‘Just keep fighting, and it will slowly get better’: NAMI NH Walks returns to support mental health for all

Emily Shirlock and her fundraising team, Hope, at the NAMI NH Walk 2023

Emily Shirlock and her fundraising team, Hope, at the NAMI NH Walk 2023 —

Emily Shirlock

Emily Shirlock —

By SRUTHI GOPALAKRISHNAN

Monitor staff

Published: 10-03-2024 6:04 PM

Emily Shirlock has seen it all.

From the heartbreak of losing a dear friend to suicide, enduring losses in the family and battling trauma during college, to confronting her struggles with her own mental health, her journey has been anything but easy.

Shirlock, now 33, grew up in Bow. But now she lives in Riverbend Community Mental Health Center’s group home in Concord.

She has cycled through psychiatric hospitals, including the New Hampshire Hospital, and wrestled with haunting suicidal thoughts. Yet, despite it all, she continues to hold on.

“I still have my hard times, but I still believe that I will eventually get to where I want to be,” said Shirlock.

When Shirlock says that every day is a battle, she truly means it.

In August, she found herself in a dark place, making the decision to take her own life. But thanks to the quick action of firefighters and EMTs, she was transported to a hospital, where she was intubated and placed in the ICU.

Many who had come to her aid believed she had lost her fight,

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When she opened her eyes, Shirlock felt “very grateful and happy.”

Apart from therapy and medical treatments, one of the shining lights in her journey is the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Walks, an annual event that unites thousands to champion mental health advocacy and creates a safe space for those struggling with mental illness and those who have lost loved ones.

Shirlock’s first walk in 2014 was a poignant tribute to herself and her friend Ryan Hicks, who took his own life.

Since then she and her family have been participating and raising money for the walk.

“When I was first struggling, it was hard for me to see that there was help out there,” said Shirlock. “When I went to the walk, I saw that there was a lot of support and help and that there was hope and things were going to get better.”

With this year’s walk scheduled for Sunday, 98% of the fundraising goal has already been achieved, with over $145,000 raised. Last year, NAMIWalks raised $202,000, and this year’s event is poised to match that success.

Susan Stearns, executive director of NAMI NH said all the funds raised remain within New Hampshire.

“The funds are critical to supporting activities that are not covered by our other funding sources,” said Stearns. “So a lot of our advocacy work, for example, and then where we don’t have sufficient funding to deliver all of our education programs, we’re able to add to that capacity through block funds.”

At the walk, mental health advocates will share personal stories, offering hope and working to break the stigma surrounding mental illness.

Just as Shirlock found hope at the walk, Stearns encourages anyone who has experienced loss or is struggling with a mental health illness to join the event.

“I would love to see you there. It is an amazing time of community,” said Stearns. “It’s truly an opportunity for folks to see that indeed, as sometimes isolating as it can feel when you or your family’s been impacted by mental illness or substance use disorder or suicide, that you’re not alone.”

After Shirlock’s recent attempt to die by suicide, she later met one of the firefighters who had been there to help her. Shirlock said he didn’t think she would survive, and he was delighted to see how well she was doing.

Her message to those struggling with a mental illness is this: “It might seem like it’s the end or there’s nothing that will help and it won’t get better. But if you just keep fighting, and I know it’s exhausting, there is so much more support, and so many people who you don’t even know that care about you out there and that are willing to help you in any way that they can.

“Just keep fighting, and it will slowly get better.”

If you go

National Alliance on Mental Illness NH Walk

When: Sunday, Oct 6 at 9 a.m.

Where: Soccer fields on S. Fruit Street, Concord, NH 03301

Info: Go to naminh.org for more details or to register

If you need help

NH Rapid Response Access Point: Call or Text 833-710-6477 for free and immediate, 24/7 access to mental health and/or substance use crisis support via telephone, text and chat services.

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.

The Trevor Project: A na tional 24-hour, toll-free confidential suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth. If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal or in need of a safe and judgment-free place to talk, call 1-866-488-7386.