Dear Person, There Are Reasons to Stay

I’ve always been an ally and advocate for people who experience mental health challenges. I myself have had bouts of low-grade depression and anxiety over the years. But since dealing with my biggest mental health challenge yet over the past few months, I’ve decided to take my allyship and advocacy to a new level. The truth of the matter is that many of us will have a mental health challenge during our lifetime. This 2023 study reports that 50% of us will!

Because I have been seeking out some mental health content on Instagram recently, “The Algorithm” has been feeding me a ton of this content. That’s how I came across Ben West, who started an organization in memory of his brother, who died by suicide when they were teenagers. He offers a platform for folks to write public letters to people who are struggling. The site is “Reasons to Stay,” and I encourage you to write your own letter—as well as read some letters yourself. We all need encouragement and reassurance that things will be OK.

Months ago, I had also seen social media posts from a company called DearPersonCo. This company sells apparel with encouraging messages on it and was founded by a woman whose sister died by suicide. Well, the posts from DearPersonCo re-appeared in my feed recently and I immediately bought a T-shirt and a sweatshirt. There are different messages, but I bought the apparel with the classic statement “You are enough.” on the front, and on the back = “Dear person behind me, the world is a better place with you in it. Love, the person in front of you.”

The world is completely f’ed up (excuse my French)—more than I’ve ever seen it—so I think we all can use some gentle reminders that we are enough…and life is beautiful and worth living, even when we are bombarded with so much tragedy and nonsense.