Reducing the stigma around mental health
By Claire Raymond Going to the doctor for the first time to talk about your depression can be a very scary thing. Many people put it off because they feel afraid that they will be judged or they won’t be taken seriously. Some people are also afraid that they will Continue Reading
By Karen Algor Behind a smile lies a pain, That runs deep within the vein. A thousand hurts have gone by. Behind a laugh hides tears unshed, Tormenting thoughts run through my head. Exhausted, I sit with heartfelt sigh. Behind a joke lies a sorrow, Weighing heavy, yet feeling hollow. Continue Reading
By Jo Clutton I’m Jo – artist, writer, traveller, Wild West nut, intrigued by science, and renaissance soul. I’ve recovered from 30 years of depression – a medication crisis was the catalyst. I’ve never felt this good – and I’m chronicling the rebuild of my polymath creative lifestyle on my Continue Reading
By Ian Disley The thoughts and images that your mind comes up with are in the form of a story. Every highly anxious person has to cope with intrusive thoughts. Intrusive thoughts are frightening thoughts about what might happen to you or someone you care about, or what you might Continue Reading
By Namarita Kathait If schizophrenia was a person, it would be a distracting being. A face with distorted features you could never recognise but so familiar that putting a right name to it would give your head a trip. Psychedelic coloured skin; so blinding that reality would escape it and Continue Reading
By Anonymous I have long list of mental health problems, from paranoid schizophrenia to insomnia. Things get a little too much at times and sometimes I feel like suicide is the only way out. I’ve tried to do it several times. I know I shouldn’t but it seems the best thing Continue Reading
By Samantha Jones This time last year I was at the bridge ready to jump but suddenly, with no warning, strangers jumped out their car and pulled me back to safety. I hear you ask many questions, why? Where? How could you? But that’s not why I’m writing this, as Continue Reading
By Samantha Jones A poem for people considering suicide… You look and stare So easy to judge You tell your friend With a simple nudge My scars are visible But my story is hid It all began When I was a kid You don’t know why But don’t even ask Continue Reading
By Kelly (Mum in a Daydream) Really, you’d have to be as nuts as I am to date me. My anxiety disorder often manifests itself in over-thinking. I can work myself up into a frenzy about situations that are never going to happen. I can decide what OTHER people are Continue Reading
By Lisa Waugh It wasn’t until I started to feel better that I realised how bad I had felt for so long. The weight of my low mood was something I just accepted and never thought to question. It was just me; I was lonely, shy, unconfident, and had low Continue Reading
By Anonymous I’d like to think I’m getting by: just turned 40, qualified nurse, single mother of four … but that’s just it. Getting by. Getting by; not winning. I’d really like to be winning. People talk to me like I’m winning: “look at what you’ve achieved.” Managing to qualify Continue Reading
By Kelly (Daydreams of a mum) I’ve had a weird couple of weeks. Nothing huge has happened, no trauma, no incidents of note. I’ve just not felt ‘right’. I’ve not had a real anxiety attack for a while and none of the usual triggers were present. I could just feel it Continue Reading