I've struggled with ADHD, anxiety, and depression from around 5 years old. I had to learn to manage on my own. However, this wasn't because my mom didn't care or believe in mental illness, it was that my brother was in a worse situation then me. He was diagnosed with multiple mental health disorders. Autism, bipolar disorder, anger issues, ADHD, just to name a few. 'Normal' families would think nothing about changing which grocery store they go to that week, or slightly altering their routine. In my household that would not be done. My brother would throw big temper tantrums if we didn't go to Aldi's to get groceries. He would scream and argue about how stupid we were for changing a routine even by 2 minutes. It could get to the level that he would argue about the plans for dinner if he simply overheard my mom say she would make something for dinner but actually made something else because we didn't have the ingredients or time to make the original idea. I've played softball since I was 8. We would have to bring my brother with us to games because he could not be trusted alone in the house. If he wanted to leave before the game was over he would make a big deal about it. If there was to many people he would just walk away and my mom would have to go chasing him. These experiences made me very embarrassed and after a while my team would start making fun of me. Even though I told them over and over that there was nothing I could do about him and his behavior shouldn't be reflected negatively onto me. After awhile I started to lose my love for the game and had to make the tough choice of asking my mom not to attend my games. This hurt me so much as she's always been my number one supporter, but I could not deal with the comments made by my teammates anymore. When my brother started high school, my mom made a behavior chart in our house. It included fake money that could be earned by displaying positive behaviors, doing your chores, and making sure all your stuff for school was being done on time. In return you could use the money you gained for rewards such as playing outside, playing video games, or picking what we watched on tv during family time. When we first started implementing the behavior chart I was excited because I was being rewarded for things I was doing and it made me feel good. However, after awhile I started to notice my brother would get more money per 'task'. It made me feel less then but I had to continue doing it because my brother would not take the chart seriously if it was only for him. Growing up with my brother in the house taught me how to deal with my problems independently. It showed me that even though my brain might be telling me how bad my life is, there is someone out there who has it worse. This is why I always take it seriously when people ask me for help because they may not be able to get the help they need at home, or from the people that you would traditionally expect it from.