My name is Becky Kane and I work somewhere in the overlap of content and community marketing. At the end of last year, I went through a bout of anxiety and depression that lasted a lot longer than it ever had before. I would sit down at my computer and could not concentrate or get anything done even but still ended the day feeling exhausted. Every day I thought, this day will be better. And every day it wasn't. I thought about quitting. Earlier in the year, my company, Doist, renamed our "sick days", "health days" and made clear that we should use them for mental health too. My boss encouraged me to take an extended amount of time off with those days. It wasn't a cure-all, but it did give me the space I needed to reset and start feeling like myself again. The leadership at Doist has always been open about their own mental health struggles, past and present, and it gave me the courage and security to take the time that I needed. Grateful to have a manager who cares about me as a person first as my work second. My wish for this Mental Health Awareness Month is that my experience becomes the baseline expectation of how leaders care for their employees and not the exception.

This is what someone with Complex PTSD looks like. My name is Janine and I’m an Executive Coach and Facilitator for Venture-backed startups. This is my mental health journey…. *Trigger warning* - my mom was suicidal when she was pregnant with me, so I entered the world in a state of anxiety and went from there. Nobody had any idea what was going on inside of me. I’m an over-achiever who is the person everyone calls in a crisis. Inside, I was running on fumes. Through a lot of deep work and with the support of incredible therapists in my life, I’ve learned to manage my anxiety through connecting with nature, journaling, exercising and shedding the need to be responsible for other’s internal work. My hope for Mental Health Awareness Month is that everyone feels comfortable sharing their truth.

My name is Lowell Thompson, and I'm the founder of WorkRelm. My mental health journey started many years ago when I thought my anxiety was a symptom of an, at the time, undiagnosed illness, which was putting me in and out of the ICU and ER. I struggled for many years before the anxiety improved. And I improved it in the dark without telling anyone. My anxiety would have improved much faster and easier if I asked for help. The problem with some mental illnesses is they make you feel alone in your problem when there are many people out there going through similar things and would love to help. If you're struggling, please tell someone. You don't need to be alone.