University is the place to make lifelong friends, live your best life and create memories that will last a lifetime. When I got my place at Nottingham Trent University 18 years ago, that was the dream. Well it was definitely the image I had in my head anyway. The real start of my life and an amazing few years ahead. Everyone said to me, “You’ll have the time of your …
No-one tells you how you are going to feel and how to grieve
This is a guest blog by Lisa Holmes: I don’t believe in stages of grief, like a run of a ladder. For me grief has been every feeling and emotion weaving its way in and out, like a squiggly drawing or a knotty piece of string. When I think one ‘stage’ has had its moment and is gone, it will rear its ugly head again at a time I least …
I’m Overwhelmed From Constantly Being Overwhelmed
I feel overwhelmed constantly with, well, just life really. I didn’t used to feel this way, I had better coping mechanisms. But things that didn’t used to feel like a lot feel like so much now. Like days when there are multiple what’s app threads to respond too and my brain cannot seem to cope, so I ignore messages until a time where I can make space to intake more …
What Does Depression Feel Like?
When I was 19, I was diagnosed with depression. At the time I didn’t know much about mental illness. It wasn’t something I’d heard people speak about and I didn’t know anyone who’d had depression. And even now at 37, I’ve rarely shared what I went through with anyone other than the very few people who supported me throughout that time. But as its Mental Health Awareness week, I wanted …
Living with Anxiety and its Myriad of Offshoots
This is a guest blog by Lucy Chamberlain: I was once having a coffee in a cafe before work and I suddenly became hot and scared. I felt extremely on edge and self-conscious. Shaking and couldn’t move from my seat. Panic stricken. I wanted to reach out to the cafe staff and cry help but I was too embarrassed. Time was moving on and I knew I had to get …
Are you Experiencing Seasonal Depression? Or Are We Facing A Mental Health Pandemic, Post Covid-Pandemic?
I’ve balanced varying degrees of depression throughout my life, the worst being in my late teens where it lead to a drop out of University. But throughout these past two years, I’ve swayed back and forth between thinking I was doing okay (I mean, I wasn’t. But I was clinging on to thinking that I was) to really struggling. And this winter has been particularly tough. Not sort of, or …
Don’t Be Fooled By Social Media. Not Everyone is Living Their Best Life
Social Media. An endless stream of happy smiling faces portraying wealth, success and picture perfect moments. Awe inspiring and envy inducing lifestyles. The social media world looks pretty darn fabulous when taken at face value, but this is a reminder to myself, to you reading, and for anyone who needs it, that social media is not real life. It’s a few seconds, minutes or hours of someone’s world. Social media …