The following blog posts are written by people with personal experience of anxiety. By talking openly, our bloggers hope to increase understanding around mental health, break stereotypes and take the taboo out of something that – like physical health – affects us all.

Behind every smiling selfie could be a person with mental illness

Emily, October 17, 2018

I want to be clear about something before you get the wrong idea – I am not and have never been the shy and retiring type. I’m a confident soul and I’m naturally inclined to want to lead others and make decisions. This makes me sound like I’m one of those very upfront ‘what you see is what you get’ people but unfortunately, I am not that type of person either. People generally expect me to be my confident, direct and driven self all the time so when I’m not able to be, it causes problems. 
 

Living with Bipolar

Lily, September 25, 2018

Many people believe having bipolar means simply dealing with alternating very high and very low moods, but there is so much more to it. During a manic phase, the person can experience delusional hallucinations, which can be terrifying. During a depressive phase, the person may become very forgetful or indecisive. It isn’t as simple as “today I’m happy, tomorrow I’m sad”. It can be life-threatening. So please, the next time you crack a “bipolar joke” – bear this in mind.

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