FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) – Alexia Hernandez is using her story to help others with their mental health journey this Mental Health Awareness Month.
Hernandez is the director of youth operations at Building a Stronger Way, a nonprofit dedicated to helping people struggling with mental health challenges.
She first started seeing symptoms of mental illness in herself when she was about 6 years old. That’s why she’s dedicated her career to counseling children, so no child will have to struggle with mental health alone.
“Nobody had any idea that I was struggling and what I was going through,” Hernandez said.
She moved from Mexico when she was three and says a mixture of bullying and culture shock made her childhood very difficult.
“As an immigrant child, it was scary,” Hernandez said. “It was lonely.”
She said even though she struggled with mental health for a while, she wasn’t diagnosed with clinical depression, panic disorder, or suicidal ideation until she was 21.
“That’s almost a decade, or maybe more of, you know, experiencing these things, not knowing what they are, and then trying to go on with my day-to-day life, right?” Hernandez said.
She also said the lack of conversations about mental health is why an awareness month is so important. That’s why, whether it’s giving talks at schools or counseling children directly, she’s committed to serving the youth.
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