With the suicide death of my friend Kirsten, I am reminded of my own struggles with depression. Since the age of 17, I have battled depression, leading to days and weeks contemplating ending my life. I want to share with you a message of hope. No matter how far down you are, there is help, a way out of the seemingly endless darkness.

Depression and anxiety began undermining my life shortly after I left home to attend college. I couldn’t function, dropping out of college and beginning my addiction to alcohol and drugs. I lost jobs and relationships to the diseases of mental illness and addiction. In 1991 I began trying to seek a solution with therapists, prescribed medications, alcohol and drugs.

Finally in 2001 I couldn’t take it anymore. I was secretly self-harming and preparing to take my own life. My therapist recommended, “Perhaps you should try out a 12-step meeting.” This was the true beginning of my healing journey. My self-medicating with alcohol and drugs, a common “solution” for many suffering with mental illness, was only masking and making things worse while negating the effectiveness of prescribed medications.

In 2003, in sobriety, I was diagnosed with bipolar II, clinical depression and anxiety. I was appropriately medicated with the supervision of a skilled psychologist and psychiatrist. I have continued to see the same psychologist, take medication as prescribed, and work the 12 steps. Not all people with mental illness need a 12-step program, but I do.

My life today is beautiful. I am happily married with two amazing sons. I am given a daily reprieve from the fallacy of unending darkness based on medical intervention, therapy, my spiritual condition and my loving friends and family.

I hope my story helps you to see things will get better. If you need help, please reach out. You are not alone. There is hope, and there is help.

— Theresa Hampl