My life with chronic depression and how I got help: NEW YouTube videos!

Two new videos are on my channel now

It’s uncomfortable to talk about mental health online. From a personal standpoint, anyway. I’d almost feel more comfortable posting a nude photo.

But there are so many people out there who need stories of other people’s struggles and how they get better. It’s what I was looking for a year ago in the midst of one of the worst depressive episodes of my life.

I was searching YouTube, Instagram, and Reddit for any and all stories of people who had suicidal ideation, who went to intensive inpatient/outpatient programs, and who healed. I wanted to know what that could look like for me.

And I knew then that if I came out the other side I would want to tell that story, no matter how vulnerable or uncomfortable.

So if you are someone who struggles with your mental health, this is for you. I want you to know I see you and things can get better. Healing is possible.

The Videos

I have posted two videos on my YouTube channel:

The first video is about my history with chronic depression leading up to my depressive episode last summer that led to suicidal ideation and what triggered me to get help.

The second video is about getting help through an intensive outpatient program (IOP) and doing ketamine therapy.

I really hope you’ll watch, and I hope these are helpful, if only to feel less alone.

If you have specific questions about anything in these videos please don’t hesitate to reach out. While there’s a few things I’m private about in this whole experience, I’m mostly an open book and there likely isn’t a question I won’t answer.

Brandy, why the content change?

I know most of my content lately has been focused around notebooks, and being a multi-passionate artist, and that this is a really hard switch away from that. I think that when I take a look within at the content that is most meaningful to me, this is it. That’s not to say there isn’t a place for my other creative endeavors, and it is hard for me to stick to a niche, but I think this theme will resonate and be woven within other pieces of content for a while.

The overall theme being: living well with chronic depression/mental illness. And I think an important part of that is recognizing that my identity is not my mental illness and that my creative efforts (art, writing, notebooks, what-have-you) are part of maintaining well-being in my life and also a big part of who I am.

What’s Next

• A text post outlining what is in these videos.

• More mental health videos/content related to my personal experience (in other words, anecdotal and not necessarily advice, as I’m not a licensed professional)

• Anything else you want to see/know

Resources

If you or someone you know is struggling, please reference the resources listed on my YouTube videos. Click this link again and go to the video description for a full list of mental health resources for Canada, the US and worldwide options.

Thank you, and keep going <3