Day 30 of my 40 (46) Day Blog Challenge. I thought I’d blog about my insecurity today, and where better place to start than in the gym…
I started going to the gym this week. A year of not being able to do much exercise, being middle aged, combined with the close proximity of “naughty street” (a street close to work with lots of bakeries and food outlets), has not been good for the old bulge 😕. Continue reading
Day 20 of my 40 Day Blog Challenge; half way through! Today’s is a story of having to adjust to the world when it turns out people aren’t at all who you thought they were. It is my story.
Day 19 of my 40 Day Blog Challenge. One of the best things about working in the mental health field is hearing stories of how people have learnt to cope with and manage their mental health. If you have such a story (or any story relating to mental health/wellbeing) I still have plenty of space left to fill!
Here’s a remarkable story from Paul, of significant pain and resilience. **WARNING** the blog briefly references instances of extreme violence. If this is likely to trigger your own PTSD symptoms, then please consider reading this when you feel safe and able to manage this effectively.
If I told you that within 10 minutes I could cure your anxiety and depression I would imagine you’d tell me to go and ‘jump in a lake’ right?
Anxiety and depression can come from many sources, here is my own unique road to pain: Continue reading
Day 18 of my 40 Day Blog Challenge. Yesterday, we heard a courageous story of what it was like to grow up in a household with someone battling alcoholism. Today, Penny has shared her story of growing up in a household with a parent suffering from Bipolar. It’s a frank and highly personal story which truly highlights the impact of living with mental health, and the dire need for the right kind of support. Continue reading
Day 17 of my 40 Day Blog Challenge. Addiction features quite a bit on my blog as it’s something I feel passionately about and forms the best part of my day to day work. Today, Felicity shares her painful story of what it meant to grow up in a home with someone battling alcoholism. This is a truly moving story, and I applaud Felicity for being kind enough and brave enough to share it with us. Continue reading
Day 16 of my 40 Day Blog Challenge. Here’s a challenging blog about how pornography can really impact on our mental wellbeing. Thank you so much Ginny for sharing this story so courageously.
The dictionary definition of shame: “the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonourable, improper, ridiculous etc. done by oneself or another”.
Shame is so much more than this dictionary definition. Continue reading
Image: “The Birth Trauma Tree” courtesy of Emma Sasaru at www.UnfoldYourWings.co.uk
Day 14 of my 40 Day Challenge. Again we have a topic about which it seems so few people have much awareness: Birth Trauma. WARNING: the following story contains narrative about events which may act as a trigger for your own PTSD if you have had a similar experience. Thank you Dawn for being so brave in sharing this.
I had a happy marriage, an almost two year old and had just welcomed my second daughter in to the world by emergency C-Section. That sounds common enough right? But, unless from this point I get more graphic, you won’t be able to understand how and why for the next 11 months after this event, I suffered with PTSD from the minutes that followed. Continue reading
Day 13 of my 40 day blog challenge. I am thrilled to introduce Denis who is truly an inspiration to me and has helped countless individuals in their recovery. Here he shares some of his thoughts on what recovery means… Continue reading
Today, Katie has shared about her experience with anxiety. This is something which affects so many of us, but very often goes either undiagnosed, or we simply don’t talk about it. Thank you Katie for taking the step to share this with us.
Day 11 of my 40 Day Blog Challenge, over 1/4 way through!
Thank you to the 4 amazing contributions to the blog so far. It is so lovely to hear other’s stories of living through real challenge and that these stories really are encouraging others. I’ve got a number of other contributions lined up, but there’s still plenty of room for more! Do get in touch if you feel you’d like to share your story (doesn’t have to be a new topic, as each story and experience is unique).
Today I’m going to attempt to answer a question, (or at least give my personal opinion) which someone emailed to me recently. It’s actually a really common question in the counselling realm and it’s a very well debated one… Continue reading
