Sarah always wanted to be a mother. But after the birth of her son, Alex, she found herself facing postpartum depression and rage that left her feeling like a completely different person. In this StoryTeller interview, Sarah speaks candidly about preeclampsia, thoughts of self-harm, and the pain of reaching out for medical help only to feel dismissed. She shares how postpartum struggles affected her for years—and how support, self-awareness, and learning to distinguish “mom guilt” from “mom shame” helped her begin finding herself again. Sarah’s story is both deeply personal and widely relatable: becoming a parent creates a new life, but it does not erase the person you were before. She encourages friends and family to ask parents how *they* are doing—not only how the baby is doing—and reminds parents that quality matters more than perfection. Her message is simple but powerful: You are not broken. You are not worthless because you need help. You are enough. Content note: This interview discusses postpartum depression, postpartum rage, preeclampsia, and thoughts of self-harm. Pregnant and postpartum parents can call or text the free, confidential National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at **1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262)**. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or considering suicide, call or text **988** in the United States. If there is immediate danger, call 911. #StoryTeller #PostpartumDepression #MaternalMentalHealth #PostpartumSupport #Motherhood #MentalHealth #YouAreNotBroken #InTheirOwnWords

For much of Nancy Hartsfield’s childhood, mental illness was simply part of family life. Her mother, Edith, spent years moving in and out of psychiatric hospitals, receiving changing diagnoses and treatments while Nancy tried to understand a reality that often looked very different from her own. In this StoryTeller interview, Nancy reflects on growing up with a mother who experienced profound fear, hallucinations, and periods of institutionalization—but whom Nancy remembers first as a loving, compassionate person. One of her earliest memories became a lesson she would carry throughout her life: during a visit to Warren State Hospital, Edith encouraged three-year-old Nancy to play along with another patient’s imaginary apple. Years later, Nancy understood what her mother had taught her—that sometimes compassion begins by entering another person’s reality instead of immediately trying to correct it. That lesson followed Nancy into a 46-year nursing career and into her own family. Mental health challenges appeared across generations, including in her siblings and children. When her 16-year-old son told her he wanted to die, Nancy admits her first response came from fear—but she stopped, listened, asked what he was feeling, and helped him get care. For Nancy, that experience reinforced something her mother had modeled long before: communication only works when someone is willing to speak and someone else is willing to truly listen. Today, Nancy sees Edith’s influence throughout the way she approaches nursing, mental health, and other people. Her story asks us to look beyond diagnoses, behaviors, and stigma to see the person underneath—and to meet difficult experiences with curiosity, compassion, and a willingness to listen. Looking back, Nancy says she believes knowing her mother made her more compassionate than she otherwise would have been. Content note: This interview discusses severe mental illness, psychiatric hospitalization and historical treatments, hallucinations, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, suicide and suicidal thoughts, substance use, and multigenerational mental health challenges. #StoryTeller #MentalHealth #MentalHealthAwareness #FamilyMentalHealth #Schizophrenia #Dementia #SuicidePrevention #Compassion #Listening #Healing #InTheirOwnWords

For much of Erika Lehmann’s life, hard work was more than ambition—it was a way to cope with stress, quiet her inner critic, and prove her worth. In this StoryTeller interview, Erika reflects on losing her father at age seven, growing up with a mother experiencing profound depression, and learning to care for herself while setting aside her own needs. Those childhood patterns followed her into adulthood, where academic achievement, a PhD, and a demanding consulting career rewarded her ability to work harder and push through exhaustion. In 2021, years of unrelenting stress culminated in a collapse and traumatic brain injury that affected Erika’s vision, memory, and ability to complete everyday tasks. During her nine-month recovery, she began recognizing her workaholism as a stress response—and the personal cost it had carried for her health and relationships. Today, Erika is learning to listen to her body, respond differently to self-doubt, and recognize that stopping is not failure. Her story asks us to reconsider a behavior our culture often celebrates: when does dedication become a way of avoiding what we feel? Content note: This interview discusses childhood loss, parental depression, chronic stress, workaholism, and traumatic brain injury. #StoryTeller #MentalHealth #Workaholism #Burnout #TraumaticBrainInjury #ChildhoodTrauma #Healing #InTheirOwnWords

Mateo is a U.S. Army Reserve veteran, former Black Hawk helicopter mechanic, and construction worker for the City of Colorado Springs. Growing up in a military family, Mateo learned discipline and stoicism—but not how to talk openly about emotions. His family carried unresolved grief after the drowning death of his sister before he was born, and mental health remained largely unspoken. In this StoryTeller interview, Mateo shares how a distressing alcohol-related incident involving a close friend contributed to depression, increased drinking, panic attacks, and suicidal thoughts. After initially finding therapy inaccessible and discouraging, the support of trusted friends helped him try again. Mateo compares caring for mental health to physical rehabilitation: healing requires consistency, patience, support, and work outside each appointment. His story emphasizes the importance of taking emotional pain seriously, making help accessible, and creating relationships in which people feel heard. Sometimes what someone needs first is not advice, but validation. Content note: This interview discusses family loss, alcohol use, sexual-assault-related trauma, depression, panic attacks, and suicidal thoughts. If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis or considering suicide, call or text **988** to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the United States. If there is immediate danger, call 911. #StoryTeller #MentalHealth #VeteranMentalHealth #Therapy #Depression #SuicidePrevention #MensMentalHealth #InTheirOwnWords

