My whole point is that mental health really affected my schooling. I wasn’t ready for college when I graduated high school. No one told me that it was OK to wait. No one told me that I would not be a lesser person if I took my time deciding what I wanted to do with my life.

Since I was last on Shining Light on Shadows, I’ve graduated high school, moved to college, and I had to change the way I advocate so that the impacts I made at my high school would turn into an enduring movement for change. Moving to college has been the biggest change of my life.

Moving away from home, starting college and suddenly having to manage your own time, responsibilities and relationships can be exciting. It can also bring new pressures, stressors and mental health challenges.

Dawn Neuburg couldn't participate in Ep. 52. For Ep. 53, we’ll play clips of Vasu Tolia’s answers to my questions. Dawn will then respond. As always, we’ll entertain additional comments and questions from the audience.

Creativity gives us a doorway into what we feel. It can help us begin conversations that are otherwise difficult to start. That is one reason the mission of No Shame On U matters so much to me. Their work reminds us that mental health conversations should not be hidden in silence or shame.

Vasu Tolia joins us on the next episode of "Shining Light on Shadows: A Candid Conversation About Mental Health" to talk about the challenges she faced in finding her footing after retiring from her medical career.

People don’t talk much about the sense of loss you feel when you are no longer your child's primary caregiver. Discovering a sense of self after so many years of focusing on someone else is not easy.

Amanda Kranz will share how she has coped with the loss of her daughter, just three months after being born.