Friday 31 March 2017

50 Things I Am Grateful For

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Gratitude is so important. But it's something none of us practices enough. How many times have you moaned today? Probably more than the digits on your hands. We constantly hate our life's because they are so difficult. We never have enough time, enough money or enough energy to do what we want with our life's. We often forget how privileged we really are.

This isn't me slating you guys. I'm the same. I'll moan that it's cold or that the bus isn't here. But what I'm forgetting is how privileged I actually am, to be able to afford the bus fare which gets me to college four times a week or that I live in a country which is yes is a little bit chilly but also very rarely experiences devastating storms, hurricanes or tsunamis which destroy livelihoods by the thousands.

I didn't think I would be able to find 50 things that I am grateful for but it turns out it's actually pretty easy. By doing this blog post, I realised how privileged I actually am. All those things I complain about, actually millions in society, across the globe don't have access to at all. Yes, homework is annoying, but at least I have access to an education. Okay, I don't have enough money to buy that top I really like, but at least I have other tops at home which I could wear. You catch my drift.

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Monday 27 March 2017

An Open Letter To Anyone With a Mental Illness

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You don't think it will get better. You can't see any hope. You feel trapped. Trapped inside your own mind. Your demons controlling everything you feel. Every emotion. Everything you do. You can't cope. You feel like you will never be better again. 

You are fed up of people telling you that it will be okay in the end. It's all going to be okay. You wonder when the end is going to come because you have been suffering silently for months maybe even years on end and you haven't seen as much as a glimmer of hope. 

You are done with the stigma that surrounds having a mental illness. You wish people would understand how disabling living with a mental illness really is. How pain is so much more than an arm in a cast or walking with a limp. In fact, some of the worst suffering you can ever face is completely invisible. How being physically and mentally ill are just the same. The only thing that distinguishes them apart is the negative connotations and stigma that surrounds them.

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Friday 24 March 2017

Why I Became an Organ Donor

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I haven't had any personal experience of family members needing organ transplants and not being able to find a donor. Nor have I ever needed an organ transplant and had to wait for a donor myself. So why would I become an organ donor? I chose to become an organ donor because it's the right thing to do. 

If I were in the situation where one of my family members or even I needed an organ transplant, and I couldn't have one because they couldn't find a suitable organ donor, I would be upset and I'm sure so would you. Obviously, I understand that not everyone can be an organ donor, some religions and faiths may not like it, and some people might have their own personal objections against becoming an organ donor, that's completely fine. But what about the rest of the population?

The NHS is incredibly low on organ donors. 249 people are currently waiting for a heart transplant (correct Febuary 2017) Most of the population have no objections to becoming an organ donor, they have either just have never thought of it or haven't found the time to sign up. If all these people just took, 2 minutes out of their day to sign up, thousands of life's could be saved every year, as there would be enough organs. Today I'm going to talk about how you can become an organ donor and answer some frequently asked questions and concerns people have about becoming an organ donor. With the aim of hopefully encouraging at least one person reading this to become an organ donor. 

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Friday 17 March 2017

Mental Health Favourites

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Do you remember when everyone and their cat used to do favourites videos at the end of every month on YouTube and in the blogging world, myself included?? Ahhh those were the days. I don't really think much of favourites posts, I'm not really a fan, says the girl whose writing this in a favourites post. lol. 

Okay long story short, I'm not the biggest fan of favourites posts ever and have no reason to do them now as I'm not a beauty or fashion blogger. However, I wanted to do something a bit lighter today, not as heavy and intense. Which is often one of the downsides to blogging about mental health. I still wanted this post to be about mental health, so boom you guessed it, I thought I would do a mental health favourites.

So here are a few of the things I love right now which are having a positive impact on my mental health. 

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Monday 13 March 2017

Why Mental Illnesses Should Be regarded As Physical Illnesses

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In the blogging community when talking about the stigma that surrounds mental health, we often compare mental illness to physical illness. Saying something along the lines of you wouldn't make fun of someone with a physical illness like cancer or Down syndrome so why do so many people make so many flippant remarks about people with mental illnesses? 

This is a very accurate and a valid point, but actually, to some extent, mental illnesses can be regarded as physical illnesses. I appreciate this may not make a lot of sense but let me explain. 

