Mental Health Adventures

TRIGGER WARNING: THIS BLOG TALKS ABOUT TRAUMA. SOME READERS MAY FIND THIS DIFFICULT AND COULD BE POTENTIALLY TRIGGERED SPOILER ALERT: This blog talks about some details of the movie Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3 I’ve written this post to express my own experiences of mental health difficulties. My hope is that other people will find these experiences helpful and relatable to themselves. I would like to encourage everyone that recovery is possible. There is always something you can do to improve your well-being and draw strength and inspiration from what God has provided for you. I recently went to see the latest ‘Marvel’ (Comicbook) movie ‘Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3’. I won’t spoil it for you, but Rocket, one of the main characters experiences a traumatic event to and his immediate response was to scream out in emotional agony which then turns to rage. He gets really angry with the person who exacted the violence. This really spoke to me and made me emotional because I ...

What do you think of when you think of depression? To me, it’s not just about feeling a bit sad sometimes. The phrase ‘I’m depressed’ can be free and easy to use when expressing feeling sad for some specific reason. “Isn’t it awful weather! I hate the rain... it’s depressing”.   Saying things like this doesn’t necessarily mean you have depression, although you may have a negative outlook. Although these can be symptoms of depression, it’s more of a lifestyle choice. To me, depression means not being able to feel better for a longer period of time, such as 2 weeks of feeling low in mood and not being able to feel good about yourself. Not for one reason but for many reasons. Sometimes things pile up and on top of us, without us realising. There is a saying ‘The Pit of Despair’, depression is like being stuck in a pit. To me it was something I fell into and I set up camp there. I have been known to go back there because it is familiar and… almost comfortable. Certainly more comforta...

Let's start with a question. What does anxiety mean to you? I would describe anxiety as unnecessary thought. Have you ever had an important impending event overshadow you and you couldn’t help worrying about it in any spare moment (especially when trying to sleep!)? The more you think about anything, the bigger it gets in your mind and this can sometimes feel overwhelming. The Anxiety Trap is easy to fall into, even without realising it, and can be difficult to get out of. When I was a teenager, I would try to predict how difficult conversations would go. What would I say to my dad when he found out I had been (*insert naughty thing here). What would he say? How would I say what I need to say to him in a way that would not cause an extreme reaction? My Dad would get angry easily, and this was scary for me as a child. The whole situation had the potential to blow out of proportion, and I would try to predict every scenario of what might happen. His temper (and many other different f...