I have a confession to make: I’ve never stuck with anything. As a child, I tried countless hobbies, all given up within a few months. No matter what, I couldn’t find anything I liked long enough to stick with it for a long time. Fast forward to adulthood and I’m a jack of all trades; [...]
If I could send this letter back in time; I would. If I could go back knowing everything I know now; I would. Zoe, you’re 22 now, and you’ve made it mostly where you want to be, but as I know where we are now, I want to pass on some advice. Learn to say [...]
I awoke with the best intentions; plans laid ahead, some hope that I would conquer the day. Then the cracks started to show, I started to feel vulnerable, and my head filled up with black clouds. I floated aimlessly from one task to the next, with no real direction or desire for what I was [...]
In an age where everyone is encouraged to talk about mental health, it seems to be recovery that’s our biggest problem. The media portrays therapy, rehab, and medication as personal failures, and a total dependency on an outside force in an attempt to be ‘fixed’. The damaging stigma surrounding antidepressants has led to people feeling [...]
A creative outlet can be the difference between sinking or swimming, they can be helpful tools to channel our anger and frustrations and sadness into something else, whilst increasing our skill of something we enjoy. The sense of achievement I feel after writing a post I’m really proud of can be enough to drag me [...]
I knew from my very first lesson that passing my driving test would be no easy feat. I’ve always had some form of performance anxiety - I couldn’t do certain things in front of people for fear that I was being watched, and possibly judged. I can’t cook a meal if someone is in the [...]
As I sit here typing this, I’ve lost count of all the sleepless nights I’ve had in this 30 degree heat. Why is summer seen as the best season of the year? It’s not everyone’s favourite, but it feels like more and more we’re strung up and treated like outcasts for not wanting to lay [...]
Feeling alone at a bad time can be the difference between recovery and relapse. Everyone deserves to be heard, their problems validated. Whether it’s a friend, partner, or even finding a community online, people need a person or place to go to where they feel like they’re being heard and cared for. I’m incredibly lucky [...]
Feeling lethargic is an awful symptom of depression, and often accompanies most antidepressants as a side effect, so sometimes it feels like I can never escape it. It kills my productivity, motivation, and mood. I describe it as feeling ‘heavy’, it feels like my limbs are made of lead, and I have to fight to [...]
“But what I struggle with…” I’d often say, to cautiously steer a conversation towards mental health, as if navigating a social minefield, scared of saying the wrong thing. I was always worried that once I’d used a hideous taboo word, like ‘anxiety’ or ‘antidepressants’ that it’d all be over for me. Nobody can go back [...]
No Light Without Darkness 