was diagnosed with anxiety and clinical depression. Yes, I was always somewhat of an anxious person. Always overthinking what if this, and what if that. My journey with depression started years ago but I was never fully aware of the feelings because I’d go out to shop or meet friends or drink whenever I started feeling any negative emotions or thoughts.

I have battled with mental illness since I was around 11 but I didn’t know that at the time. After my grandfather passed away when I was 9, my life felt like it flipped upside down. Everything seemed so much more dark and gloomy than it used to be for me. It was like I changed completely and I had no idea why.

With a lifetime of being shy and timid, those traits slowly developed into having Social Anxiety. I found myself drawing further away from friends and family. Being unkind to myself for the longest time. Fearing of offending people, trying to be “Perfect” while never considering my needs I found myself in a dark place.

Growing up, I never thought about my mental health. I excelled in school, I played National League Basketball for my hometown and tried out for Youth Team GB in Athletics. I'm lucky to say, I've always had a supportive family to guide me through life.

My struggle with mental health came on hard and fast about 18 months ago. I thought that what I was experiencing was possibly delayed postpartum but after reading up on it, it wasn’t likely that it was that.

My name is Jesse Brideau and I consider myself to be a warrior fighting for balance; a doer, creator, dreamer, visionary and soul-searcher. I'm coming from a place of my heart when I tell you that I have uneasy days... I feel apprehensive, anxious and I allow fear to overtake me.

Before I was diagnosed, with my LD, ADHD and anxiety, I always felt different then everyone else. I tried so hard to fit in and pretend like nothing was wrong, until one day that pressure became too much. I felt alone, and sadness started to take over.

What started as dramatic mood swings and fits of rage in College turned into suicidal idealizations, penning notes, creating plans but, never being able to follow through in the end. It was never about wanting to die, it was just not wanting to exist in a numb painful misery.