NICOLE THOMAS Staff Writer

I became a mental health advocate in Oct. 2016 when I started making mental health videos. I’m a mental health advocate because I live with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and I want to be a voice for those who are suffering with mental illnesses.

Sometimes people will look like they have it all together on the outside, but no one knows the battles they are facing inside. It can be mentally exhausting and uncomfortable to be living with a mental illness. I want to try to help people any way that I can so they can feel like they’re not alone and give suggestions on how people should live their lives in a healthy way.

Most importantly, I want to raise awareness of mental health. This is why I love expressing myself through writing articles about it. I recently wrote for a mental health site called The Mighty. I submitted an article called, “6 Tips for Supporting a Friend Who Struggles with Self-Harm and Intrusive Thoughts” and it got published.

At the time I wrote it, I was struggling with self-harm. That was a really rough time in my life, but I was blessed to have supportive friends and family in my life. I have been a lot better since then and I want people to know that life gets better.

I am really excited that my article got published on their site, and I recently submitted another article in hopes that it will get published as well.