My name is Adri, and I’m the creator of Reasons to Stick Around :)

TW: MENTAL HEALTH

It all began in 2013, when I was 10 years old. I was dealing with mental illness and a therapist told me to make a list of reasons to stay alive. So I bought a notebook and wrote down well over 100 reasons, but have since lost the notebook.

In 2021, I tried resurrecting the project on a larger scale following my father’s suicide. I thought if he had a notebook just like mine with all of his reasons, he could’ve made it.

Later that year, I made a form for others to submit their reasons and a public google doc so people could access it in times of crisis. Somehow, someway, the link broke and the document can no longer be accessed.

And then, 11 years since I first wrote in that notebook, I lost my best friend to suicide as well. So I’ve finally put everything together in one place, on one website, so people have a resource if that time would arise. 

While lists of reasons to stay alive are not a new concept, I felt that there was a hole to fill in a community-wide resource. A place where people struggling with their mental health could come together and share their reasons they’ve stayed alive through the hardest of times. Their reasons they’ve stuck around.

A very special shoutout to Emma, my platonic soulmate, for proofing the website (turns out, when you stare at the same screens for hours on end, all words look the same!)

I love you, sweet friend