The tragedy about mental illness is that it can happen to anyone and anywhere, even within stable communities like Roslyn.
Unlike other diseases that can be visibly seen, mental illness is an invisible disease. Simply looking at Rachel Priest, most people would have no idea that she has been suffering from a mental illness for 17 years.
Diagnosed at the age of 14, Priest is now 31. She suffers from bipolar disorder, is in recovery from self-injury and has survived two suicide attempts. Due to her personal experiences, she has become an outspoken advocate for mental illness awareness and suicide prevention.
“I find that people don’t realize that it’s not just one person,” said Priest. “We all know that mental illness exists, but nobody talks about it.”
In comparison to most, Priest always finds an opportunity to talk about mental health.
“It’s my main goal to bring mental illness out into the forefront and have a conversation about it,” she said.
Between volunteering at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and working at her job at the Mental Health Association of Nassau County, Priest has spoken to at nearly two dozen high schools across Long Island regarding mental illness and suicide prevention.
“It’s kind of a big deal for me,” she said. “When I was in school, most of the time mental health wasn’t being spoken about, or I was being made fun of for it.”
If somebody needs to talk to her about depression, mental illness, or suicide, Priest will take the time and talk to that person as long as necessary.
“There are so many people who don’t get treatment because they’re afraid of what the outside world is going to think,” she said.
Priest has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Art from SUNY Oneonta and two master’s degrees including one from LIU Post in Interactive Multimedia Art.
“It’s a long, weird path on how I got to where I am,” she explained.
After losing her job of over four years, in 2009 she started volunteering at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention — Long Island Chapter.
There, she helps with the annual walk-a-thon, spring fundraisers, and also helps out with educational workshops with schools all over Long Island.
While she was volunteering for the group, she realized mental illness and health was the career path for her.
So she went back to school to receive a master’s degree from Hofstra University in Community Health.
Priest started interning for the Mental Health Association of Nassau County in Hempstead during February of 2012, and was hired in June of 2012.
She currently works in the Information Referral Education and Training Department.
“I coordinate a group of young adults who go in and do speaking engagements,” said Priest.
In addition to speaking engagements and volunteering for events, Priest has also appeared in documentaries to talk about mental illness.
The first documentary film that she was featured in was Healthy U where she spoke about her knowledge on depression and suicide.
She also spoke about her experience with mental illness in the documentary, Suicide: The Truth Is, You Matter, which was produced by YES Community Counseling Center.
Any chance she gets, Priest talks about mental health. She wants people to know that having a mental illness is the same as having any other disease, and it is no different than treating any other illness.
For the healing process, Priest does not rule out certain medications.
“Psych meds make you gain weight, they make you hungry, they make you sleepy,” said Priest. “It’s not easy and I don’t think anybody wants to do it, but I do it to stay healthy.”
She encourages people who are not personally affected to go to events and see what people with mental illness are really like.
They may just find that people with mental illnesses are just like everybody else.
