Skip to main content

Storytelling - An Introduction

Yesterday, I was given an amazing opportunity to attend Story Camp. It's an event ran by Time To Change and it explores the ways in which we can share our mental health stories.

The one thing I learnt from the event is that my story has power. It has the power to challenge stigma and change mental health conversations. It has the power to reach out to others and give people the strength to open up about their own mental health.

Today I decided to set up this blog and share my thoughts with you all. So here it goes...

I'm Natalie. I'm 36 and last year I had a breakdown. I'll go into details about that separately, I don't want to give it all away in one blog!! I am a Time to Change Champion, a Mind Blue Light Champion and I am involved with Bryony Gordon's Mental Health Mates - running the meet ups in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

I am not my mental illness, I am a person who lives with Depression, Generalised Anxiety and a Panic Disorder.

So why "Just another five minutes"? I hear you ask. When I was at my worst I used to say this to myself, hold on for another five minutes, it will be okay, I can pull through, I can survive this. Five minutes when all you can think about is not being here feels like an eternity but it is an achievement, it was a little goal and eventually surviving those 300 seconds became an entire day and then a week, and then a month.

This blog will be about my personal experience of living with Depression, Generalised Anxiety and a Panic Disorder. My views on mental health, coping mechanisms, tips and techniques, and ways to make your wellbeing a priority.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the amazing people at Time To Change for giving me the confidence to speak out and share my story. I do hope you will stick around and like what I have to say.

Always remember that you are not alone, never be ashamed of your mental illness, it does not define you - you have so much more to offer people, sometimes it's just really hard to see that.

Take care,
Natalie x


Labels:

Comments

  1. Unknown23 September 2017 at 12:31

    Amazing! Can't wait to see more xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. quyendz9 July 2019 at 15:57

    I have read news on technical sites that GiveBIG is now dominating the spring fundraising season for most nonprofits in every sector in Seattle and King County. The nonprofit community and fundraising thought leaders are trying to make sense of the GiveLocalAmerica kerfuffle. Great!jogos friv gratis 2019
    Jogos 2019
    jogos friv

    ReplyDelete
  3. duy19 August 2019 at 09:36

    I get to share my thoughts through my own blog and in sermons most Sunday mornings. Those people who serve the congregation as Worship Weavers often have an opportunity to share their thoughts on things that matter. And people who are a part of a covenant group can talk with each other, Yet there is no good way for most of us to share our thoughts, opinions, musings, and meditations with the wider congregation.
    kizi land
    io jogo
    friv Games school

    ReplyDelete

Post a comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brits are happier to discuss sex than mental health at work

Today, Time To Change reveal results of a survey of 2000 British workers, which suggests mental health remains one of the last taboos in the workplace. When asked to select from a list, the topics they would feel comfortable discussing with their colleagues: 30% felt comfortable discussing a relationship break up; 25% money problems 20% dating advice 19% religion 18% sex, while only 13% said mental health, with the topic ranking lowest out of a total of 10 subjects. One in four of us will experience a mental health problem in any given year and yet Time To Change say these figures show that when it comes to employment the vast majority of people still feel unable to speak openly about their mental health with their line managers and even their close colleagues. The survey also revealed that over half of the workers said they would support a colleague if they noticed they were struggling with their mental health. However, 37% of these people said they woul
7 comments
Read more

OCD is not an adjective...

Jokes about mental illness are everywhere, but why do people think it is alright to belittle and use it as an endless source of amusement? This week I have seen OCD made a joke of whilst going into a kitchen and seeing a poster using it to make others keep the kitchen clean and tidy (see vlog below). I see that jokes about OCD are common, widespread and thought of as acceptable... but it is not a joke, it's a severe mental illness and it's an example of stigma. I did a quick Google search on OCD tests and memes... this is what I found: Would we do the same with any other illness or disability? Not funny is it? Now, I'm not asking everyone to become void of humour but ask that people are more sensitive. If you are politely asking people to be respectful, clean and tidy, you finish the sentence there.... there is no need to bring a mental illness into it. I thought it might be useful to give a brief overview of what OCD is in a little vlog. For mor
4 comments
Read more

Self Care Sunday... and not a yoga session in sight!

Now, before you start wondering I'm not saying yoga isn't a great form of relaxation, it is but it just doesn't work for me. The thing about self-care is that it needs to be unique to you, if you are not interested or forced into things it's not going to have the same impact on lifting your spirits and making you feel better as things that you enjoy would. So what is self-care? The Self Care Forum ( www.selfcareforum.org ) defines it as the actions that individuals take for themselves, on behalf of and with others in order to develop, protect, maintain and improve their health, wellbeing or wellness. When you are well, self-care isn't much of an issue as you have the desire and energy to do things that are enjoyable. For instance, this week has been really busy for me and I have been doing lots of things for other people. To ensure I balance this out I need to take care of myself so I don't become drained. Over the past few days I have tried to get more
16 comments
Read more