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.
Anxiety disorders: blogs and stories
When I started my mental health nurse training I didn't expect to be in need of services myself; although I had experienced the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder for a while I had never recognised it as that. I had always played down the domestic violence I experienced so playing down my mental health issues just followed on.
These are the words which you worry you’ll come across time after time when you are diagnosed with what is now clinically referred to as ‘Health Anxiety’. Of course everyone becomes concerned with their health at certain points in their life but, for me, health anxiety became debilitating when it combined with the onset of depression at the beginning of last year.
When asked to write about a book, author or character that has given me an insight into my own mental health I realised that there were actually two ‘sets’ of books I read that give me awareness of my mental health issues; classics such as Great Expectations, Pride and Prejudice and Vanity Fair and psychological thriller/suspense fiction by authors like Steven Ki
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 - Need support?
If you need support, there are organisations who can help you.