Cory Richards

And I'd gone from getting straight A's to basically failing everything. And so then that was the first time I was medicated with SSRIs. And then about, God, I'd say about a year later, eight months later, my mom was like, hey, can we go to primary children's hospital and sort of try to get a handle on this? And I knew something was wrong, so... or something was off.

So I, I agreed and we went and there was sort of this evaluation. I remember the therapist so clearly. I remember like Enya playing in the back. I remember the smell so vividly.

So I, I agreed and we went and there was sort of this evaluation. I remember the therapist so clearly. I remember like Enya playing in the back. I remember the smell so vividly.

So I, I agreed and we went and there was sort of this evaluation. I remember the therapist so clearly. I remember like Enya playing in the back. I remember the smell so vividly.

and um and then as we were leaving this guy his name was ivan came up he's like oh we've just had a bed open up and i was like what so i thought i was leaving and then i never left your mom checked you in she checked me in and i mean that's got to be a very disorienting experience to be that young and be hugely disorienting.

and um and then as we were leaving this guy his name was ivan came up he's like oh we've just had a bed open up and i was like what so i thought i was leaving and then i never left your mom checked you in she checked me in and i mean that's got to be a very disorienting experience to be that young and be hugely disorienting.

and um and then as we were leaving this guy his name was ivan came up he's like oh we've just had a bed open up and i was like what so i thought i was leaving and then i never left your mom checked you in she checked me in and i mean that's got to be a very disorienting experience to be that young and be hugely disorienting.

And I think what's so interesting is that at that point, there's a splintering of stories, her story and mine. So my story becomes one of abandonment, right? Her story is one of love. I'm trying to help my child. Both those things exist concurrently, but they are conflicting, right? And resolving that both individually and collectively over time is incredibly difficult. hard.

And I think what's so interesting is that at that point, there's a splintering of stories, her story and mine. So my story becomes one of abandonment, right? Her story is one of love. I'm trying to help my child. Both those things exist concurrently, but they are conflicting, right? And resolving that both individually and collectively over time is incredibly difficult. hard.

And I think what's so interesting is that at that point, there's a splintering of stories, her story and mine. So my story becomes one of abandonment, right? Her story is one of love. I'm trying to help my child. Both those things exist concurrently, but they are conflicting, right? And resolving that both individually and collectively over time is incredibly difficult. hard.

It's very hard work to do. After that, I was put in a long-term institution or care facility for eight months. I ran away three times.

It's very hard work to do. After that, I was put in a long-term institution or care facility for eight months. I ran away three times.

It's very hard work to do. After that, I was put in a long-term institution or care facility for eight months. I ran away three times.

Heavily medicated. Heavily medicated. I was on, it was actually there that I got diagnosed. And again, I'm very much like you. I don't love diagnoses because I think they come with

Heavily medicated. Heavily medicated. I was on, it was actually there that I got diagnosed. And again, I'm very much like you. I don't love diagnoses because I think they come with

Heavily medicated. Heavily medicated. I was on, it was actually there that I got diagnosed. And again, I'm very much like you. I don't love diagnoses because I think they come with

tremendous baggage huge stories especially in mental health there's a story of brokenness that's inherent in mental health issues something is wrong well it's so stigmatized right yeah in our culture and the labels really are kind of just descriptions of symptoms they don't they're just a container cause or why or yeah what's going on they're just a container for a set of behaviors right right but but they come with the story of

tremendous baggage huge stories especially in mental health there's a story of brokenness that's inherent in mental health issues something is wrong well it's so stigmatized right yeah in our culture and the labels really are kind of just descriptions of symptoms they don't they're just a container cause or why or yeah what's going on they're just a container for a set of behaviors right right but but they come with the story of

tremendous baggage huge stories especially in mental health there's a story of brokenness that's inherent in mental health issues something is wrong well it's so stigmatized right yeah in our culture and the labels really are kind of just descriptions of symptoms they don't they're just a container cause or why or yeah what's going on they're just a container for a set of behaviors right right but but they come with the story of

dysfunction, illness. I mean, we call it mental illness. Right. Or we have that implies something. And it's a very hard story to get out of. And like we were saying earlier, now we're in this culture of like we're owning it sort of in not necessarily a healthy way. Right. And that actually perpetuates the stigma. oh, I can't do that, I'm ADHD.