Help Monique raise money

I am here to raise money to benefit the Quell Foundation and in the spirit of their mission to end the stigma and normalize the conversation around mental health. Here is my story:

My son at 17 years old told me he was depressed. His pediatrician prescribed medication as I began the search for a therapist. I had a therapist lined up but there was a wait then before we got there I received a call from my son… he had gathered all the medication in the house and had planned to overdose. He didn’t want to be on this earth anymore. This started the longest month of my life.

We ended up in the ER and were stuck there for 5 days, what an awful process. The ER is not meant to provide therapy/support; it is a holding area and not comforting one. He was locked in a wing with people who would scream all day and night, walk around without clothes, who needed to be put in constraints daily. This provided additional stress and he became agitated. They gave him heavy meds to calm him, meds he wouldn’t have needed if he wasn’t in there. It was heartbreaking to watch and not have any input to his care. I could see him decline each day, but they would only discharge him to an inpatient program. I could not make decisions with relation to his care; he was on a hold. I couldn’t do anything.

Health insurance then provided an additional challenge, he wasn’t accepted at a local hospital because of his high deductible amount; I had to pay the deductible up front. He spent a couple nights inpatient then transitioned to outpatient where he did well. Outpatient was what I preferred to put him in from the beginning.

It was over a month before he transitioned back to school. This has been the most challenging school year from my perspective. He is often drained, frustrated, anxious and depressed. There have been med changes which cause all new issues that we need to navigate. The anxiety comes with lack of sleep, nightsweats, vomiting. He’d been experiencing these symptoms for over a year; if I’d only considered these as a symptom of anxiety. I was used to him isolating due to COVID; I didn’t see the withdrawing from friends and not going out as a sign of a mental health issue.

May is the last month of school for him. He is in a better place now, but we still have the ups and downs and anxiety. As his mother I am looking for him to graduate and prioritize his mental health. I am not worried about his grades or college. I hope he will be cleared to graduate; we aren’t there yet. He doesn’t want to attend the ceremony and that is ok, we will celebrate in a way that is right for him.

The whole process was awful and access to mental health care was a challenge. Mental healthcare needs to be more accessible. The Quell Foundation's mission to increase access to mental healthcare is critically now more than ever before. If you can donate I am hoping to raise $2,022 which will (hopefully) be the year of his graduation.