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At the young age of ten it was easy for me to remember my dolly whenever I left the house and to hide my vegetables in the dog if I didn’t want to eat them but to understand and be aware of mental health was a completely different matter.

I've been following Time to Change for just over a year and I've even done some promotional work for the cause at my workplace. I followed quite silently proud to support but unsure how to do more.

My counsellor first gave me the idea to write many years ago. I remember scoffing at the suggestion of starting a journal recalling my primary school days when I used to write awful banal nonsense about my summer holidays.

One of the hardest conversations I’ve ever had to have came when I decided I had to tell one of my best friends about my battle with depression.

The first day I settled on telling her, I couldn’t. I had built myself up, all ready to state the fact, and then to answer the questions that I knew would come later.

I started experiencing mental health difficulties at the age of fourteen, except I didn’t realise I was suffering with a mental illness. I thought I was ‘odd’ or ‘broken’. I knew something wasn’t right but I didn’t think that I was ill.

I have spent the last decade of my working life trying to prove that I am not a failure and trying not to admit that I might be, by forcing myself to keep quiet about my depression. The Time to Change project has made me think about this a lot, raised questions within me and forced me to confront my own contribution to stigma. I am talking primarily about the stigma towards mental health in the workplace.

So, I’m sat on the sofa on a Sunday morning, bleary eyed and (Time to Change) mug of hot chocolate in hand, digesting what happened the day before. Yesterday I came out to the public as 1 in 4. I didn’t know what to expect, or how I would react... never mind the reaction of those I told my story to! But let me tell you this, I was not expecting the result I got from being part of the Time To Change Village on Southbank.

The evening of Friday 30th March 2012, I felt like a child on Christmas Eve who has gone to bed early just so that Christmas will come quicker; because the next day was the Time to Change Village, and I simply couldn’t wait.

So it turns out that talking about your mental health is a revelation and a rollercoaster! My first blog here was published just as I slipped into a bit of a crisis. Seeing it appear on my own Facebook page was a moment of stunned wonder. I spent a disproportionate amount of the rest of the day clicking refresh and waiting for a friend to recognise me and blow my cover (sorry boss!).

Shame, stigma, it’s what every person with a mental health condition has to face at some point in their journey to recovery. But arguably none more so than within the Asian community where talk of mental health is still sometimes a taboo subject.

In the run up to Mother's Day I am working with the mental health anti-stigma programme Time to Change, run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, to raise awareness about a mental illness that affects one in 10 new mums.

After 10 years of yearning, investigations into places where, quite frankly, no one should have to go, and finally resignation, our much longed for baby surprised us in April 2008. At the age of 42 a new baby is never going to be a breeze physically speaking but then when is it ever? Thousands of women do it every day. I’ll cope!!

I've started and re-started this blog entry four times now, getting more and more frustrated each time. Trying to encapsulate the female experience is like trying to pluck the moon out of the night sky - you can hold your hand up to it, but can never actually accomplish the feat.

We asked three bloggers to tell us about the different attitudes to mental health they've experienced where they live.

Lol – North

I met James when I was 21. We were friends for many years before we started a relationship. I believe I had suffered undiagnosed episodes of depression since my early teens. Before meeting James I had a series of bad relationships, choosing the wrong type of guy and throwing myself into the wrong type of relationships. I had been hurt and eventually on the advice from my GP sought counseling.

To those who know me, this might  be news: I suffered from multiple eating disorders. As this Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW) is based around "Breaking the silence" I've just broken the silence in that.

Some of you will know that my personal Clipper journey is one which is partly challenging my fears and anxieties - you might say therapy - and partly in aid of helping destigmatise mental illness (find out more on my website - www.ihatesinking.com). So I often try and look at my whole sailing experience to see what lessons it can provide me in relation to my personal anxieties.

Stephen Collins illustrated the comic strips you might have seen recently on social media or in the press. Here, he blogs about what it was like to work on the Time to Talk campaign:

The year was 2004. I had not long ago had a breakdown and had been diagnosed with Bipolar II. I was 31 and my world had been turned upside down. I had worked from the age of 9 and by this point I had gone on sick leave from a lousy job that I invested long hours in. Most of my friends and family had turned their backs on me. I hated men after having been in many unhealthy relationships.

