Hi everyone, I’m Harrison, and I serve as the vice president and cofounder of One in Five. I’m really happy you’re here. I’ve struggled with mental health issues – namely, OCD – for the majority of my life. When I was at my worst, I think a supportive, online community like One in Five would have been so helpful. It would have made me realize that, despite what I told myself, I was not alone, and I have people that love and support me and who I love and support in return. I hope that, through One in Five, we can provide that kind of support to those most in need of it.
When I was at my lowest, I felt so incredibly lonely. I had great friends everywhere, but, strangely, I still felt the loneliest I ever had. I felt like, by concealing my troubles, my friends were not seeing my authentic self, and it felt like that authentic self was isolated. It wasn’t until I began to trust in my friends and be vulnerable with them that those feelings of loneliness finally disappeared. Everybody’s journey is different, but for me, a supportive community was paramount to my path to recovery, and I dream that One in Five will facilitate a similar, welcoming community on a broader scale.
The podcast will, hopefully, be an important tool for how we can provide support to those in need. Each episode, we aim to provide well-sourced information, but also fun and engaging activities near the end. Personally, the activities have been my favorite part, and it’s been so much fun creating and testing different ideas that we can keep our episodes engaging. We have a ton of ideas for future episodes, so we hope you continue to tune in! Any feedback you listeners have is incredibly valuable to me, so please don’t hesitate to submit them to our feedback form, or email me directly at hfosteroneinfive.co@gmail.com. Thank you very much for reading!
Love,
Harrison Foster | One in Five