About Strength Beyond Struggle
My name is Michele Nelson and I host the Strength Beyond Struggle podcast. We bring you mental health stories from the frontlines.
Our heroes, both and young and old, have faced mental health challenges. And they’ve come out the other side determined to help others.
This podcast grew out of Ending the Silence. That’s a program developed by the National Alliance for Mental Health Here in Arizona, ETS is funded by a grant from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.
ETS brings a youth presenter and an adult presenter into the classroom to talk to kids. They’re both trained by NAMI in how to tell their story. The youth presenters are all younger than 30. And they tell the story of their mental health journey in 10 minutes. The adult presenters – like me – talk about the big picture with data and research. We hope to reduce the alarming increase in suicide – and the mental health crises in schools.
During the pandemic, depression, anxiety and suicide attempts doubled among teens. The rates have since dropped – but they’re still scary. That’s why ETS wants to talk to the kids. The presentation lasts for almost an hour and includes exercises and videos. We want to help the kids who are struggling – and also their friends and loved ones so they know what to do.
Research shows, communication and connection changes lives.
I know this as well. My daughter lives with both bi-polar and ADHD. I worked hard to help her – and deal with my fear. But along the way, I found I also had to embrace and address my 42-year use of the bulimic behavior to manage my anxiety. A lot of therapy coupled with NAMI and ETS have helped get me past the shame, denial and mythology society imposes when we deal with mental health.
Before 1990s we didn’t have the technology to understand Mental Health.
We all have a brain. But until the 1990s — we lacked the technology to understand what is going on. Now, we have revolutionized both diagnosis and treatment.
Perhaps 20% of us have the wiring for a mental health condition. And that makes us vulnerable to an environmental trigger. That can include trauma, abuse, injury or illness.
Unfortunately, it’s tough to talk about all this in schools.
For starters, the schools are careful to make sure parents understand what their kids are learning. So this podcast reaches out to parents on behalf of their kids. We need them to sign permission slips. We also need them to hear what’s possible. So this podcast will introduce you to the youth presenters that will speak in classrooms. And to the adult presenters as well. And we’ll also talk to experts about mental health – and the impact on kids, parents and families.
We love these kids. We’re inspired by their strength.
And we want to help parents to help them.
Because one thing we’ve learned. The journey to healing starts when we end the silence.
