Amy Roullier is a British writer and author of Silent Reflections of a Fragile Heart. Through her blog, she challenges the negative stereotypes surrounding being single, while candidly sharing her experiences with mental health, personal losses, and the complex, often misunderstood realities of adulthood.
For much of my life, I’ve felt adrift, caught in moments when I wasn’t okay, yet unable to admit it. For years, it was easier to pretend everything was fine rather than face the truth. I often felt alone, struggling to stay afloat on a sea that seemed intent on pulling me under with its relentless waves. Writing about my own mental health journey has become a way to break …
Six years ago, my job was predominantly social. I’d natter with total strangers, host presentations in front of hundreds of people and whilst never totally comfortable, I was pretty good at speaking in front of an audience. But for the past few years I’ve been working from home, and something has changed. Recently, I stood in front of a handful of people with more watching online. I had nothing to do, …
People need connection. People want to be included, to be liked, to feel part of a community. Connected with others, validated in their actions, life choices and who they are. But in this day and age of social media and the internet, are we really able to achieve connection in the way we hope for and need? I’ve been wondering about this very topic a lot lately. If you’ve read …
Is journaling good for wellbeing? I had not anticipated how valuable journaling would become to me. How this place for me to write my deepest thoughts and feelings, to explore my emotions and figure out a bit better, who I am. Would improve my mental health, increase my self-awareness, help me to move on from past trauma and make sense of experiences. Journaling became my form of self-therapy. A meaningful way to process. And I’ll be forever grateful that I chose to start doing it once again.
Every aspect of life is impacted by mental health. Which makes it a bit silly when I think back on how uncomfortable I’ve felt admitting that mentally, I’ve experienced peaks and troughs, when pretty much every element of everyday life impacts my emotions, feelings and state of mind. So here’s my admission: Throughout moments, phases, weeks and entire years of my life, I have not been okay. It’s taken a …
I don’t know about you, but for the last few years I’ve found too much going on in my social calendar to feel really heavy. Stressful, even. I didn’t practise healthy social organisation skills, said Yes to pretty much anything and started to feel quite overwhelmed. Sure, there are worse problems to have. Having too many possible social engagements is in a lot of ways, a lovely problem. But the …
I used to see myself as all my shortcomings. The inadequacies were all I focused on. I held my many flaws against myself and saw imperfection when I turned within. We’re taught that we should be perfect. Our minds, bodies, lifestyle, everything about us should be top notch or as a minimum, aspiring to be. We should have an incredible body, be married to someone insanely awesome person, raise two …
I don’t think anyone that knows me would consider me a depressive person or someone who has struggled at times with depression. Generally I try to emit a happy persona. I mask what’s sometimes under the surface of it all. Because in truth, I’ve battled the deepest darkness, and occasionally I’ve considered suicide. I’m telling you this not for sympathy or pity, but because I think at a time where …
My mental health problems have been with me since I was a teenager, but I’ve mostly lived with them as a secret companion. Despite being diagnosed with depression in my late teens, having struggled with anxiety and negative thoughts as I’ve grown older, plus joyous recurrent bouts of depression. I don’t talk about what I’ve been through because I still feel a real sense of embarrassment at admitting these are …
Many a night I’ve spent hours watching videos and reels, scrolling through feeds, losing myself in the comments on social media, and googling apparent need to know there and then answers. Subconsciously, I’m aware my absent phone scrolling before bed makes me feel like shit. That it’s like self-harm for my mind. That the automatic draw to check multiple social media platforms and lose hours in that online world as …
