In today's rapidly warming climate and changing landscape, mental health awareness and Lyme disease awareness, is more important than ever. As Lyme disease spreads into new regions and mental health challenges continue to rise, it's essential to amplify the awareness and understanding of both of these uniquely intertwined health conditions.

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The inspiration for the name ‘Green Gallery Gifts’ arose from the colors of Lyme disease and mental health awareness (green). With each product incorporating green, one more person is aware and knowledgeable of the existence of these conditions in addition to a fact about their interconnectedness (included in packaging) which increases the awareness and knowledge surrounding these health conditions.

 

For me, these things are things that I hold very close to my heart as I am someone who lives with both of these chronic health conditions and have experienced the interconnectedness and complexities of both. Having had Lyme for 16 years with the predominant symptoms manifesting as psychiatric in nature, I have seen and lived how debilitating these chronic health conditions can be.

 

This past year when I got reinfected (for a 3rd time), and after already suffering from long term symptoms most of my life, new symptoms started to arise with increased severity and resistance to normal treatment. Not only did my social life, grades, and athletics decline, but I also almost completely lost the ability to take care of myself. I had trouble getting out of bed and even doing the most basic tasks (drinking water, eating food, going to the bathroom, etc.).  Paranoia started to infiltrate my every thought, making it hard to have a real grasp on reality, making it nearly impossible to leave my room  Fatigue riddled every part of my body (regardless of sleep), my mind was constantly spiraling with multiple streams of thoughts, I lost my appetite and lost over 20 pounds in less than a year, my previously managed psychiatric conditions started to intensify, my emotional regulation was non-existent, and I turned into somewhat of a shell of myself. I started to think that I was losing my mind when my memory started to decline and I was neglecting to remember entire conversations with people, misplacing everyday items, forgetting what I was doing/speaking about midway through a procedural task, etc. My brain felt foggy. I pretty much lost my ability to read, and something even attempting to think or remember something (no matter how similar, proved to be an extremely difficult task).

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With my entire health declining, I was stuck in an endless loop of misery. I was suffering so intensely, but I thought this was just who I was then, so I tried to practice humility, kindness and acceptance. I became quiet and shelled but also embarrassed of the person I was in those moments. I would avoid people I knew, knowing that I had no energy to even speak with them and knowing that I didn't have much to offer or contribute to a conversation anyways.

 

People often say "just take it one day at a time", but every. single. day. was so miserable, I started to lose hope in my existence. 

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I had to start doing something to motivate me to continue living, so I invested in a lot of plants, as through taking care of them, I was able to run a sort of parallel in my reality. If I wasn't taking care of my plants, the only other  thing I could do was make jewelry/ or do 'crafts'. This allowed me to focus on dexterity and manual hand labor; it allowed me to be present in my physical body rather than falling victim to the torturous climate of my head. To drown the streams of thought I would play audiobooks constantly because any moment I was listening to a book, I was someone else. Sometimes this was the only reason I got up.

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To make matters worse, most of my professors were tired of the 'being sick' excuse and started to question my character, intelligence, and work ethic. I didn't even have the ability to defend myself because how do you explain something even you don't fully understand. 

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Over the summer, my mom brought me to an intensive Lyme & cancer treatment clinic in Arizona. For 5/7 days of the week for 8 weeks, I received treatment so intense that it rendered me essentially non-functional everyday. I was miserable, but this truly was my last ounce of hope.

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I returned home in fall of 2024, starting to feel better, but with being so immunocompromised, it didn't take long for me to catch pneumonia and my body to start to shut down on me. I think this was a sort of rude awakening to the fact that, despite treatment and decreased intensity, I will still have flare-ups and will still need to work every single day to manage my health conditions. 

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This is just the tip of the iceberg of my experience with Lyme disease and Co-infections & Mental Health challenges, but that is all that is needed to share information about these chronic health conditions and how debilitating they can be on one's life.

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Currently, I aim to donate $1000 to a local Mental Health Non-profit organization & a Nationwide Lyme Disease organization (details coming soon!) by the end of its first year in business (June 2025). Although not much, any little bit helps in advancing the diagnosis, treatment, education, and awareness surrounding the conditions. I also hope that by simply selling items and sharing my story based around Lyme and mental health, more people in my community will become aware.

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Lyme disease and mental health challenges may be invisible, but that doesn't mean they aren't real. That's why I've made it my goal to raise awareness through stylish, functional products, using the color green as a symbol of both causes. By incorporating green into the name of this business, I aim to increase understanding and visibility of these conditions, helping to build greater awareness and literacy around them.