Meet the Founder
The Turning Point
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Hi, I'm Marian Mills and I’m so grateful you’ve found your way here. I am a professional voice, retired social worker and Army veteran. For more than 30 years, I lived in a cycle that broke me and nearly killed me. I battled depression, anxiety, alcoholism, and mental anguish trying to navigate the crushing silence that comes with pretending everything is fine. I was in turmoil and struggling to make it through each day. I smoked two packs of cigarettes a day, drowned my pain in alcohol, and felt like I was barely surviving. I’d been in and out of psychiatric facilities and in 2021, I was on the brink of another inpatient stay if something didn't change.
I know what it feels like you're just hanging on by a thread, believe you’re too far gone, too broken, or too tired to keep going. But here’s what I want you to know and understand—if nothing else sticks today:
You are not broken, and it is never too late to begin again - You CAN rewrite your story.
My prayers were answered and my life was saved when God delivered me from 30 plus years of drowning myself in self-hate. On January 19, 2019, I was lying in bed, in tears. I had finished the last drop of alcohol and smoked the last cigarette I had in the house that night. Mentally and physically, I was already craving my next drink, my next cigarette but I knew that I couldn't continue this pattern. I was crying out because I had been here before but wanted to break this cycle. It was sucking the life out of me. I knew that if I continued down this same path, I would die. I had been experiencing some health issues; I looked 20 years older, and I just was not happy.
The next morning, I woke up and never craved or desired another cigarette or drop of alcohol. This gave me clarity for the first time in years. I realized that I had been living in a drunken, depressed stupor for so long that I couldn't see that my environment was depressed as well. I began changing the small things around me—my routines, my environment, my mindset. I started to depression-proof my life...and everything shifted.
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Why DPYL was Created
My last inpatient stay was in the Spring of 2014, weeks after being discharged. I was called my friend, Monica, excited about opening my curtains. She said, "Look at you depression proofing your Life!" The phrase was coined that day, and the Depression Proof Your Life Facebook page was created just as a reminder for myself. I know what it’s like to smile for the world while fighting back tears on the inside. I know what it's like to avoid eye contact because you don't want people to "see" how you really feel". You know the eyes are the "Windows to the Soul" and I know what it feels like to spend days/weeks indoors and struggle with just simply opening the door to let the sun touch your skin.
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So, Depression Proof Your Life (DPYL) was created to break the silent whispers around mental illness and addiction and allow for real conversations without judgement or stigma. DPYL doesn't pretend life is perfect but helps you build one that supports your mental health. We want to bring awareness to the role your environment can play in your mental health and recovery; acknowledging that it's deeper than just "positive thinking." and to provide resources and tools, to a community of individuals manage everyday life's mental challenges.
To build a strong supportive community of individuals that can learn from others that have similar lived experiences— able to share what worked, share challenges and share those moments that are less flattering or even embarrassing-but necessary to help someone else; by sharing those real, vulnerable moments it not only brings comfort to others by making them aware that they are not alone but it helps shed the judgment and stigma associated with what prevents people from openly sharing their experiences, so the truth about everyday experiencing can be discussed.
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You don’t have to do this alone.