Growing up in the US state of New Jersey, Jessica Sikora felt different from other children. Her traditional, religious Filipino parents imposed strict rules and curfews.“My parents pulled a lot of their traditional Asian parenting from their own upbringing,” the now 34-year-old says, which was often at odds with the more relaxed American parenting style. She was not allowed to go to sleepovers and missed out on social gatherings, making it hard to make friends.“By age 13, I was depressed. I was stuck at home; I was struggling,” she says.She was regularly self-harming and attempted suicide three times before she was 17. Her parents did not believe in therapy. “They suggested I pray instead,” she says.Jessica Sikora holds her son. As a teenager, Sikora was depressed and found hope in music; at 34, she runs Superbands, a platform that uses music fandom as a tool to promote mental health in young people. Photo: LinkedInStuck in her room night after night, she turned to music as a crutch. “I would listen on my old-fashioned desktop computer non-stop; I relied on it.”She followed many bands, but it was the Jonas Brothers she “fell in love with” early on.