Kennedy
Kennedy
It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon
Kennedy talks for a living. As a popular Boston radio personality, she spends mornings dishing about the latest pop culture trends and challenging listeners to trivia contests.
She’s at ease on the air and incredibly funny—not what you would expect from someone with a diagnosis of depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety.
Life can look very shiny on Instagram. My life isn’t gravy. And I know I’m not alone.
Kennedy recalls being an overachiever and somewhat stressed as a child. As she grew older, she hung around friends who partied frequently, making it easy to mask her negative emotions with drugs and alcohol.
I was covering up my condition, very poorly. Once I moved to Boston and wasn’t altered by partying constantly, I realized I was really sad. My whole body hurt, not just my brain. And I was angry all the time.
It wasn’t until Kennedy attended a work event that touched on mental health that things changed. She opened up to a mental health professional there, who informed her she was “in the throes of a pretty serious depression,” encouraging her to get help. She would eventually spend 10 days in an inpatient program at McLean Hospital.
This was news to me. We never talked about mental health in my youth.
You can’t see depression. You aren’t wearing a cast or limping with a crutch. I didn’t know how sick I was.
“Life can look very shiny on Instagram. My life isn’t gravy. And I know I’m not alone.”
Therapy is hard work, but Kennedy feels it has made a “massive” difference. Despite her progress, there are days when she shuts down and needs to get back under the covers to feel safe. But she feels that’s okay. It’s part of the healing process.
My brain tells me what I can and cannot do. You start to feel lazy and worry that no one will want to hang out with you anymore.
There are only so many times you can cancel on plans you’ve made with friends. I have to manage this every day.
Therapy has helped Kennedy to make decisions about the way she wants to live—honestly and openly. Despite the stigma often associated with mental health, she decided to take the brave step of sharing her diagnosis with radio station management.
I had been missing a lot of work because of my depression. I was in a very bad place and I sometimes took it out on others.
By sharing my situation, I was able to say, ‘This is what’s going on. I’m getting help and going to be better.’ I am so grateful to my co-workers and bosses for being supportive.
Today, Kennedy credits her dog, a chocolate Labrador retriever named Elvis, with bringing light into her life. She signed up for drum lessons, hoping it’s a good way to “get some emotion out and look cool while doing it.” She also serves on the Samaritans’ board of directors to help others in need.
And that decision to live life openly? Kennedy now talks regularly about her mental health on the air with tens of thousands of listeners, igniting a conversation and letting anyone in a similar situation know they are not alone.
It’s an honor to be able to help folks maybe just take that first step and ask for help.
Never, ever be ashamed to ask for help. Once you take the first step, the healing begins.