I’ve had many conversations about my mental health problems over the years, not always because I intended to. Sometimes the subject comes up in connection with something else. One question I get asked a lot is, ‘So why don’t you drive, then?’

I just read a post by a good online friend (one I have been lucky enough to also meet in real life albeit over a year ago), the lovely Clive Edwards.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A man walks into a bar, there’s a bowl of peanuts next to him; just as he’s about to order a drink the peanuts speak to him, ‘Gosh you’re beautiful,’ they say. Bemused by this he walks away and stands by the juke box which, as he arrives, says, ‘Man, you’re ugly.’ Indignant and fully disturbed he goes back to the barman and tells him, ‘the peanuts have just told me that I’m beautiful and the juke box have said I’m ugly. ‘Yes’ the barman says, ‘the peanuts are complimentary and the juke box is out of order’

Nikki Llewellyn was one of our inspirational Champions who spoke alongside the Deputy Prime Minister at Time to Change's reception last week. This is a transcript of the speech that she gave:

Like my gender, sexuality, occupation, and the colour of my skin, Bipolar Affective Disorder doesn’t define my whole identity, but it is a significant part of it. Though therapy and medication have stabilised my day-to-day moods, my condition remains an intrinsic part of me and of how I experience the world. And I wouldn’t have it any other way – because I am me.

Depression is like a slippery serpent, slinking about in the shadows. It slithers into your mind, where it feasts on – and feeds – your fears, doubts, worries and anger. And once it’s got hold of you, it makes you jive to its sinister tunes. You could look at it as a vampire.

Jonny Wilkinson recently spoke out about his mental health problems and here he talks bravely to Time to Change, England's biggest mental health anti-stigma campaign run by charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, about his battle...

I used to be an actor, but following a brain tumour, I experienced severe mental health difficulties which led to me feeling suicidal and then in 2006 I was voluntarily sectioned. 

I have depression, and sometimes one of the hardest things is the thought that there isn’t somewhere or someone I feel truly safe to talk through my experiences with.

My name is Sitara. I am 22 and live in the south west of England with some other girls. I love to drink tea, sing, and am currently training to be a teacher. I also have a mental illness. I suffer from anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. It’s something that I have found really hard: each day is different and each day is a challenge 

Well, it's the holidays again, and whether you celebrate Hannukah, Solstice, Kwanzaa, Christmas, or no specific day at all, you have no doubt been affected by the season. From the endless loops of carols in the increasingly busy stores, to arguing with your partner over filling out Christmas cards, to buying presents for increasingly-difficult-to-shop-for family members (I'm looking at you, mum!), to t

I am subject to a gagging order. My employers thought it prudent to offer me a settlement and silence me by contract to ensure that I never utter a seditious line.

So here we go. I will tell you what I know.

For eight years I worked as a teacher. I was considered popular, if a little eccentric, with staff and students alike. Management had even described me as inspirational! I was involved in all aspects of the work from classroom teaching to organising school sports teams, overseas trips and excursions in the great outdoors.

I’m going to write a  series of blogs focusing on the  "taboo" behaviours associated with differing mental health disorders. No matter whether the behavior is public or private it helps to talk. My main aim is to get things out in the open so people do not have to feel alone and experience guilt, shame and self-loathing during or after an episode of being unwell. Make no mistake these behaviours, if left in denial, can destroy lives.

To introduce myself, my name is Alex Roberts I am an artist, who lives and works in London. I work predominantly with paint, but explore other media such as film and installation too. I'm also a supporter of the Time to Change campaign.

I have been meaning to write a blog about the Time To Change roadshow in Exeter for a while. Now I’ve come to do it I actually feel that the times has given me better reflections than if I’d done it earlier on.

It’s now 100 years since the term “schizophrenia” was first used, but with so many people affected by the condition still getting a raw deal in almost every area of their lives and still suffering from stigma and discrimination, sadly it’s not much of a happy anniversary.

Hello.

My name is Amy. I'm 22 years old. I have red hair. I have a great Family. I love films. I love cake and I have a mental illness.

