By: Bess Farris

It’s also not just bootstrapping from poverty, our family is a huge believer in bootstrapping yourself out of depression or any sort of mental health problems. My father insisted I was depressed because I didn’t exercise enough or I was just lazy. Then there was the drunken admission that he self-medicated for 3 years of college with pot, so.

I’m pretty sure I’m the first person in 3 generations of this family to admit to not only dealing with depression and anxiety but also taking medication. It sure is fun hearing about ‘crazy people taking pills’ when the only reason you’re alive is because of a little pill you’ve been taking for 6 years.

Living here and having a Southern family basically means you pretend a lot and keep things to yourself and you only show the pretty stuff.