Whose face do you picture when you think of the phrase “mental illness”? For many people, mental illness is a solitary experience. We suffer in silence, afraid others will see the depth of our pain, worried about burdening the ones we love or losing the sense of control we are so desperately trying to maintain. But beneath the veneer of stability is the fear, the anxiety, the loneliness, the depression, and so on.

When I was in college, I was diagnosed with depression. It was the beginning of a journey to understand my own emotional and mental health. In a particularly low time, one therapist advised me to write a list of people I knew cared about me, to counter the voice in my head that kept trying to tell me I didn’t matter. I put the list on my bedside table. When the voice would grow louder, I would read the list. I knew I was somebody’s someone, even if they felt far away.

I think our relationships with God can sometimes be like this. We need reminders that we– all of us, so you’re included! — are someone to God, someone of immense value and worth. Maybe consider putting a reminder on your bedside table or another place where you will see it often.