Samantha experienced severe depression after her father passed away but dug herself out of a deep hole. Now, she advocates for mental health.
Having a close family member pass away is inevitable. No one knows how they will emotionally respond to it until it happens – and it is usually difficult.
And after Samantha’s father passed away, it was debilitating and mentally crippling. She experienced a level of depression that few people on Earth will understand.
But that wasn’t the end for her.
She managed to bounce back and recover from it – but it wasn’t an easy journey. Several years ago, Samantha’s father developed a progressive brain disease. It was a strain on the entire family.
“I watched my father dying slowly over the years as his brain got worse. So it was a very difficult time in life,” Samantha said. “After my father’s death, I bottled a lot of feelings up inside of me. I didn’t want to mentally process the things I’d seen during that time or things I experienced. I just tried to push forward, and I never wanted to take time for myself and process my grief.”
The experience was made even more difficult to endure because Samantha deals with health issues of her own. She, too, was diagnosed with a degenerative disease that causes her to have chronic pain. Although Samantha has a youthful appearance, she has been dealing with physical pain for over 15 years.
After the death of her father, it was just too much to handle.
“I fell into what is called a major depressive episode, and then I developed Major Depressive Disorder. I actually had to go live in a clinic for a week,” she said. “I never in my entire life imagined that I would ever be in that situation, ever. It was apparently an accumulation of the grief over the last couple of years after my father passed that I didn’t want to deal with mixed with dealing with a chronic health issue.”
Samantha struggled with depression back and forth for years but fought her way out of it. She eventually realized she could not live like that and wanted change – and found it. After climbing out of the depths of depression, she now advocates for mental health to help other people.
“There is so much stigma around mental health. So when people experience it, they’re afraid to talk about it. It really makes it worse and prevents people from seeking help,” Samantha said.
Now that she is in a much better place internally, she has advice for anyone going down the path she was once in. And it starts with taking care of yourself physically.
“If your mental health is starting to suffer, you address it. You start doing the actions; your body starts going through the motions of getting better with the faith that your brain will one day catch up to you. That’s the way out,” Samantha said.
She still deals with chronic pain but also acknowledges that she will continue to move forward despite it. It’s a classic life isn’t fair concept, but one she made peace with.
“I’ve learned that nothing in life is perfect. You have to live with the hand that you are dealt and make the best of it,” she said. “Change it if you can. If you can’t, you just have to keep pushing forward.”
About Samantha
Samantha is the COO of Liberty Staffing Services LLC, which provides recruitment, employment, and payroll infrastructure for pro-free market and proliberty political and legislative campaigns and organizations across the United States. For more information, visit www.libertystaffinghq.com
Who is Trudy Jacobson?
Trudy is an entrepreneur and leader. Her path to success and entrepreneurialism started in the trucking industry decades ago. She encountered numerous obstacles in the male-dominated industry- like discrimination. She was even conned out of a lot of money in a fraudulent scheme. Despite all that, Trudy always fought hard and pushed forward. Once she realized she was capable of anything, she went on to start her own company and excelled. Now she empowers other women to do the same and to learn from her experience. Trudy now highlights their stories for the world to see in the Great American Women Series. Trudy wants women everywhere to know they can achieve their goals.
