Honor Betsey's Memory and Smash the Stigma

My name is Julianna, and Betsey was my half-sister. Growing up together, she was my hero; she carried me everywhere, made me laugh, gave me my first microscope, and inspired me with her love of dance and her desire to be a doctor.


When Betsey was a teenager, she began showing signs of bipolar disorder. At that time, the disease was very poorly understood, heavily stigmatized,and Betsey struggled to find her equilibrium in a world that didn't know how to help her. She was hospitalized many times, sometimes being treated more like a prisoner than a patient,but shealways came back full of hope and determined to change her life for the better.

By seeing my family and friends suffer, I grew to understandthat, "mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all."Many people don'tseek help, hide their diagnosis because of the fear of being judged or fired from their jobs, with terrible consequences.

Betsey never felt accepted as she was, and with her passing,all we are left isto love and remember her, and to destroy the stigma that so burdened her. By purchasing a T-shirt from this campaign (or donating), you are helping to raise money to pay for the cost of Betsey's treatment and funeral, and sending a message to the world that it's time for the stigma surrounding mental illness to end. Always remember that just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there.

To everyone who has supported us through the years, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Even if you choose not to donate, please honor Betsey's memory by eradicating bias and showing compassion and respectto sufferers of this silent disease.

(Any money raised above and beyond her debt will be put toward a college fund for Betsey's daughter.)