Guest Blog: How I’m Using My Past Mental Health Struggles to Change the World Today

Trigger warning: Brief mentions of depression, self-harm, and suicidal ideations

You could find 13-year old Jessica in a dimly lit concert venue, screaming at the top of her lungs and grinning from ear-to-ear. 

Never would the other fans standing around me at a show expect that this happy teenager was struggling with depression, self-harm and suicidal ideations on a regular basis, a result of bullying and struggling to fit-in at school. I lacked the resources and support I needed to talk through and work through my inner emotions, and fought daily to push forward and get myself out of bed. The moment I returned from school every day, I escaped into my own world by putting on my headphones and drowning myself in music from my favorite artists and bands. I would count down the days until the next album, days until the next concert. My after school life consisted of watching band interviews and flipping through pages of teen magazines to read the endless articles of these superstars. Regardless of my home life and the rough days at school, concerts were my safe place and music is what saved me.

After college, upon moving back home with my parents and back in my childhood bedroom, I was surrounded by the posters of my childhood heroes: musicians and bands. I started a passion project, a nonprofit organization called SUPERBANDS, in 2014 in the hopes of creating the community I once longed for as a teen. By 2018, exhausted as my attempts to build up the organization’s vision seemed to falter, I willed myself to attend a summer concert and the moment the lights dimmed, I was transported back to my teenage years and the bliss I once felt between venue walls. Through that experience, I knew what I needed to do through SUPERBANDS; I knew I had to be the one to offer young fans a moment to remember, to give them unforgettable memories to hold onto when life got hard. 

Amidst the pandemic and isolation, SUPERBANDS began granting wishes to young fans nationwide, sending them custom care packages from their favorite artists and bands, in the hopes of reminding them to “stay strong and keep rockin’ on.” Through bundles of fun artist merchandise plus the included mindfulness and mental health resources in our packages to empower them to take charge of their mental wellness, we’ve brought a unique combination of excitement and hope to the youth who may have felt alone, lost, or hopeless. 

With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, we have set out on a lofty goal to grant 500 wishes from now until the end of the year. That means, 500 young people have the chance to feel connected to their heroes, a chance to feel like a VIP, and most importantly, a chance to receive digital mental health resources that could help them in times of need or crisis. However, with a big goal like this, we cannot do this alone and are actively seeking donations, corporate sponsorships, and partnerships across industries to help us make wishes come true through music. Head to our website www.superbands.me to learn more about us, or check out our Mental Health Awareness Month campaign here. 

Let’s change the world through music together. Will you join us?

Meet Our Guest Blogger

Jessica Sikora
Founder, Executive Director, SUPERBANDS