Student view: From struggle to advocacy, my journey to help others with mental health

September 8, 2025 - Andelina Grossi, Shelly DeJong

Content warning: mention of suicide and suicide awareness. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 or text TALK to 741741. Please know that you are not alone and there are resources available to help.  

 

Andelina Grossi, a student from Linden, Michigan, is a junior majoring in psychology and minoring in Leadership in Integrated Learning through the Bailey Scholars program.  After losing a friend to suicide and experiencing her own struggles with mental health, Andelina decided to write a book to process her own experience and to help others. 

 

Last October, I lost a friend to suicide. Around the same time, I was struggling with my own mental health struggles and feeling like life felt unmanageable.  

After my friend’s passing, I realized I didn’t want anyone else to feel the way we had felt.  

My dad encouraged me to write, and in February, that’s what I did. Everything just started flowing. I finished the book in April, and now I’m in the editing process. 

As a psychology major, I've learned that mental health isn’t just a textbook concept. It's deeply personal. I’ve been diagnosed with anxiety and OCD since I was nine, but it wasn’t until my psychological disorders class that I truly began to understand my own brain.  

Suddenly those chemical imbalances I’d heard about weren’t abstract concepts. I could see the research behind my experiences and better understand the neurological patterns that shaped my thoughts and experiences—and those around me.  

My book shares my story but is also a resource.  Each chapter has three aspects: a faith perspective, because faith helped me through my mental health journey, practical resources like articles and videos to help people understand mental health, and practical applications. 

My goal is simple: if one person feels like life is more bearable because of this book, it’s worth it. We can put a comma instead of a period in our story. 

I’m going on a series of podcasts soon, attending a suicide prevention event in California, and sharing wherever I can about what I’ve experienced and learned in the classroom.  

Throughout it all, my message is clear: you’re not alone. The way you’re feeling is temporary. It will get better.  

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 or text TALK to 741741. Please know that you are not alone and there are resources available. Visit www.afsp.org.