By: Lina Gensollen
Sometimes I feel hopeless, but I know that I must keep going. I want to use my story to inspire others. I have good and bad days, and some days are horrible, but I try to remember that I can persevere. We must learn to get along with our mental health. Many times, I want to be mad at my mental health diagnoses, but then I remember they are what made me who I am today. I remember that without my mental health, I wouldn’t be Lina. I remember that, without my struggles, I wouldn’t know how to be resilient. That is why I feel that mental health means, to me, learning to be resilient.
My understanding of resilience is to be able to spring back or endure something challenging or debilitating. Resilience can be reaching out for help or just taking time for ourselves. Mental health is resilience. It’s getting up every day and trying. It’s going to school or work when we don’t feel like it. It’s saying good morning to those around us when we feel like isolating ourselves. It’s taking self-care time for ourselves. It’s asking for support when we need it. Resilience seems like some superhuman thing when said out loud. Still, when we look at what resilience means and stop to observe a person who has mental health struggles, we realize that mental health is the definition of resilience. Resilience is what mental health means to me.
-Lina Jo
Honorable Mention · Adult Writing (2023)