One woman’s journey from hopelessness to happiness

LETHBRIDGE- The subject of depression is still riddled with stigma and has left many struggling alone in the dark. Kelli-Rae Ennis of Lethbridge, Alta. counted herself among those living in the dark until she hit rock bottom and realized something needed to change.

“I tried to take my own life at one point and that was it, that was the bottom. Honestly, I didn’t feel sad about it, I didn’t feel embarrassed or ashamed or anything until I saw my mom. When I saw my mom and I realized how much I’d hurt her, that’s when I really realized I needed to get things sorted out.”

Ennis woke-up in hospital, and decided it was time to get professional help. She made the difficult decision to enter a rehabilitation program.

“The lows that I felt and the self loathing that I felt, and the hatred that I felt, were so low that I never imaged life could be so happy. Sometimes I just take a deep breath and think, wow, I can’t believe this is real.”

She started to jot down things that made her feel better throughout her journey of recovery, eventually rolling all that positivity into a book called”Hopeless to Happy”.

“I thought maybe I could bring the book to youth rehab, to adult rehab, and maybe they would like to read them. But as I start to get feedback, I realized there is so many people struggling and I’m just grateful this could help.”

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Thomas Mountain is the director of addictions and mental health, with Alberta Health Services, he says depression doesn’t target any specific demographic, it can target any age, any gender, anyone.

“I think it is more common than most people realize to experience depression through someone’s life. There are people who will have episodic bouts of depression and will move on from that and be contributing members of society,” said Mountain.

For Ennis, writing her book was a major part of her healing journey, but she says she could never have arrived to where she is without the support of her family and her therapists.

“There are definitely some people who stand out in the mental health field in Lethbridge that helped me. I talk to them once and a while now, and they made a huge difference in my life.”

Her book is available online, and will be published shortly. She works on her happiness every day, a little bit at a time.

“I never imagined it could be this good.”

If you you or someone you know is suffering from depression, there are a number of options for help in southern Alberta.

Distress Line of SW Alberta   (403) 327-7905

911 – Police Services, Fire and Emergency

Alberta Health Services – Addictions and Mental Health  (403) 381-5183

Crisis Intervention Program (pager)  (403) 381-1116

Lethbridge Mental Health Clinic:

• Children Services   (403) 381-5278
• Adult Services    (403) 381-5260

myhealthalberta.ca  and enter “depression” in the search box