Mental illness to me is just a small part of who I am. It is no longer something I fight, but something I live with and accept. Mental illness comes with a strong stigma, and people are too quick to judge people just from those two words.

My name is Becci and I graduated in Psychology with Counselling last year. I am always trying to find ways of getting more experience in the field and so keep up to date with mental health charities quite regularly, and this summer, volunteered at a Time to Change roadshow event.

Like so many people, I have experienced mental distress first hand. But I have been so fortunate in receiving the support I needed to get back in there and smell the roses. That's why I am so keen to talk and encourage others to do the same. This is my account of doing just that by volunteering at a roadshow event...

Hi, I'm Karl and I volunteered at the Time to Change roadshow in Cambridge. My first experience volunteering for Time to Change was a great one, not only was I working with a really helpful and knowledgeable team, but I felt as though I was really making a difference.

Last Tuesday, Time To Change held a Lived Experience networking event at London’s RichMix venue; it was an opportunity for Time To Change supporters with lived experiences of mental health issues to come together to share ideas, make contacts and talk about future plans. I sit here, having just arrived home from the event, and the only word I believe truly describes how I feel about the event is…awesome.

Macdog73 is a supporter of Time to Change who has recently been part of the #befrank movement on Twitter, which, prompted by the Time to Change campaign, has seen hundreds of people open up about their mental health problems.  She talks about how Twitter can be a helpful place to share experiences and find support.

It started with Fern Britton talking about depression in the Radio Times. 

Then came the news of cricketer Michael Yardy's public disclosure of his depression when he flew back from the World Cup, with the open support of his club and colleagues, and much – supportive – media comment.

What an honour it was to spend World Mental Health Day with Olympic gold medallist Philips Idowu on our walk through Camden to the fantastic Time to Get Moving event at the N1 shopping centre in Islington. We were met on arrival by some great Bollywood dancing, which got the crowds active and the message across.

And I learnt some fascinating triva from Philips en route too - did you know that he can jump the length of a bendy bus?! His amazing athletic skills aside, it's fantastic to have Philips on board supporting Time to Change.

I was in the radio studios again yesterday talking about our new campaign, which aims to show how stigma and discrimination affects people in everyday life. And I was privileged to have the opportunity to work with our new Time to Change pin-up boy, Erik, the star of the latest burst of our campaign. Ruby Wax calls herself the 'poster girl for depression' having featured in our campaign last year, so I think it only fair we call Erik our pin-up boy!

It's been a busy period at Time to Change as we plan for a second phase of the programme. As many of you will know, we're currently funded by the Big Lottery Fund and Comic Relief until September 2011- but we have always had a longer-term vision.

I just had my first 'live' sighting of our Frank and Trisha tube posters on the District line. It's a busy media environment but I feel that visually they stand out. I'd be really interested to hear what you think of them and what kind of reaction you've seen on the tube and in cinemas as people have seen our advertising.

Norwich is one of the hotbeds of anti-stigma activity - there has been a huge amount of work going on there, and in Norfolk more widely, with Time to Change's Stuff Stigma project and Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust fantastic local champions of the anti-discrimination message.

Trisha has personal experience of mental illness, even spending time in a psychiatric hospital. And compared to when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, Trisha believes that her mental illness was more difficult to deal with.

“Both experiences were horrible. But with breast cancer, people ran towards me with open arms and hugged me. With depression, people ran away."

Well I'm glad that ten years is over. For me it was ten years with some very varying experiences of health services. When I look back now, I wonder why on earth I didn't complain at the time about some of the incidents.

I have swine flu, AND whilst I'm more than happy to receive your messages of sympathy I'm wallowing in a vat of self pity the size of the Watford Gap which is hardly admirable, thus I hardly deserve your kind words. (grin)

They raised their heads again; those ugly traits I picked up as I grew and assumed mine as I developed, their voices crackle.

Kate takes us with her on the long and colourful journey she's undertaken in the last few years, from her first contact with mental health services, taking charge of her recovery, how writing poetry helped her on her way, through to her experience of organising awareness raising events and how she's found it sitting on her local NHS Trust's Service User Involvement Panel.

Over the last few weeks, some of the experiences of the participants have been incorporated into a play by the facilitators. This is now being developed by the director.

