Mental health is for the rich.
Before I had my daughter, I was one of those people who didn’t think depression was a thing. It was a choice, laziness, or a lack of will.
My postpartum depression went undiagnosed for over a year, until I tried to kill myself. I've struggled with depression since, been in and out of therapy, and started speaking about it in the hopes of normalizing it.
So yeah, I get it. Mental health matters, and when you're suffering it's hard to do anything.
But that's not what I want to talk about.
I want to talk about the trauma caused from living under constant financial stress.
You want anxiety? Try being 400 dollars short on rent the day before you know they are going to send you a 72-hour notice.
Want depression? How about not being able to pay for lunch (let alone the field trip) for your kid.
Nothing in my life has caused me (and it continues to cause me) more stress than money. Career, job, all of it has so more value in American society than any other thing, every other thing ends up sacrificed in the process.
I used to say that a younger me was trying to run away from myself. And as I matured, I realized I couldn't, and that perhaps not running was the key.
But I was wrong.
