thought that my life

would become what it has.

It's beyond what I could have imagined.

I guess I didn't see it

happening in my lifetime.

How does one rise to such an occasion,

when maybe you don't feel that inside?

How does one accept where

life has brought them,

and what it all means?

As a sexual assault survivor

by someone in the entertainment industry,

as a woman who is still not

brave enough to say his name,

as a woman who lives with chronic pain,

as a woman who was conditioned

at a very young age

to listen to what men told me to do,

I decided today, I wanted

to take the power back.

After I was assaulted

when I was 19,

I changed forever.

Part of me shut down for many years.

I didn't tell anyone.

I avoided it myself.

And felt shame even still today.

Standing in front of you,

I feel shame for what happened to me.

I still have days where I

feel like it was my fault.

After I shared what happened to me

with very powerful men in this industry,

nobody helped me.

No one offered me guidance,

or a helping hand,

to lead me to a place

where I felt justice.

They didn't even point me in the direction

of the mental health assistance

I was in dire need of.

I began to hide.

I hid for a long time

until I started to feel physical pain.

Then I had to go to the doctor.

And then I was diagnosed with PTSD

and fibromyalgia.

It's a syndrome

that is essentially a cyclone

of many different conditions

depending on the person,

inducing a stress-induced pain.

Depression, anxiety,

eating disorders, trauma,

these are just a few

examples of the forces

that can lead to this tornado of pain.

I'm fortunate enough now to

have the resources to help me,

but for many, the resources

either don't exist,

or people don't have the ability

to pay for

or access them.

I want to see mental health

become a global priority.

We might not be able, or

we're not able,

to control all of the

challenges and the tragedies

that life throws our way.

And we can also try to find the strength,

in the best way that we can,

to ask for help if we need it.

One in four people in the world

suffer from mental illness.

300 million people suffer from depression,

60 million people live with

bipolar affective disorder,

23 million people are

stricken with schizophrenia,

and 800,000 people die

every year from suicide.

In low and middle income countries,

between 76 and 85% of

people with mental disorders

receive no treatment at all.

In high-income countries,

between 35% and 50% of people

are in the same situation.

the people that you

have in your network,

have the power to turn kindness

into plutonium

and change the world

for both children and adults,

to provide for a better future

and make up in whatever

small way that we can,

microscopic maybe,

for the pain those have

suffered in the past.

We want kids to learn about mental health

and the importance of kindness

at a very young age.

And it is my personal dream

that there would be a mental

health expert, teacher,

or therapist in every

school in this nation,

and hopefully, one day,

around the world.

Whatever our story may be,

I have a platform.

I have a chance

to make a change.

I pray

we listen and believe

and pay closer attention

to those around us,

to those in need.

Be a helping hand.

Be a force for change.

Thank you.

I was an outcast,

and you believed in me,

and I wouldn't be here without you.