A very special story from one of Time to Change's Local Project staff members. Adam Hatcher, who works at the Andover based Fit4Life, tells us how he came to the project as a service user, then started volunteering, and then went on to become one of their key workers.

My name's Adam Hatcher and I work for the Fit4Life project at Andover Mind. We promote mental wellbeing through working on physical wellbeing. We get people out of the house that wouldn't normally be out of the house - give them a reason to get up in the morning.

So mental health is back in the news. Why? Britain's Got Talent of course - doesn't all the current news come from crooked M.Ps and BGT? I'm sat here listening to a supposed expert waxing lyrical over the mental state of a woman she has never met, never mind examined. So Susan Boyle has been assessed under the provisions of the Mental Health Act, an entirely sensible measure, how could a woman from West Lothian who was unknown to most of us three months ago and who has been thrust into a world she is entirely new to, be expected to cope on any level.

Winnie talks about returning to employment after a long period of mental ill-health - about how she has managed to be open with her colleagues and friends, and how her own mental health experiences have helped her in her work as a GP.

"I have had mood swings all my adult life - I think I'm cyclothymic. My periods of energy and enthusiasm meant I could achieve academically, be sociable and enjoy a wide range of interests. Unfortunately these good times were usually followed by downswings, when I would feel exhausted and lose all confidence - all I wanted to do was hide in a hole!

There have been some reports in the press this past week surrounding Social Networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, and whether they could have a negative effect on our mental health.

Patsy Palmer was watched by millions, but the pressure of life eventually took their toll.

“I had so much going on in my life at the time." On her way to work one day, Patsy had a panic attack. The next morning Patsy woke up in a clinic, not knowing how she'd got there.

“The clinic was probably the best thing that could have happened because I felt safe there. I had counselling and started to recover."

Here's a piece of information which might make one or two recoil in shock. For the most part you couldn't spot a depressive from any other member of society; you might need to get very close to someone before it became apparent.

The right to “freedom of expression" is enshrined by article 19 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. It is a right that in the largely democratic West many of us take as read.

My name is Margaret, and I receive treatment and support from the Mental Health services from where I live. I don't know how everyone else likes to be known, but I have no problem at all calling myself a service user.

As for many years that has always been, and Yeah, lots of times in my past, I lost any dignity I owned and there were times when I felt "drugged up" to my eyeballs, but today is where I am and where I enjoy to be.

Stop me if you've heard this one before...no actually don't. Having a mental illness makes finding work hard. This might sound many things; astounding, sad, ridiculous, perverse, surprising, frightening, unlikely, justifiable, understandable or just blindingly obvious. You might secretly feel something you would not publicly air. It's nothing to be ashamed of, we all have overt or latent prejudices, but it is most certainly something to be aware of and to open your mind about.

Hello. Thanks for visiting my blog. It's a bit odd for me to write with a focus (or even slant) towards stigma and discrimination as these are a relatively minor part of my lavish mental illness experience.

When Tony Blair asked Alastair Campbell to work for him in 1994, he revealed his mental health problems to the man who would be Prime Minister.

Ruby Wax has experienced episodes of depression for most of her life, but it wasn't until she finally checked into a clinic, that she realised how widespread mental problems are: "It's so common, it could be anyone. The trouble is, nobody wants to talk about it. And that makes everything worse."

I'm a graduate of 52 and my career was ended fifteen years ago when I suffered an acute psychotic episode. I was hospitalised for six months, had six treatments of Electro-Convulsive Therapy (ECT) and found starting all over again one of the hardest things I have ever been faced with. It was like doing a jig-saw puzzle with no picture to follow and some of the pieces missing. The greatest obstacle to my recovery was my severe loss of confidence. Working to retrieve my confidence was a challenge but I got there in time.

If you asked me to tell you what I got for Christmas last year; I wouldn't have a clue. Having said that; I can remember the day I was first sectioned fairly clearly, and that was nearly 20 years ago. I was naked; talking to a light bulb; believing that I would be beamed up too heaven at any moment. My father, my sister, my sister's husband and his friend all witnessed this breakdown. I was told later that I had been acting weird for weeks. I had lost a lot of weight very rapidly; I was not sleeping, and I would continually go missing.