NICOLE OPARA
ASW, MSW, BA 
Mental Health Advocate & Writer​

It was in 2019 when I was at my lowest mentally and emotionally. I had been in pretty low points before then, but the weight of school, and not truly believing my life had value really took a toll on me. I wondered to myself more times then I would like to admit, what life would be like if I did not exist. I wondered whether I was just taking up space and if my emotions and feelings were a burden to the people around me. 

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I am sure we can all relate in one way or another. Maybe some of us have been able to pull ourselves out of those dark mental spaces pretty easily, and then there are others, like myself, who did not know how to bounce back as quickly and needed extra support and help. Whether that be through hospitalization, therapy or medication.  

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Whatever your mental health journey is looking like for you, we all have a story. As a mental health therapist, advocate, writer and aspiring speaker I have found myself through out my career having the privilege of hearing people's stories in one way or another. If we could take the time  to actually see each other as humans with value and  a story than we can change the stigma surrounding various mental health topics such as Bipolar disorders, Schizophrenia, Major Depressive Disorder etc.