Yes okay, they are called mental illnesses because they occur in the brain. Although they may be triggered by environmental factors as well primarily the reason why they happen is that of chemical imbalances and hormone changes within the brain. However, unless I'm really thick Isn't the brain a physical part of the body? 

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Friday 10 March 2017

How To Travel With Anxiety

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I'm not the biggest traveller in the world, that's a given. However, recently if you've been following me on Twitter you would have seen I did something really out of my comfort zone. I went for a weekend away in London. I stayed in central London, I went on the underground for the first time and visited some very busy places ( obviously it's London) but guess what I didn't have a panic attack. 

I can't lie there were times where I got a bit anxious, like when all the tube stations were shut on Sunday, and we were running around like crazy chickens to find one that was open, to get us back to the hotel. But I think anyone in that situation would be pretty panicky. I mean if you don't know London very well, It can seem like an entirely different planet. And that's the same for any new place or country.

For a lot of people, they find travelling fun and exciting. However, for people with anxiety, it's an entirely different story. When I go to new places I find it particularly stressful especially if there are large crowds because of my OCD, I kind of get freaked out a bit. On the contrary, I love finding new places that I fall in love with. I want to travel the world. I don't want to let OCD trap me in my bedroom forever. I want to explore the world. 

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Wednesday 8 March 2017

New Beginnings

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Welcome to a beautiful chaos. OMG, I'm so excited. I've wanted to change my blog name and brand for the longest time now. Although I feel sad to say goodbye to thrifty vintage fashion, it's for the best. I kind of feel like I'm saying goodbye to a child of mine * cue slipping through my fingers song by Abba* LOL

I will try my hardest to not get too emotional. Jokes. I've been blogging about mental health and my struggle with mental illness since spring 2016. When I started talking openly about my mental health, I was nervous at first. I was worried people would think I was attention seeking. Using mental illness as a way of boosting my engagement. This wasn't the case at all. In fact, the response was overwhelmingly positive and supportive.

People were unbelievably kind. Telling me how brave and inspiring I was to talk about my own battles and struggles. But this wasn't my primary intention. I wanted to support others also battling with their demons. I wanted to let people know that they are not alone. That suffering from a mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. This aim was achieved. So many people have contacted me telling me how much I have helped them which honestly means the world to me. More than any number or statistic could ever do.

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Monday 6 March 2017

If I Could Talk To My Mental Illness...

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For years and years, probably since the age of seven or eight, you've left me petrified of life. From the near deaths of both my mother and father to the illnesses that could have taken the lives of both my grandparents. You've made me cling on to the edge of the cliff, with only my pinky fingers like I'm the one fighting for my life. 

Life is unpredictable. The scariest thing of all is when something depressing happens to someone with depression. Life has teased me with this in a sick and twisted way ever since I was the age of three. Death and illness have been at the core of my life for the 18 years I lived. But as I watched my loved ones suffer physically, I battled internally with my own demons.

OCD, you are an old friend of mine. A friend that mislead and tricked me. You sold me comfort and relief from the uncertainty I've experienced in the seven years that I had been alive. When I performed these simple behaviours, you reassured me. You told me things would be okay, as long as I kept on doing these things. This often reminds me of those dodgy salesmen who try and flog you things in the market which you know are utter crap, but you buy them anyway. But this isn't a joke. There's no "ah never mind, it serves me right" this is happiness, sleep and life lost to you and your wicked ways.

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Friday 3 March 2017

Let's Talk About The Mental Health Blogging Community

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Guess what I'm a mental health blogger, and I don't just blog about anxiety and depression? I blog about my experiences with OCD, eating problems, phobias and about mental illness in general. I know shock! Because apparently according to some that's all the mental health blogging community is about; anxiety and depression. 

Many bloggers in the mental health community do just blog about depression and anxiety. That's because that is all they have had experience of but they want to share their stories to inspire, raise awareness and support others. What's wrong with that? Absolutely nothing! Nothing at all! 

Statistically if you think about it, it's going to be more common to see bloggers blog about depression and anxiety, than say bipolar or borderline personality disorder as globally 350 million people suffer from depression and 8.2 million cases of anxiety reported in the U.K. In 2013 (which is obviously likely to have risen since then) compared to 4 million cases of bipolar reported in the same year in the U.K. Obviously this is still a very high number but the likelihood of finding people who have anxiety and depression and have a blog as well are significantly higher. 

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