Time to Change Champions are people with lived experience of mental health problems who campaign to end mental health discrimination in their communities.

Lots of Champions choose to write about their experiences or personal stories through a blog. Blogs are a fantastic way to help tackle discrimination and challenge attitudes. Take a look a below at some of our Champions blogs.

Interested in blogging for Time to Change?

Take at look at our guidelines for blogging. If you are interested in blogging in your role as a Champion, we are particularly interested in:

  • Blogs about your role as a Champion
  • Blogs about why you became a Champion
  • How becoming a Champion has enabled you to speak out about mental health problems/speak out against stigma and discrimination

Talking about mental health helped me overcome my own challenges

Ann, September 29, 2020

As a Time to Change Champion, I wanted to share why I do what I do and how talking about mental health has helped me overcome my own challenges. I am an (almost) 50 year old mum of two, and I have experienced anxiety and depression for most of my adult life as result of the trauma I experienced dealing with an alcoholic parent who has mental health challenges of their own.

Becoming a Champion helped me realise the importance of talking

David, September 11, 2020

It was just six years ago that I first went to my GP about my mental health. The first time I went, I walked out because I couldn’t speak the words I so desperately wanted to say. The second time, I went with just a few sentences on a small bit of paper that I passed to the doctor... “I’m struggling, I can’t find a way out no matter what I do or try. I’ve felt like this for years, but I can’t cope no more”.

My manager's response made a huge difference to my mental health

Lauren, July 22, 2020

I’ve experienced mental health problems for many years now, but apart from a few close friends and family members, I found it hard to talk about. I felt that no one around me could understand what I was going through just trying to get through day-to-day life, at work and generally.

In 2018 I had a particularly negative experience in my workplace at the time. I disclosed my generalised anxiety disorder and social anxiety to my line manager. She gave a dismissive response and an unfortunate, repeated stigmatising attitude.

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