Sophie’s Story

My name is Sophie and I'm a freshman in high school. When I was in eighth grade I began to get bullied online and people would tell me "you're fat and stupid, go kill yourself". I had previous anxiety problems but eventually the bullying broke me down. I started to self harm, and ended up in the hospital after a serious suicide attempt. It's only been a little bit over a year since then, but I've already started to recover and feel like myself again. I switched schools which helped a lot and I go to therapy twice a week. I haven't self harmed in many months, and I always go to someone if I have any suicidal thoughts. I'm still shy when talking about my issues but lately I've realized a lot of people are also going through issues like I did. The more I've shared my story, the more I'm able to help people. Some kid's at school see my scars and think its weird. But all of those people eventually begin to realize that mental illness is nothing to be weirded out by. It doesn't make you "bad" or any of those things. And that's what I'm finally beginning to realize about myself: That I am a valuable person who really isn't much different than someone without depression. I hope to share my stories with others and inspire people to view mental illness without stigma.