Reducing the stigma around mental health
There are two in the conversation: The Voice of Reason, and The Voice of Panic Reason: I’m going to go into London today with my friends for a bit of sightseeing and maybe some shopping. Panic: No Reason: What’s wrong now? Panic: There are germs. It’s that time of year Continue Reading
With one in four people suffering from mental illness throughout their lifetime we need a workplace revolution. We must do better at creating working environments that encourage positive mental health. We must do more for our employees and co-workers who suffer from poor mental health. The company I work for Continue Reading
There’s a lot about mental illness that’s misunderstood. Thankfully, there is a growing awareness of the issues surrounding mental ill health, partly due to the willingness of sufferers to speak out about their personal experiences, which goes some way to helping others to understand. But there’s still a lot to Continue Reading
You got there. Despite your lack of belief that it was possible, you fought your illness and came out of the other side. In some ways, it made you weaker. To fight every day against the overwhelming urge to just give up and retreat to your bed was exhausting. But Continue Reading
How many times have you told yourself, ‘I’m not good enough’, ‘I’m hopeless’ or ‘I’m a failure’? Consider how many times your inner voice has said this versus the amount of times it has said ‘You’re great!’, ‘You’re amazing!’ or ‘You’ve done so well!’. I’m willing to bet that the Continue Reading
I think of my depression as a thief. It crept in when I least expected it and it took everything that was dear to me. But unlike a thief, it didn’t take a laptop, jewellery or money. It took away the things that made me who I was; my outgoing Continue Reading
For a long time I hid my true self, firstly from myself and then from those I worked with. I work in marketing for a fairly large firm and depression was impacting my ability to do my job. A tight deadline could still get me to do what was required Continue Reading
One in 4 people will suffer from a mental illness at some point in their life and I want you to join me in pledging to do absolutely nothing about it. Quarter of the people you know will suffer at some point from depression, stress, anxiety or other mental illnesses, Continue Reading
I hate the phrase “Man up”. What’s that supposed to mean? Either stop being lady like and be strong cos that’s what men do, or if you are a man, you can’t be upset because men don’t do that
It is said that if you have depression, you are living in the past, and if you have anxiety, you are living in the future. Living in our heads so much is detrimental to mental wellbeing, and the chances are, if you have a mental health problem, you do enough of that already.
Mental and physical health are so often treated as two separate entities, when the reality is, one cannot exist without the other. If we are physically well, we are more able to stay mentally healthy. Physical wellbeing promotes recovery.
The richness of the English language with the word play we can create around it is a joy. But when we lose sight of the true meaning behind these words, we can cause great misunderstanding and, in some examples, pain and suffering and this is certainly true of words such as depression, stress and anxiety.