MENTAL HEALTH & LGBTQ
Talk to Coco
Coco from Talk to Coco, shares her experience on building her community and being an advocate for mental health and LGBTQ communities.
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y mother had to give me mouth to mouth and bring me back to life, I guess from that day, I knew I had to make a change and, that’s how ‘Talk to Coco’ came about. I guess the stigma around mental health has never been positive, whether its people assuming we are all ‘crazy’ or, just the basic unrealistic generic stereotypes around it, oh and the taboo we all know ‘let’s not speak about it’. Talk to Coco, became a platform for myself and others within my community and around the world, to have a safe haven, a secure space where they didn’t feel judged and could see someone in the real life flesh experiencing just what they do; just to feel part of something where they can be themselves completely; even by just sitting back and watching, and being able to relate. All my life I battled with my mind and how people judged me and this was way before I even got diagnosed; this was due to how I heard people around me and within our community, speak on mental health along with the stigmas attached. I thought to myself no, a change is coming, and I didn’t mind subjecting myself to be the change, even if it saves one person’s life, I’m good, it’s more than I ever had. I gave people a real life transparent look into my life, no filters nothing – just live breakdowns, coping mechanisms, triggers, my stories of suicide and through this, I saw Talk to Coco flourish and do exactly what I set out to; make people like myself feel safe and secure and have hope and have someone they can come and talk to. As many expressed to myself how they don’t feel comfortable going to a doctor, therapist or even family/friend, so it was most important for them to not feel like some crazy person who should keep what their feeling locked inside and feel so alone. One of the first messages I ever received from a stranger spoke, “I stumbled across your page & I’m so thankful I did… it’s been hell these past 7months but your page & vlogs have left me feeling a little bit less alone, thank you for sharing <3”, which confirmed to myself opening up, was the right thing to do; people could finally relate & feel not alone. Another messaged me
and said “I’ve got so much admiration & respect for you sharing your experiences & journey honestly! Your touching and changing many people’s perceptions and making less people suffer in silence! Even through your own struggles and suffering! Inspiration!”. From there, I was approached to speak and write on subjects around mental health and LGBT on other platforms, which was incredible to reach a different audience who might need Talk to Coco; I wrote for published books, magazine articles and tv vlogs. It was so heart-warming, a truly amazing feeling, saving lives and stopping self-harm, having strangers message me confiding or asking for my advice, even
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consulting people double my age or even, fathers of three. It gave me a sense of hope and people like myself, hope – to know that there are people out there who see us for us you know – a creative ability, a loving heart, real no filter amazing humans, with a different mental capacity that doesn’t fall within society’s norms and that’s ok. From speaking to the thousands of people that reach out to myself, my value to the community and the world is to continue to be ‘the stranger you can tell all your feelings to, without judgement no matter the subject’, and to continue to be an advocate for mental health and LGBT communities. Instagram: talktococo
