KAYLA PYERS
Finding happiness Alesha Pyers’ road to happiness was paved with self-sabotage, depression, and ultimately a suicide attempt. Today, however, the 25-year-old beauty’s bubbly personality exudes positivity. She talks to Jonty Dine about how she learned to love herself and rediscover her passion for life.
A
lesha was born and bred in Nelson, surrounded by family.
“I had a village of people around me,” she says. “I’m really lucky in that sense.” However, an idyllic childhood made way for an emotionally turbulent adolescence. After Alesha started high school, her battle with depression intensified. Her school peer group had a toxic culture of poor mental health, eating disorders and self-harm. “It was all unaddressed. We asked if we could learn how to help our friends, but they said it was too sensitive, so there was a lot that was overlooked.”
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October 2021
Because Alesha was not harming herself or engaging in bulimia, she did not consider her struggles with mental health to be relevant. “I was diagnosed with depression at 14 and put on medication, but I never thought mine was so bad.” Alesha says she was given little guidance about her newlyprescribed medications. “They made me feel numb, not good or bad, just numb.” Alesha’s friends would also regularly confide in her, adding extra weight to her shoulders as she carried the weight of their pain. After high school, Alesha enjoyed three gap years before setting her sights on studying in Dunedin.
