31/05/2026
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and for our family, the end of may carries a weight that doesn't get easier with time passing. Today is the day 11 year ago when we lost our sister; a daughter, a mother, a wife, a friend, and a person who had so much more to give and so much more to live for.
I want the world to know she existed and I want her to never be forgotten.
Two weeks ago, for the first time ever, I forgot her birthday. There have been so many painful firsts since we lost her, but this one hurt more somehow because the thing that kept me going after she died was making sure we never stopped talking about her, with her, saying her name and sharing her face. We all have our own ways of dealing with grief, and this was mine from the very first moment. She cannot be forgotten. Her name is Claudia.
I am sharing her today again and I am asking you to do something too.
If someone in your life has gone a little quiet lately, or you just have a feeling that something is off please reach out to them. It costs nothing and it could mean everything. If you are the one struggling, please know there are so many people ready and willing to help you because you are not a burden and you are loved.
Depression, like cancer or diabetes, or any other body illness is a disease. It takes over a person from the inside, and when it does, it leaves devastation in its wake for everyone who loved them. But just like with any illness, there is help.
I say this as someone who has stood in that darkness myself, completely convinced I would never feel joy again and I was wrong. I promise it gets better.
We have to make a promise as a society to stand up for the ones who cannot at the time and stop the stigma around mental health illnesses. Usually the best way to do it is by simply having a look around your closest people.
Bipolar has so many layers, but I promise you stability exists.
