After incredible loss, she’s on a mission to save lives from suicide

FRAN REICHERTER IS INSPIRING HER GENERATION WITH MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS, EMOTIONAL SUPPORT, AND EDUCATION.

By Jackie Menjivar

Warning: Content discussed addresses suicide.

As a child, Fran Reicherter’s self-described superpower was her writing and her desire to change the things she knew could be better in the world. Now, the 23-year-old founder and president of Inspiring My Generation, is using her platform to transform the way we talk about and cope with mental health challenges. 

Through the encouragement card program, Inspiring My Generation is sending messages of love and support to people hospitalized in psychiatric facilities. Thousands of cards have been donated to help comfort patients on their paths to recovery. (Check out our coloring page in collaboration with Inspiring My Generation here)

A lot of this work is informed by Fran’s own experiences coping with loss, navigating the mental healthcare system, and surviving multiple suicide attempts. She’s taking the tools and resources that she learned on her mental health journey, and making them accessible to everyone. 

We sat down with Fran to learn more about how she’s using awareness, education, and early intervention to save lives.

IDM: Would you mind sharing your own personal journey with mental health?

Fran Reicherter (FR): Inspiring My Generation actually started as a blog when I was 12. At that point in my life, I was already struggling with severe anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. It was a way for me to express my emotions, but then it became my hope that other people reading it would find some kind of inspiration within it.

I was absolutely terrified of failing and that just kept getting worse until the end of high school. My parents decided to separate, and my whole life just shattered. I've now attached the idea that my parents' divorce was my own fault because I wasn't good enough. My eating disorder got to an all-time high, and that was kind of the only sense of control in my life at that time.

I was really lucky because I had my grandparents, aunt, and uncle, who were really there for me during that time. When I was in college, my grandfather would FaceTime me for a cup of coffee every morning before class, when I'd walk home to my dorm, and over dinner. He always made sure that I felt important and I felt seen.

“My uncle was the one who really talked to me and supported me emotionally through it. For the first time it felt like maybe I was going to be okay, and he said that we were going to get through this together.”

I was set on graduating in two and a half years, and I did. But I didn’t take any time for self-care, self-love, or for mental health. Three weeks before I'm about to graduate, my grandfather — who had credited all that strength within me — died in a car accident. I didn't know how to get through a morning cup of coffee without him, and now I suddenly had to get through a lifetime.

Christmas comes around a month later. My grandmother could barely walk and my grandfather wasn't here, and I just felt broken. I think that was the first time his death really hit me. I attempted suicide on Christmas Eve, and my uncle was the one who really talked to me and supported me emotionally through it. For the first time it felt like maybe I was going to be okay, and he said that we were going to get through this together.

So I started my master's degree program in Information Systems, and 27 days after the day that I had attempted suicide, my uncle died by suicide. I withdrew from the program for 6 months before returning and completing the degree.

My heart shattered because he understood, he wasn't just sitting there and talking, supporting me as an outsider. He was also feeling it, and yet I had no idea, and I felt so guilty that I didn't save him too.

I still hadn't grieved my grandfather, and now I was supposed to somehow begin grieving my uncle. Instead, I just pushed myself into being everything for everyone else and completely lost myself in the process. I ended up attempting suicide two more times within the next three months. I was hospitalized in a psych ward where I saw how many other people were struggling.

“I was one of 40 people on my floor. I had ten visitors. No one else had even one. How many people were struggling and genuinely didn’t have the financial or emotional means to get through it?”

IDM: How did your experience lead you to advocacy work? How does it shape the work that you do?

FR: Being hospitalized was the first time that I realized that some people can't financially afford healthcare. It just blew my mind that people were being forced into being in a facility for their own good, but at the same time, they were being forced on medication that they weren't going to be able to continue. They were removed from life's problems for 72 hours, but then put back into it with this additional financial burden. I was one of 40 people on my floor. I had ten visitors. No one else had even one. How many people were struggling and genuinely didn't have the financial or emotional means to get through it? I decided I wanted to do something about it and advocate for those who lost their voices to suicide — and for those who were barely holding on, who no one was listening to. So a year later I launched Inspiring My Generation to do that.

