My decision to write this book was easy. Books have been an instrumental part of my life—they’ve taught, guided, illuminated, comforted, distracted and entertained me. Whole new worlds full of ideas, that expanded my mind, and the potential for what is possible, exist within the pages of books. I’m a verbal processor and in many ways my writing is an extension of that. When I entered my realm of healing when I turned 20, a thought rested on the shelf. One day I would write about this journey.
While writing about my mental health experience felt like something that was always awaiting me, sharing the book with others wasn’t. It’s been hard to arrive at this decision. There were many back and forths within myself over what to do. I never felt it was something I had to do and there were so many reasons to not share it—every one of them rooted in fear. I’m afraid people will misunderstand, judge, and attempt to invalidate my experience. Afraid I’ll lose my privacy, or that nobody will care…