Sarah Holland had no history of mental illness. She was a full-time R.N., she had three kids and a small farm. She was busy. Then suddenly she started to experience symptoms of depression. She didn’t have a name for it. No one in her world had ever talked about mental health. But pretty soon Sarah was having a hard time working, and parenting.

This is a story of one woman’s struggle with major depression, and her recovery.

This show is the first in a seven-part series I produced for Vermont Public Radio called They Are Us, which features personal stories from inside the state’s mental healthcare system.

Comments: Please make a comment or share a story if you’ve got one. Comments and conversation are part of the point!

Credits:

Series Advisor: Dillon Burns, mental health services director at Vermont Care Partners

Series Associate Producers: Clare Dolan, Mark Davis

Series Executive Director: Sarah Ashworth

VPR Advisors: Franny Bastian and John Dillon

Mixing: Chris Albertine

Digital Producer: Meg Malone

Series Logo: Aaron Shrewsbury

Music for this series is by two excellent Montreal-based bands:

Godspeed You! Black Emporer and Esmerine. Special thanks to the awesome Bruce Cawdron

Sarah Holland’s awesome landscape company: River’s Bend Design

For more information about the series, visit VPR. You’ll find the series schedule and resources.

Very big thanks to the following people for their knowledge, time and advice: M.T. Anderson, Melissa Bailey, Gretchen Brown, Seleem Choudhury, Anne Clement, Jimmy Dennison, Isabelle Desjardins, Laurie Emerson, Deb Fleischman, Laura Flint, Al Gobeille, Alix Goldschmidt, Gary Gordon, Keith Grier, Heather Houle, Jenniflower, Karen Kurrle, Lt. Maurice Lamothe, Sabrina Leal, Fran Levine, Martie Majoros, Jack McCullough, Mark McGee, Megan McKeever, Betsy Morse, Bess O’Brien, Roxanne Pearson, Julie Potter and her beautiful daughter, Malaika Puffer, Michael Rousse, Marla Simpson, Montpelier Senior Activity Center, Sandy Steingard, Tony Stevens, Cindy Tabor, Gloria Vandenberg, Konstantin von Krusenstiern.

They Are Us, Part 1: Sarah

Rumble Strip

They Are Us, Part 1: Sarah