AUBREY

Aubrey (she/her), is a dear friend I first had the pleasure of meeting in Colorado Springs, back in 2015. She is half indigenous (tribes: Mvskoke and Yuchi) and half white from northeastern Oklahoma who lives with depression and sexual trauma-induced PTSD. Aubs' passions lie in indigenous cultural preservation, visual art, and horticulture. I designed a custom piece of artwork for her in May, 2019.

I had the chance to talk to Aubrey more in depth about her mental health and I asked her how societal conceptions about mental illness affect her. She responded, “I am so scared to admit anything fully to anyone except for my best friends, and even then I ensure that I don’t overwhelm them... I fear rejection because of my mental illnesses.” Aubrey said when she has opened up about her mental health in the past, people have responded “that’s just too much for me to handle” in many different ways. Aubrey feels that mental health infrastructure in our country failed her in that she did not have the necessary mental health care she needed as a child. High costs and the time burden of appointments kept these services from being available to her.

Aubrey has been medicated for mental health concerns in the past and has recently tapered off her medication. In speaking to her about medications, she stated, “those little pills I took everyday for two years kept me alive. If I hadn’t been on them, I would have needed a 24/7 watch on me.” I asked Aubrey what this print meant to her and she stated, “this is an honoring of that time in my life and that I got through that on the other side, when most days it didn’t feel like there was another side.”