Today is Time To Talk Day 2019, an awareness day run by the campaign Time To Change. This year’s campaign is about bringing together the right ingredients to have a conversation about mental health. This has inspired me to write a post about why I talk about my depression. And why it is so important that we continue to talk about mental health. I was first diagnosed with depression in 1999, at the age of 20 years old. I was…
I’ve suffered from depression for 20 years now. During that time I have changed as a person. I am not the same girl that was diagnosed with depression in 1999. I have had to change to get better. To fight the devil that is depression. The stalker that is poor mental health. But I never expected that suffering from depression would teach me some valuable lessons about life. Lessons that I’m not always brilliant at following. Yet when I do…
I often believe that people who suffer with mental health problems get a raw deal. They are considered sad individuals who can barely crack a smile. That they aren’t able to feel happiness or joy. This is untrue. I can feel great happiness and joy. I can feel the excited happiness that comes when you dance around the room to your favourite song. The happiness that comes from chatting with your best friends. I know the contented happiness that comes…
TRIGGER WARNING: This post deals with depression and mentions self-harm. Depression And University Life My Degree I studied Classical Civilisation and Ancient History at university. And during my study I became drawn to Greek Tragedy. I loved the complex stories filled with bold female characters who committed hideous atrocities because of some fatal flaw. And during those years at university, I often felt like I had changed into one of those characters. That I was ever so carefully destroying myself…
My favourite song is by Sarah McLachlan and is called Full of Grace. It is a beautiful and heart-wrenching song, about the break down of a relationship. But I’ve always believed that the words work equally well in describing how it can feel to be depressed. And one line in that song has always stood out to me. A line that conveys my feelings of self-loathing. “It’s just that we stayed too long In the same old sickly skin.”…
Reading is a big part of life in our house. Lately, I’ve fallen back in love with novels thanks to the Bookish Mamas book club which I run online with two other bloggers (Jess and Naomi). We’re also helping Little Miss H with her school reading (which is really coming on). And bedtime involves reading at least two stories to Little Miss H and at least another two to Little Mister H (their book preferences are quite different and we haven’t…
This is a collaborative post. When depressed, it can be very tough to try and see the good in every day. In fact, it can sometimes be nigh-on impossible. This might be for many reasons. Of course, the chemical imbalance of your brain can contribute to this, and in those scenarios medication and therapy can be profound helping measures. This article will not focus on the science of this, or recommend that you follow it. Health matters of this serious…
This is a collaborative post. It’s safe to say that we don’t always feel at our best. As much as we’d all love to be able to look and feel incredible at all times, that very rarely happens. In fact, you’re more likely to find that you feel down more than you do good. Because the world can be an incredibly pressurized place. It’s easier than ever to be hard on yourself, and this is when things like depression can…
