“Hear the tragedy in my words See tears flow from my pen A poetic discourse sprawling free As I’m feeling fragile once again Dark ink crawls across the page Revealing emotions I refuse to feel Black splashes of truth from the ether Preventing denial of the real Chinks in the armor released by rhyme Opening […]
Why Self Care is Everyone’s Responsibility
If mental health is everyone’s problem – which it is – then self care is everyone’s responsibility. The oxygen mask on the plane metaphor may feel tired. But. They’re right. We need to put our own on before we help others. As a member of society, as a parent, a friend, a sibling, a child, […]
On the Nature of Loneliness
I think we’ve all been lonely at times. It’s part of the human experience. Potentially it’s something that we might have to accept. In an ONS report in 2018, it was found that 9.8% of young people aged 16-24 and 11.3% of young people aged 10 to 15 years said that they were often lonely. […]
Depression Daze #4: Advice That Helps
There seems to be endless websites and blogs full of well-meaning people writing about what doesn’t help. I’ve read dozens of articles titled ‘what not to say’ or ‘unhelpful things to do’. There are also lots of articles with amazing advice about what really helped them. I thought I’d share my own thoughts of what […]
Achieving Our Best Life
Following on from my previous post entitled ‘living our best life’ you’ll be pleased to hear I’ve had further revelations. I called living our best life a journey of a lifetime which made we wonder the following. When have I achieved my best life? And how will I know? Will I continue to work endlessly […]
Living Your Best Life
This seems to be an all too common phrase at the moment. But what does ‘living our best life’ mean? What does it look like in practice? I’m sure I’m not the only one wondering this. When I think about this elusive concept I think I’m meant to feel inspired. Sometimes I feel up to […]
Making Sense of Senseless Hatred
I woke up to a world gone mad. The day seems grey and overcast, there’s a heaviness in the air. I see people on the street and wonder how they can be okay. I probably look okay as I go about my job. No-one can see my brain screaming how? or why?. My mind isn’t […]
Model Behaviour: Royal Support for Mental Health
When you go offline for a few days you can miss a lot. Usually catching up with the news is a study in societal and inidivdual failure. It makes for a bleak read. Consequently I was pleasantly surprised to find a glimmer of hope shining through. Today the news was dominated with articles surrounding various […]
Suicide on the Rise: It’s Not Okay
Reading the newest data on suicide released by the Office of National Statistics the rise in female suicide shocked me. Although I am all too aware of current suicide statistics, it’s the biggest killer in men under 45 and a young person attempts suicide approx. every 20 minutes, I had at least hoped that the […]
Give a Penny: Kindness Strikes Again
For once a news story put a smile on my face. It was an example of pure kindness which I believe we see too little of in this world. Too often our kindness is directed by others or motivated by external factors. We want to look good or feel good – I’m not saying that’s […]