We Matter Too, Inc. started in a dark place for me. In 2019, I was the victim of discrimination, emotional abuse, bullying and gaslighting. After months of turmoil, late one July evening, I attempted suicide for the second time in my short life. I felt completely isolated in this moment, alone in a way I had never experienced before. I wanted all of my pain to end. I couldn’t see any feasible way out of the situation I found myself in and the only way, which made sense, was to finally put a period on my story.
All of a sudden, a feeling of soothing calm came over me. I laid there, on the floor of our guest room, while everything spun around me. All of my oxygen was being pulled away from my extremities because my vital organs needed it more. I could not have gotten up off the floor, even if I wanted to. I had to lay there and try to revive the oxygen in my body. I felt drunk, though at this point, I hadn’t had a drink in about seven months. All I could do is allow my body to recover.
Once I was able to get up off of my floor, it was as though I was being born again. As I stood up, I vowed to never let a group of people do this to me ever again. More importantly, I started on a mission to make sure no other human being experienced what I had just lived through, if I could. If it could happen to me; it could happen to anyone and this isn’t okay with me.
Out of my darkness came such a beautifully positive idea; to help others with mental health issues or mental diseases feel as though they are heard. The goal was to provide a safe place for all to come, to ask questions they fear asking a doctor about or to share personal stories about their own journey. We Matter Too, is a place for all to find a community so as to not feel alone. It is a space we empower those with lived experiences to share those experiences to possibly help someone who is just beginning on this journey. ‘Me too’ is an extremely powerful phrase, it shows another human being compassion and empathy.
We truly do matter. Our stories matter. Our voices matter. Our lives matter. Sure, we have mental health challenges and mental diseases, which are labels making it hard for society to look past. The time has come, for us to stand up and be proud because we have survived diseases that do their best to take our lives from us. This is our time to push back to say, “We Matter Too”.