‘Drama queen’, ‘attention seeker’, ‘too emotional’, ‘easily offended’ and ‘cry baby’; those are just a few terms I heard growing up. I did not know how to express myself, without feeling judged by those closest to me. Therefore, from an early age, I learned to put a lid on it. I'm married now and I have had...
Personal stories about mental health
Mental health problems affect 1 in 4 people every year and no one should feel ashamed. By sharing our experiences, together we can end the stigma.
Find out how to share your own story in our blogging guidelines.
June 22, 2017
"I want you to know that sometimes I can’t hang out in big groups because of my anxiety, not because I’m anti-social" I avoid social settings due to some level of anxiety. If I’m surrounded by people who accept me then I’m relaxed. Formal conversations make me bored and uncomfortable, as I don’t feel as though I can be...
June 16, 2017
“Sickness can surely take the mind where minds can’t usually go,” proclaimed rock behemoths The Who. Listening to this as a young man empowered me to acknowledge and embrace my own mental health demons, which are many. The reason I wanted to blog about this difficult subject (hard for me to write about and hard for you to...
June 15, 2017
Mental health affects everyone in some way, shape or form; even the stunner behind the bar, the celeb who ‘has it all’ and ‘Bob’ next door. Problem is, you can't see it and it can be hidden - but it's still there. I felt really low after some family issues and being a bloke from Africa, it's not something you let known. I...