Ariel Knight is a mother, suicide-attempt survivor, and assistant manager and adoption coordinator at Mattersville’s wolf-dog sanctuary in Sedalia, Colorado. In this deeply personal StoryTeller interview, Ariel recounts surviving a self-inflicted gunshot wound in April 2023 following struggles with childhood trauma, CPTSD, domestic violence, alcohol use, and suicidal thoughts. She speaks candidly about the attempt, the immediate regret she experienced, and the difficult process of finding the support and treatment that worked for her. Now two years sober, Ariel has found purpose and healing through motherhood, therapy, spirituality, and her work with the rescued wolf dogs at Mattersville—an experience she describes as “pack healing.” By sharing her story, she hopes others will know that even when life feels unbearable, suicide is not the only choice. Help is available, healing is possible, and your life matters. Content note: This interview contains detailed discussion of suicide, a self-inflicted gunshot wound, substance use, childhood trauma, and domestic violence. Please care for yourself while watching. If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis or considering suicide, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the United States. If there is immediate danger, call 911. #StoryTeller #SuicidePrevention #MentalHealth #SurvivorStory #PTSD #Recovery #Mattersville #InTheirOwnWords

In her mid-80s, Joyce Aubrey has reached a peaceful and joyful place in her life. She shares her story so that other survivors—regardless of their age—can know that it is never too late to seek healing from childhood trauma. In this deeply personal StoryTeller interview, Joyce describes confronting memories of childhood sexual abuse in her 50s and the profound disruption that followed. She shares how therapy, bodywork, process painting, supportive relationships, and connection with other survivors helped her work through fear, rage, and shame and begin reclaiming her authentic self. Through the paintings she created during her healing journey, Joyce illustrates a movement from pain and fragmentation toward agency, color, strength, and joy. Her story offers a message of hope: trauma may remain part of your life, but it does not have to define you. Content note: This interview contains direct discussion of childhood sexual abuse, rape, trauma, and flashbacks. Please care for yourself while watching. #StoryTeller #SurvivorStories #HealingFromTrauma #MentalHealth #ArtTherapy #EndTheStigma #InTheirOwnWords

From an early age, Beth Mack felt as though she did not belong. Years of negative self-talk, sexual violence, domestic abuse, postpartum depression, and feeling unsupported deepened her belief that she was unworthy of love. In this deeply personal StoryTeller interview, Beth recounts surviving a suicide attempt in 2011 and the long journey that followed. Her recovery included hospitalization, therapy, changes in her relationships, and years of confronting the trauma and shame she had carried alone. Fifteen years later, Beth is profoundly grateful to be alive. Through several original works of art, she illustrates the movement from depression and isolation toward hope, rebirth, and a life she once could not imagine. Her prison, tunnel, phoenix, and sunflower represent different stages of learning to forgive herself, reclaim her identity, and recognize everything she brings to the world. Beth’s message to anyone struggling is clear: You are not too much. Your story is not too much. You deserve support, your life has value, and your story is not over. Content note: This interview contains discussion of rape, domestic violence, postpartum depression, suicidal thoughts, and a suicide attempt by medication overdose. If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis or considering suicide, call or text **988** to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the United States. If there is immediate danger, call 911. Pregnant and postpartum parents can call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at **1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262)**. #StoryTeller #SuicidePrevention #MentalHealth #SurvivorStory #TraumaRecovery #PostpartumDepression #HealingThroughArt #InTheirOwnWords

Jesse Arbuckle has deep roots in Teller County—his son represents the fifth generation of his family to call the area home. But behind that connection is a difficult journey through childhood abuse, depression, substance use, addiction, and loss. In this StoryTeller interview, Jesse speaks candidly about the experiences that shaped him, the moment he recognized that he needed help, and the challenging work of rebuilding his life. Now four years sober and working as a peer recovery coach, Jesse uses his darkest experiences to help others find treatment, support, and hope. His story is a powerful reminder that asking for help can be the beginning of profound change—and that recovery is not simply about leaving an old life behind, but creating one you no longer want to escape. Content note: This interview includes discussion of childhood abuse, substance use, overdose, depression, and impaired driving. #StoryTeller #Recovery #MentalHealth #AddictionRecovery #TellerCounty #PeerSupport #EndTheStigma

For more than 20 years, Karen Francis has carried two very different experiences from the loss of her daughter Aurora: grief that has softened with time, and guilt that has not. In this StoryTeller interview, Karen reflects on adopting Aurora, a little girl with microcephaly who was considered “unadoptable,” and the joy she brought to their family despite significant disabilities and a limited life expectancy. When Aurora’s health declined, Karen and her husband faced an impossible decision—continue invasive medical treatment or move her into hospice care. Aurora died peacefully just before her fifth birthday, but Karen has continued to struggle with the guilt of having helped make that choice. Over the years, Karen learned to cope by pushing difficult emotions aside and continuing to take care of everyone around her. She describes that emotional distance as a “wall”—something that once helped her survive, but now keeps her from fully experiencing grief and vulnerability. Today, that wall is being tested again as Karen supports her 22-year-old granddaughter, Kaylee, through a serious cancer diagnosis. Faced with another uncertain and painful journey, Karen is learning to focus on what she can control: “just right now.” Karen’s story is about grief, guilt, caregiving, and the difficulty of allowing ourselves to need other people. It is also about the possibility that healing can begin with something small—a conversation, asking for help, or simply letting the people who love us see what we have been carrying. Content note: This interview discusses the death of a child, pediatric illness, hospice and end-of-life decisions, grief, guilt, cancer, emotional suppression, and mental health. #StoryTeller #MentalHealth #Grief #ChildLoss #Caregiving #Hospice #Guilt #Healing #Community #InTheirOwnWords