“It wasn’t until I woke up under the bright lights of the Emergency Department at Joseph Brant Hospital did I truly let go of what I had been holding back and fighting for years,” she says. “Following an extensive mental breakdown shortly after New Year’s in 2023, I started what would be a 12 day admission to the in-patient psychiatric unit.”

For Alison, it was terrifying to leave her husband and children, afraid of what would come next. She was afraid that the terrible thing she had been trying to keep away had finally broken in.

What she learned in her time as an inpatient not only surprised her, but also what she had assumed would be the thing that broke her, turned out to be the very thing that saved her life.

“I was properly diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). I was given the guidance I needed on medication and therapy. I received the help and support that I needed, guided by those who showed me nothing but kindness and understanding,” she says. “The help I received in those 12 days gave me hope and openly handed me back my life in a way that I don’t think I’ll ever truly be able to express.”

For Alison, stigma and shame drove her to the place she didn’t know she needed to go, and helped her find understanding and compassion.

“I realized I was never broken to begin with, I just needed help,” she says. “And other people need to be able to see this too.”

For Alison, sharing her experience is an opportunity to inspire others, and to encourage open communication and to give a voice to those who are smiling in silence as a way of coping.

“An open ear and an open heart can go further then you ever imagined,” she says.

Join Alison for this year’s Walk to the Lighthouse in support of the Mental Health and Addictions program at JBH. Learn more at https://walktothelighthouse2024.funraise.org/.