Writing my way up again

It's been so long since I posted on this blog, I honestly don't know where the time has gone, from graduating, starting a new job, moving towns - right now Grace you can't really be blaming it on this, it has been nearly a year now!

If I'm honest I've been scared, I've lost all my confidence to speak openly about my mental health and how I am doing. Now that I am working and have a job I love I feel like I should not be feeling the way I am. I feel guilty that life is not what I thought it would be, that recovery is a process with no end. I am confused as to how I blogged as a student, how did I find that strength and where has it gone now?

I am constantly doubting my abilities and finding excuses; I'm too busy, no one will read it, I should not publicly share my story, you name it I have let it get in my way. I am sorry that I let this happen, I want to return to my passion. I have so much love for the power of storytelling, I want to my negative experiences to have been for a reason, to help others with my words and to help people realise that they are not alone. So I guess this means that Grace is back, that gracebelieved will have regular posts, at least I hope so.

Life might not be easy for me at the moment, but that is okay, I shouldn't hide this away from you all, instead, I want to take you along with me on this journey.

Thanks to the amazing mental health community for giving me the confidence to start writing again, especially to Jodie, reading your words "sharing your experiences is not easy. However, it is powerful. It does have the ability to change attitudes and behaviours. It will encourage understanding and provide hope. Your voice has more power than you believe." gave me a much needed nudge, it showed me that I need to return to my passion, to use my voice for good and to stop hiding away.

Together we are stronger, together we can use our negative experiences to help others, let's keep fighting! 

Have you ever doubted your abilities to blog? Does sharing your experiences publicly scare you? Please let me know, by tweeting me (@gracebelieved) or commenting below. 

My Blogging Break

Firstly I would like to massively apologise for not posting for the past month, I did not even decide to take a break from blogging but life happened and unfortunately I neglected this blog.

Alot has happened since I started blogging; I have graduated from university, I have started a new job and I have moved to a new town. This combination has left me with no time for blogging which I am very upset about. As I settle into my new life this is something I want to return back too. However, I am tweeting frequently on my blog twitter to update you all on what I have been up to. I was also honoured to take part in #TalkMH on the topic of medication a few weeks ago.

Please say grace has got her blogging game back!

I have been struggling a bit recently and all this change has been a bit too much. However, I had an amazing realisation tonight - how therapeutic this blog was for me so I am hoping to up my game and continue to share my journey and experiences with you. In the next couple of weeks you'll see; a blog about me graduating, a blog on #TalkMH, a blog post about my friends finding out about my blog and another mental health related blog (keep your eyes peeled!).

I hope you understand and I am sorry for being so rubbish on the blogging front.

Have you ever decided to have a blogging break? How can I get my blogging mojo back? Please comment below.

Supporting Someone who Self Harms

Self harm is something that affects so many more people than we realise, it is such a hidden and taboo mental health difficulty and I want this to change! As a suffer myself I have experienced my fair share of shame and absolute fear of becoming vocal about my experience of self harm

Self harm is used to describe a wide range of behaviours which someone carries out to cause pain to themselves, which is often a response to emotional pain of some kind.

As someone who self harms myself I can understand the difficulty of supporting someone who self harms, especially someone that you love and care about. Knowing what to say to someone who self harms is difficult, perhaps you don’t understand why, perhaps you want to help but don’t want to say the wrong thing, perhaps you just want to make your friend stop and their suffering disappear?

Here a few thing things that I believe you should or shouldn’t do when supporting someone who experiences self harm (in my opinion and experience, be aware that this might not be the case for everyone):

Mostly just let them know that you are there, be compassionate, be there to support them and hold their hand through their journey. Ultimately please understand that it is a long and hard journey to stop self harming and be aware that someone will only stop self harming when they feel ready and are able to do so and there will be a chance of relapse even after this.

I wrote this as a guest post for Rachel please check out here twitter here.

Do you have any advice on supporting someone who self harms, or if you have experience of it yourself what would you like to hear or your friends do? Please comment below.

My Experience Taking Medication

Medication is such a hugely debated topic with many controversial views associated with taking medication for mental health problems. Unfortunately, there are also many myths associated with this. Although it might not be the magic cure, and it won’t make everything better, medication can help. I honestly don’t know where I would be without it.

There is a lot of stigma attached to taking medication and many of the people I know and love aren’t even aware of the fact that I myself take it simply to be able to function every day. It’s time to be honest, I don’t want others to be as scared as I was when I first started taking medication, reading horror stories online and believing I was doing something bad. So here goes, I take medication for anxiety and depression, and yes that is ok.

Medication is simply one of the many options available to help combat mental health problems, alongside talking therapies. Personally, the best option for me has been to receive a combination of counselling, support from my doctor and medication. It’s important to remember that medication has both benefits and drawbacks, and you should research both before making a personal decision to take it. Yes, there are side effects but I would rather feel nauseous or tired than be under the grip of the dark depression.

My decision to start taking medication was not an easy one. Firstly, it took a lot for me to realise that I needed help and unfortunately I found out the hard way. After months of despairing depression, crying myself to sleep, feeling numb and worthless, alongside the anxiety of trying to keep up appearances, to carry on being a successful university student and attempting to maintain my friendships. It all got too much, I couldn’t listen to the thoughts in my head for much longer, I left the house at night taking a walk to the sea front, I didn’t want to be here anymore, I was shaken up but I could not do it, I could not hurt the people that I know and love no matter how much I was hurting at the time.

