Your Stories

Trigger warning: this piece discusses themes of OCD.  At the end of 2024, during the Christmas holidays, my anxiety started to get really bad. I started to spiral and ended...

Trigger warning: this piece discusses themes of suicide and suicidal ideation.  The strange thing about falling apart is how together you can look. Sometimes, it doesn't even have a look...

Having a psychiatrist finally listen to me changed my life! I was on a medication for years that hadn't been working for me, so I brought it up to psychiatrists,...

As a child, Lucy struggled with anxiety, "But when I was 13, that was when I first started to acknowledge patterns of self loathing had started to become a problem....

I live with PTSD and Generalised Anxiety Disorder. My journey started when I was 10 years old. Bullying and Anxiety were a daily battle - I was too ashamed to...

The thing about healing is that it happens slowly and subtly. Eight years ago, before everything happened, I could do as many extracurricular activities as I pleased. The amount and...

Trigger warning: this piece features brief mentions of a deer being hit. Have you ever attended a Renaissance Festival? I haven’t been to many, but they are always super fun...

Trigger warning: this piece discusses themes of anxiety, social anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Note: the experiences shared in this article are personal to the writer. Some of what has been...

Want to come on a road trip with me? Okay let’s go! I’ve packed up the car with everything that we’ll need. I’ve planned it all out. It’s going to...

Life is a journey, with lots of opportunities to learn and grow.

One of the hardest parts of dealing with mental illness is feeling alone. It can feel like we’re fighting all by ourselves - but that doesn’t make it a fact. ...

Fighting mental illness can sometimes make us feel stuck or trapped. It’s hard to notice how much progress we’re making. Progress is subtle; each day we fight is another day...

Everyone goes through moments of uncertainty. However, sometimes those moments can feel overwhelming, and that’s okay! We all have our own ways of coping through tough times, and sometimes we...

When we're struggling with mental health challenges, imagining a life free of them can feel impossible. It can be hard to hold onto hope, but it's always there.  Recently, we...

Hey you!  Yes, YOU!  I just wanted to tell you something important…  VERY important… You are doing amazing!  You’re battling a tough battle right now.  But you are also alive...

It starts so innocently. Just a tiny thought, “What if I left the oven on?” Reasonable, right? Sensible, even. But the spicy brain does not leave things at sensible. Oh...

Trigger warning: this piece discusses themes of eating disorders.  Do you ever hear a voice in your head telling you the things you can and cannot eat? Yeah, me too. ...

Since choosing recovery, I've been able to see the beauty in being borderline. 

My journey with mental health first started when I was ten years old. What inspired me to seek support was an American Girl book about growing up for preteen girls....

I first realised I was struggling with my mental health in 2020. I was isolating myself from other people and I started getting panic attacks. In April 2023, something happened...

Trigger warning: this piece discusses themes of death. Grief is such a small word for what it is. Too small for one of the most excruciatingly painful things to go...

Trigger warning: this piece discusses themes of anorexia. For almost as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled with my mental health. Shame and stigma stopped me from asking for...

Talking to someone is the first step in healing and helping yourself.

I know everything seems really dark and hard at the moment, but I promise you, wholeheartedly, that it gets better.

It's equally important to take a moment to look back and appreciate how far we've come. 

I want to say that there is hope and the hope is actually talking about it.

I'm going to look into helping my panic attacks; through talking therapy, breathing exercises and relaxation.

I wish everyone saw their potential and knew how special they are and they deserve to be here. It will take time. 

Although it all feels too heavy right now it won’t be like this forever.

No matter how impossible it may seem, you will get through it eventually. Don’t give up.

Woven between all its shadows, life is bursting with simple wonder.

Knowing that my thoughts are like stories – they are there to guide and protect me – and I get to choose what I listen to.

Ask your friends if they're ok. Tell them you love them. Make it weird if you have to.

If you fail, it doesn’t matter. It won’t change who you are as a person.

Please know and believe that there truly are better things on the other side of it.

Going through this sucks, but you can get better and there is hope if you’re still breathing.

Healing isn’t about fixing everything at once – it’s about making small, consistent choices to move forward.

Recovery is one of the greatest things you can choose in life.

You don’t have to wait for the perfect time, make now the right time.

Explore, re-learn, and learn new things. Is there some joy in your life that has taken a backseat over time that you would like to find again?

I wish I could go back. Back to what it was before it all happened. 

There are so many people cheering you on; even if you don't know them.

Once I took that first step, everything was so much lighter. 

Over the last eight years, the main thing I have learnt was to give things a go.

The scariest, but best, thing I have done, was tell someone what's going on. 

Remember to breathe, it's okay to grieve.

I'm learning to become more proud of myself because I've achieved so much more than I thought I ever could have. 

It will be beyond worth it when you achieve the goals - both big and small.