11/04/2025
Eva Evans wrote an inspiringly vulnerable piece in our Don’t MiND Me blog about the loss of her father to su***de - and it broke our hearts when we lost Eva to su***de not long after. We feel especially honored to share our newest blog entry by her incredible sister with her moving piece titled “As Children Do.”
We can’t imagine the weight of your loss, Lila - from everyone at DMM, we thank you for your openness and honesty that will help many others who need this letter more than you know ❤️🩹
Check out the excerpt from Lila below, and read the full blog entry on our website on the Speaker Series page (👉 dontmindme.org/lila-joy)
“Reading the letter she [Eva] wrote on tending to mental health, I so badly wish to rustle her awake and say, “open your eyes, Evie; you know what it takes!” Because she knew the importance. She wrote, “you work on yourself, you collect the tools that might one day save you. You might not always be able to ‘handle it’ with the skills you have right now,” about taking action with immediacy to develop healthy coping skills, move through trauma, anxiety, depression, and, for us, to gently undo the patterns our father passed down for handling sensitivity and emotional overwhelm.
We lost our father to su***de in 2018. We lost Eva to su***de in 2024.
Often, my mind gets caught in thought loops, and I can’t sleep. Sometimes the magnitude of life bubbles up and it feels too big to contain, or my heart aches so badly it feels like I will implode, but at least everything works. So I try my best: I go to therapy every week, read books that provide perspective, practice gratitude and compassion, attend embodiment practices like 5Rhythms and sound ceremonies, call my friends (especially when I don’t want to), play with children (the ultimate lesson on presence), apply myself to my career, and, ultimately, try to create a life I don’t want to escape from.
We are so much more than the weight of our thoughts, our fears, and our emotions. Like Eva said, “Let’s celebrate and prioritize our own responsibility to our mental health.” - Lila Joy
***deprevention