“So growing up in my community, dealing with mental health was very difficult because I grew up in an area that had a lot of violence and drug abuse. And just me, growing up as a child in that community in East Oakland and being traumatized seeing that and all those experiences affected my way of taking care of myself and emotional health in that aspect. I’ve never had resources up until now because it’s been normalized here. (Not a lot of people seek help because) there’s not a lot of people of color who know about resources and it’s not something people of color seek. Traditionally, we’re taught to forget it and just accept what happens. Right now I’m detoxicating myself from all the things that was normalized growing up as a child. I live in an area where a lot of resources aren’t spread, and I still live there now. I still see the issues in the same community —ten, fifteen years later.”

“I’ve been through anxiety and depression. Just doing daily activities—like why am I doing this? I didn’t feel motivated anymore. I tried to live in the moment, not thinking about the future. I was always overthinking and anxious over what people thought of me. I had to cut it out. I tried to focus on myself. Staying home. I had to do things that I liked, like reading, listening to music, dancing. I never told anyone because they always saw me as this happy person. I just had to take time for myself. I used to always be like—oh yeah, tomorrow when I wake up I’m gonna be 100%, I’m gonna be back to normal, and it just got me more sad. So I know it’s a gradual process.”

“I have been dealing with depression and anxiety. I didn’t got to a therapist or anything like that, I just went to my friends for help. I dealt with it from there. When my parents found out I was going through depression, they wanted me to see help from a therapist. I didn’t want to do it mostly because I felt uncomfortable talking to strangers about that type of stuff and anybody else to worry. Currently, I’m doing better. I mean it never truly goes away, there’s always ups and down moments. To cope I try to hang out with people that care about me. Whenever I’m alone for a long period of time that’s when it’s most prominent.”

“When I left for college I dealt with a lot of depression and through peer counseling and seeing student counselors and having support groups with other peers it helped me work through a lot of anxiety and the tension I was feeling in a new place. There’s a whole stigma around mental health.”

“Do you want to learn how to use this stress ball? So you use this when you’re feeling sad, angry, or anxious. Breathe in and squeeze it tightly, then breathe out and release it slowly. This can help calm your body and release tension.”