October 10th is World Mental Health Day, and for me, in recent years, it lands like a gentle nudge. A reminder to stop, breathe, and ask myself: how am I, really?
This day reminds me that mental health isn’t something “other people” deal with. It’s all of us. It’s me. It’s you. It’s the quiet friend you think has it all together, and the stranger you pass at the grocery store who looks a little lost.
I think it’s easy for mental health to become a slogan or a hashtag, but for some of us it’s not abstract at all — it’s daily life. When I look around at the people in my daily world, so many of them are carrying some form of mental health challenge, anxiety, depression, addiction, burnout, grief. It’s far more common than we often acknowledge.
I must admit, the first time my son told me about his bouts of depression, I was shocked. I had worked so hard to give him a good life, why would he be depressed? I confided in my friend Ali, and she gently scolded me. She said, “Depression doesn’t pick and choose just because you’ve had a good life on the surface.” That stuck with me. She was right. Mental health issues don’t discriminate, and they don’t always look the way we think they will. He had always seemed like the happy one, always a jokester, trying to make people laugh, but deep down he was struggling.
One of the things I’m most grateful for is that my kids know they can talk to me about their struggles. They have been open about with me about their struggles with anxiety and everything that comes along with that. Their honesty has humbled me and taught me so much about listening without judgment. Sometimes I can offer advice, sometimes all I can do is hold space — but either way, they know they are not alone.
I’ve also seen how mental health can be impacted by physical illness. When my father was dying of cancer, the psychological weight of it was terrible for him. It wasn’t just the pain or the treatments; it was the fear, the grief, the loss of control, and the way his world shrank. Watching him struggle mentally as his body failed was heartbreaking, and it opened my eyes even further; mental health isn’t separate from the rest of our lives. It’s intertwined with every joy and every hardship.
I want something better for the next generation, because my grandchildren are growing up in a much different world than I did. Every child deserves to grow up knowing their feelings aren’t weaknesses and every adult needs to know that asking for help isn’t failure. Families must know that they can talk about these things the same way we’d talk about a broken bone or a chronic illness.
This October 10th, I’m reminding myself — and you — that mental health is a daily practice, not just a once-a-year conversation. It’s checking in with yourself and resting without guilt. It’s saying no when you’re at capacity and asking for support when you need it.
If you’re reading this and you’re struggling, please know you are not a burden, you are never alone and your mental health matters.
Let’s keep having these conversations — not just today, but all year long.
Because we’re stronger when we break the silence together.
The Other Side of Nice 