Kaylee Maendel grew up in a Hutterite colony in southern Manitoba. She remembers a childhood that overflowed with outdoor adventure. She spent her days playing in the oak forests crowding the Assiniboine River Valley, following streams, making bonfires and building her own world of pretend villages.
But when Kaylee was in her mid-teens, that childhood magic was shattered by vicious online harassment. While living with depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide, photos of her self-harm scars were shared online. This painful experience led her to call Kids Help Phone (KHP).
“I remember apologizing for my anger, which was the result of frustration, helplessness and terror. A calm, reassuring voice on the other end said, ‘You don’t need to explain or justify your feelings. You are allowed to be angry.’”
When Kaylee sank deeper into despair and began to believe that suicide was the only option, she contacted KHP again. She shared her thoughts with a professional counsellor at KHP and was relieved not to be judged.
“They didn’t make a fuss or scold; they just said, ‘That sounds lonely. I’d like to ask you to do a safety check, if that’s OK with you. You’re allowed to say no.’”
For Kaylee, the counsellor’s non-judgmental support and help in navigating/managing mental health struggles using strategies and dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) skills gave her something she needed most: a sense that she was seen and heard. It was, as she puts it, a “candid acknowledgement of the human on the other end. Not a statistic or crisis, just me.”
Today, inspired by the support she received from Kids Help Phone, Kaylee is a strong advocate for youth mental health. She shares her story publicly and hopes to one day become a mental health professional supporting people in Hutterite communities.
“Together, we can create a domino effect for positive change, as Kids Help Phone has done for me and other young people across Canada,” she says.