I came back and my house mates, clearly concerned about me didn’t know what to do. One of them was brave enough to text me and say that they knew I wasn’t right and that I needed to get help and they were scared, I was scared too I told them. With her support I booked a doctor’s appointment and started my journey on understanding my depression and anxiety.

If I could give myself some advice before taking the medication, I would remind myself that they won’t solve everything all at once, but that is okay. In the end, they will make my depression and anxiety a little easier to deal with. It will be worth it. I would also say if you are not happy with the medication you are on, ask for a new one, not every medication is suitable for everyone and this is ok. 

How was your experience taking medication? Do you have any advice for someone taking it for the first time? Please comment below.

Why did I decide to start this blog?

The process of actually starting my own blog was not the easiest decision to make. As someone who has actually blogged for Student Minds for the past couple of years, won Blogger of the Year and has amazingly become Editor for the blog I still didnt feel ready.

I felt very vulnerable, like starting my own blog, would be far more personal, the fears I felt when I first started blogging emerged. Would people find my blog? Would people judge me? Why is what I have to say important? Am I embarrassing myself? Would people laugh at me? Honestly, sharing my story and personal experiences of mental health has not been easy, but I would never change it.

So perhaps moving on to my own blog was the next step. So I had to put my anxieties aside, bite the bullet and actually do it. I had promised myself for a while that I would start up a personal blog on completion of my degree. My degree was done, I was in limbo before starting a new job. What could be a better time hey?

As a big advocate for campaigning for mental health and reducing stigma despite being so scared to talk about my story (I still am to a large extent) I made the step, I wanted my story to be able to help others. Frequently reading blog posts on mental health and keeping up to date with mental health news made me realise that I could make a difference alongside all those inspirational people.

I wanted to turn my experience of depression and self harm into a positive and help people. I believe storytelling has been a great help to my mental health journey; putting my struggles into words has helped me deeply assess what I have experienced and thus how far I have really come. I wanted to do what others have done in the hope that perhaps one of my blogs could help someone who is feeling similar or is at a similar point in their lives. Not everyone knows someone who is experiencing it and there is nothing more powerful than reading someone else's words and thinking I am not alone.

As someone who has experienced the ups and downs of university I also wanted to share my honest journey through uni, that is often just portrayed as 'the best time of your life'. I believe this took a huge toll on my wellbeing and I think people should talk honestly (if you have any uni related questions I would be honoured to answer them).

I could not be prouder of where I have come and the amazing feedback and positive responses I have received since starting this blog. These differences have made it all worth it.

Can you think of any ways to ease my anxieties to sharing my own story? Do you feel a smiliar way?

New Job: Am I ready to Adult?

Tomorrow marks the start of my first job since leaving university, I can't wait to start, mainly because I will be working for an amazing charity, but at the same time I am petrified;

What will be expected of me?

Will I be able to get up everyday for work? Will I always be late?

Is this a big step from what I know from being a student?

Will people I am working with like me?

101 thoughts are currently whizzing through my mind, I wish I had the answers to them, but I don't think I ever will. Change is hard, but change is also exciting. This is a fresh start and a chance to do something I am really passionate about. I need to learn to embrace it instead of fearing it.

Yes I may not be able to nap whenever I want (the biggest drawback and the main reason I don't want to adult!) but just think my weekends will be mine, no more heading to the library to do university work, the stresses of work can be left at work. Something which is very new to me! Maybe this chapter of my life is going to work out ok, if I try and see the positives to this change and growing up and having an ADULT job - I know right no more student Grace.

Have you got any tips for starting a new job? If so please let me know! (I really need them haha). Lets hope I get a good night sleep tonight because the rollercoaster begins!

Thoughts on my Self Harm story going viral

Sat having drinks with my friends in a beer garden I was weirded out when I realised I had loads of messages and notifications on my phone, I looked and my heart honestly sunk - Time to Change had shared my blog about self harm . I felt sick, I wanted to ask for it to be removed, I did not want so many people to know that I had experience of self harm. My friends? My family? My new house mates?

My "secret" was out and it was out publicly. 

Then my friend (she is amazing!!) took my hand and said you can do it, your story is amazing, I have read it and it is great that it will reach so many people. I was also then reminded why did you write it in the first place and put it on your blog - to help others of course?! So why would I take that away from people due to being scared. Looking back in hindsight (only a couple of days ago haha) and having the inspirational girl Lottie to help me find positives in this situation I now realise that it is very good that this decision for it to become so public is not one that I had to make, it was taken out of my hands and I would like to thank Time to Change for believing in me and feeling that my story could help others. 

Your kind words and heartfelt stories really have shown why I wrote it - to break down the taboo of self harm, which I think is still a massive problem and one that needs to be addressed. So how can we address it - by talking about it, by being open, by showing that it can affect anyone, at any time for any reason. 

Many of my friends were shocked - we didn't expect you to experience self harm, I know you campaigned for the removal of stigma for it but we didn't know you were personally affected. You never know who may be experiencing it - your partner, friend or family. It really isn't as rare as you might think. 

Being open, talking about it, and with the help of my wonderful friend Amelia and her support when I just wanted to burst into tears, her strength gave me strength to be brave and yes I do self harm, and I can say that outloud. 

Here are some of the lovely words and feedback that I am very blessed to have received, especially by those who know me personally:

 Thanks to everyone who made me feel brave enough to share my story, I hope it has helped others, even if it makes a little difference, helps one person then I feel like I have succeeded.