Leor
Leor
It’s important to turn and ask for help
As a child, Leor was fun loving and mischievous. But after his father died by suicide when Leor was nine years old, he lost his joy and his personality changed. At 17, he sought help and was diagnosed with depression.
It was a relief to know what I was feeling and what it was called, that there was a name for those feelings.
By learning to use various tools, such as cognitive psychology, positive psychology, therapy, and medication, Leor has learned to recognize depression in its early stages.
I think by the age of 30 or 31 I lived quite nicely with my mental health condition, with school, work, family.
Sadly, Leor then lost one of his best friends in a climbing accident. This triggered severe regression in his mental health and ended with a particularly traumatic hospitalization.
They used violence against me and said I was crazy and that I couldn’t trust myself. I came out of there a ruined man. Part of what I needed to recover from was my traumatic hospitalization, not just from my disorder. I had to go back to believing in myself as a human being and not as some crazy person.
Leor underwent a symptom management and recovery program to help him work through the trauma of hospitalization. During this time, Leor realized that he was his own worst enemy because of self-stigma. He realized he didn’t want to be defined just by his diagnoses.
We all have a mental sensitivity. It’s a sort of spectrum we live on, and external triggers can lead us all into mental health crises. It’s important to say ‘it’s normal to be abnormal sometimes’ and it’s important to turn and ask for help when needed.
Beyond the professional help, another thing that helps Leor is the acceptance and support he receives from his family and close friends. Together they built the “Leor Team,” that assists him when necessary and prevents him from falling into the dangerous extremes of his condition.
It’s important for people to find their ‘personal medications’—the things that are good for them, whether it’s time with family or friends, playing or exercising, or even spending time alone. There is a wide range of things that can help each and every one of us, and it is important that we are aware of them so that we can grow and stay healthy.
Today, Leor is married with two adorable children and works as a climbing instructor. He is working towards his master’s degree in community mental health, works as a rehabilitation instructor and social activist in several organizations, and helps other people cope with their mental health challenges.
Leor’s story is also available in Hebrew
