We all have our own struggles and burdens that we carry around with us from day-to-day—burdens that a lot of people may not know about and I think we forget about that a lot of times. We forget that we all have our own demons. To make this point apparent and open our eyes to this I asked my community to open up about their own struggles and share what they were willing to with me. The answers were overwhelming, to say the least.
Reading these very honest and vulnerable submissions from people I knew for years but had no idea that they struggled with these things was enough proof for me to write this. A lot of the submissions were from people my age, 19, which is even crazier because in just 19 years of being alive we have been faced with some of the hardest problems some people could ever imagine.
From reading these submissions it reassured my belief that spreading kindness and practicing understanding others will be one of the only things to help us survive. If you take anything away from this I want it to be to walk through life being a little less judgmental and remembering that you do not know someones entire story. People are very good at hiding their biggest secret, so go easy on people and be kind.
1. "Dealing with the pain and depression every day and always having the thoughts of suicide."
-19 years old
2. "Being thousands of miles away from my best friend."
-22 years old
3. "Not seeing my family on a regular basis and moving out of the state/country."
-29 years old
4. "Alcoholic parent."
-17 years old
5. "Mental illness."
-20 years old
6. "Depression and suicidal thoughts."
-19 years old
7. "Having both my dogs die and my grandfather dying all in the first 2 weeks of college."
-20 years old
8. "Watching my mom suffer from chronic pain for 3 years."
-19 years old
9. "Missing home and my family while I'm away at college."
-18 years old
10. "Heartbreak."
-21 years old
11. "Being sexually assaulted as a child and trying to cope and make sense of it as an adult."
-19 years old
12. "Leaving my family behind to start a life for myself."
-19 years old
13. "Suicide."
-19 years old
14. "Self-confidence and body positivity."
-19 years old
15. "When my mom made the choice to love me less because of who I chose to love."
-19 years old
16. "The SATs— so much of my future rides on a single test."
-18 years old
17. "Being in a constant battle with my own mind and being a victim of self-harm for 6 years."
-19 years old
18. "Having a mental illness as I go on my day through school."
-17 years old
19. "Working a night job."
-19 years old
20. "Not knowing what the future holds makes my anxiety sky rocket some days."
-21 years old
