By Gill Jardine, Counsellor/Psychotherapist We are living in a time of increasing awareness of mental health issues which sounds all to the good, but, in reality, is it? I can hear you thinking: ‘Well, of course it is, why would…
Tag: depression
Why it’s okay you weren’t there
I’m now programmed to reach out during a mental health crisis. This took years of psychological training. I used to introvert myself, cut off the world, turn to drugs and alcohol, self harm and, if it got really bad, make…
I Will Survive Myself
TRIGGER WARNING: Strong suicide, self harm, bipolar, depression focus. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll make it. My dad didn’t. He took his own life at 57, plummeting from a cliff’s edge, alone. I guess he had a nice view in…
RADIO: The Business of School Counselling
Gill Seaton-Jardine, a sponsor of Minds Anonymous, has over 20 years’ professional experience in adult, adolescent and child counselling and professional supervision and works in schools alongside running her private practice, GSJ Counselling, based in Surrey. Gill has featured on The…
PODCAST: From Survivor to Thriver E.38
Nick Jonnson: “If we can talk to each other, miracles are possible” Nick, Founder and Managing Director of Executives’ Global Network (EGN) Singapore, is dedicated to raising awareness and eliminating the stigma around the phenomenon of executive loneliness. He made…
POEM: Men & Monsters
The Answer is already here, Over and again, When we’re ready To hear it. Love. ‘Shut up.’ ‘You never listen.’ ‘Not everyone thinks like you.’ ‘You expect too much of people.’ ‘You’re not always right, you know.’ Somehow I always…
SUPPORT: What can you do if you are SAD?
Seasonal Affective Disorder is a type of depression caused by seasonal changes. The main thinking around the cause of Winter SAD is that lack of sunlight in the Winter months can stop the hypothalamus in the brain working properly, affecting…
Enough Now
I’ve barely left my bed for six weeks, I haven’t been able to walk for over two years or drive for over six years. Now, finally nearing the end of my recovery and having, after years of applications and a…
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PODCAST/VIDEO: Founder Wizzi Magnussen’s Story
Louisa “Wizzi” Magnussen: “I didn’t know that anything was wrong” Wizzi Magnussen, the Founder and Owner at Minds Anonymous, which provides a safe space to share mental health stories anonymously, and Wizmedia, a website design and copywriting company, struggled as a child…
It’s Perfectly Okay to Not Always be Okay
For as long as I can remember, I have been “okay” according to society’s definition. Yet, I’ve experienced everything from the fear of sleeping as a young child, to the onset of terrifying obsessive thoughts as an adolescent, to the…
Healing Depression through the Art of Language
I was depressed for a long time, so I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror. What I saw there was a continuous reminder of what I wasn’t becoming, but therein lay the problem. I was stuck on this problem…
SUPPORT: Making sense of Mental Health Struggles: The ‘Stress Bucket’ Analogy – Free Audio Book Available
Struggling with our mental health is hard enough, but often the experience is made worse by a side dish of questions and self-criticism. Why is this happening to me? What does it mean? I am weak? Mad? Bad? The reality…
Should I tell my Work?
I’ve had mixed experiences of telling my work about poor mental health. I struggle to tell those close to me when I’m feeling down or anxious so telling anyone at work seems like the a pretty hard mountain to climb….
Managing Depression
We all know well the typical symptoms of depression, low mood and energy, sometimes to the point of being unable to get up and go to work or even look after your own personal hygiene, but there are so many…
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Letting the Child Grow Up
This is written to share experience of dis-ease of the mindbody and to support others in their own journeys of self-discovery, transformation, and manifestation. I have suffered chronic depression, anxiety, intrusive and sometimes suicidal thoughts and, in hindsight, quite an…
Sorry I’m not your Perfect Victim
It was a warm summer evening; I was catching the bus with a friend back to her mums. A couple of guys start chatting to us and happen to be getting off at the same stop. We were 14, they…
SUPPORT: Sadness or Depression?
There has always been a lot of mystery and suspicion around the subjects of mental health and mental illness. Am I losing my mind? Am I imagining things? Will I ever stop crying? Frightening concepts creating a sense of isolation…
Bipolar: The Bungee Experience
I have a bungee cord in my head. I’m attached to a platform and occasionally sit myself up there and look at the world from a great height. But only for a short time while I’m practising yoga, meditation and/or…
I Forgive me
I had a meltdown the other night. After apologising to the people that love me, one suggested I write a letter of forgiveness to myself – and try to stop saying sorry. I always apologise for myself, my feelings, my…
Anxiety Abroad: Dealing, or not, with Generalised Anxiety Disorder while Working Abroad
I think I’m OK. But there’s something nagging me. I’m not sure what it is, but I just don’t trust anything that these people say to me. Why are they looking at me like that? Why do they think that…
Stop, Drop and Roll: Tips for an Overstimulated Mind
I feel low, sad, depressed and have barely got the energy to write this article. As soon as I’ve finished putting finger to key I’ll be implementing stop, drop and roll, but first I want to share this technique with…
Well aren’t we rather Lucky?
There is no denying that people with mental health issues suffer. And, for some, managing their mental health is a daily battle. Battles leave scars, but do these mental scars actually make us stronger?
The Lasting Impact
Mental health battles really began in secondary school, which is when my self harm began too. All hidden from anyone I knew of course. I helped others with their struggles but failed to acknowledge and care for my own, that…
When a Loved one Chooses to Leave us
I had just returned home from a work trip to France when I was confronted with the news that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention and my stomach rise into my chest. I felt…
When Reality Sparks Depression
I had a miserable childhood. I don’t remember a day when I was happy. My father was a bully and was always shouting at someone, particularly at mealtimes. My mother was so intimidated by him that she barely said a…
Disorderly Teaching
Imagine it. You went to sleep with a feeling of being absolutely bulletproof, knowing that the next day was going to be another way that you could show everyone that you were amongst the best in your profession.
Love doesn’t need Perfection
I’m no longer a child in an abusive home. It’s been twenty years since my first diagnosis and suicide attempt, though I suspect that my mental health issues started much earlier. I have a house, a loving husband, and a…
Bipolar at Work
This is outstanding. It’s been a week now of solid working and look how productive I’m being. Cutting out sleep really helps me to fit in more work and I don’t even miss it. I couldn’t sleep even if I…
The Luckiest Girl Alive
TRIGGER WARNING: Severe depression focus This pit of despair has no real cause. The tears don’t flow for any good reason. I don’t weep because I have failed at running my business. I’m not in an unhappy living situation or…