Brandon Teixeira had every reason to look fine. A basketball star with a big personality and an even bigger heart, he was the guy everyone leaned on. What no one saw was the weight underneath: a learning differnce and years of feeling "less than," two torn ACLs that took away the game that held him together, grief that kept stacking up, and a silence he was taught to call strength.
One night in a college dorm room, that weight nearly won. A single phone call, at the exact right moment, is the reason he is still here.
Misunderstood is his story, honest and hopeful, about hitting the lowest point a person can reach and the long climb back, and how one survivor turned his pain into purpose. It is a book about labels, loss, grief, and the quiet crisis facing so many young men who are taught to "man up" instead of reach out.
For anyone who has ever felt unseen, and for everyone who loves someone struggling in silence.
If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any time.
Brandon Teixeira had every reason to look fine. A basketball star with a big personality and an even bigger heart, he was the guy everyone leaned on. What no one saw was the weight underneath: a learning differnce and years of feeling "less than," two torn ACLs that took away the game that held him together, grief that kept stacking up, and a silence he was taught to call strength.
One night in a college dorm room, that weight nearly won. A single phone call, at the exact right moment, is the reason he is still here.
Misunderstood is his story, honest and hopeful, about hitting the lowest point a person can reach and the long climb back, and how one survivor turned his pain into purpose. It is a book about labels, loss, grief, and the quiet crisis facing so many young men who are taught to "man up" instead of reach out.
For anyone who has ever felt unseen, and for everyone who loves someone struggling in silence.
If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any time.