IDM: What does your work look like?

FR: First, we have the Normalize the Conversation podcast. The goal with that is to provide information and resources to people who don't have them, especially knowing how many people don’t have the financial means to go to therapy. We bring on professionals and advocates and amplify the voices of people from different backgrounds and just have honest conversations.

Next, the Encouragement Card program was built on that emotional support piece — how no one else in the hospital had a visitor, and I felt so alone. I wanted to find a way to provide messages of hope and encouragement to those who are struggling. I colored these messages saying, “You are enough. You are brave. You're going to get through this.” It  became a way for me to cope as well as provide that support to others who need to hear it, too.

There’s also a workbook series, the first of which came out last year. It's called You Are Not Alone: The Workbook. When I got out of the facility, I felt like I still didn’t have the coping mechanisms or tools that I needed. So when I started therapy, I started making worksheets for myself about the things I was learning. The first workbook was completely accidental and it was really what saved my life at the time. Now with every workbook I create, it’s based on what I am learning and struggling with at the time.

“Part of life is death and loss and pain. It’s a beautiful part of life because that’s also what allows us to experience joy, laughter, happiness, and love. But with that loss, you still have to be able to deal with the pain, to cope and live through it and live past it.”

IDM: How do you see your work powering a shift from mental health awareness to suicide prevention?

FR: When it comes to awareness, we're focused on identifying that there are problems, but what are we doing about it? It's not enough to just identify it, we have to offer solutions. So one of the things I'm most passionate about is reaching kids before there is a stigma that they can't be honest and open and feel. One of my end goals is to create 12 workbooks from first grade through 12th grade that provide those tools to help kids and teenagers learn how to cope and connect. They need to know what they feel, what kind of support they’re looking for, and who they can talk to instead of thinking that they’re all alone.

It’s also about getting to kids and providing those tools before life stressors get to them because unfortunately, part of life is death and loss and pain. It’s a beautiful part of life because that's also what allows us to experience joy, laughter, happiness, and love. But with that loss, you still have to be able to deal with the pain, to cope and live through it and live past it. 

IDM: When it comes to fighting these systemic issues, how do you personally sustain hope for change in the face of such large barriers? 

FR: I just try to do as much hands-on work as possible. I was hosting a workshop with some kids the other day, and I asked them about what makes them feel strong. All of them went around and shared these coping mechanisms that they didn’t realize were coping mechanisms. I saw it click in their heads for the first time that they had something they could do when they were feeling down instead of holding it in and hoping it goes away. Just seeing that little spark of hope in their eyes is the kind of thing that keeps me going.

“I got a message from someone once about how just knowing that someone out there cares genuinely saves their life every day.”

IDM: What victories – small or large – has Inspiring My Generation accomplished that you’re proudest of?

FR: With the podcast, some of my favorite moments were after I recorded an episode with someone. They came back to me and told me they were really nervous to share their story, but they felt empowered by being in a space where they could have full control of how it was going to come out. It’s great being able to create these spaces for people to be completely and authentically vulnerable, sharing their hardest moments that they never would have shared before and being able to just support them and be part of it.

With the encouragement cards, I got a message from someone once about how just knowing that someone out there cares genuinely saves their life every day. It was definitely one of my favorite moments of all time, to hear that it resonated with them and how it actually has the ability to save someone's life.

IDM: What’s next? What are you excited about in the future?

FR: Right now, I'm studying for my master's in psychology at Pepperdine University, and I am hoping to do a doctorate afterwards. 

Also, the podcast has been growing to where we’ve got 70 episodes released and over 100 recorded, so I’m really excited for that milestone and to take it even further. When I was 12 years old, I used to come home from school and watch Oprah, and I always thought I was going to be like Oprah one day. In my head, with every episode, I’m getting closer and closer to that. One of the things I’m looking forward to most is hopefully turning the podcast into a talk show that provides information and resources on an international level, as well as being able to take proceeds from that and donate it to provide free therapy.