Depression – We Love Puppies Too

Self-doubt to self-discovery: Joel finds confidence through depression support groups.

Mental health, esp. for men, is of keen interest to me. I have contended with anxiety/depression for much of my adult life. The stigma I have experienced as a result of my illness has been primarily self-imposed. Low self-esteem, a failed marriage and minimum wage employment despite having a Master’s Degree have all contributed to seeing myself as a loser for many years. The most painful part has been as a father to my daughter.

By participating in various men’s support groups I have learned I am not alone in dealing with mental health issues. These groups have given me an opportunity to be supportive by telling my story, actively listening to other people’s experiences, and share the humor and horror of our journey as people with mental illness.

Remember on the tough days that life will have meaning again.

Shadows Over Sunshine

The loss of my job finally pushed me to seek professional help. I had been ignoring the signs of my deteriorating mental health, hoping they would vanish once I found new work. Instead, they intensified. Acknowledging the severity of my condition, I visited a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with severe psychiatric co-morbidities: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

Blogging and advocacy transformed my sense of purpose. I championed workplace mental health, pushing for regulations and support systems for content moderators. My efforts attracted media attention, sparking debates that reached beyond my immediate community.

“Just Perfect”

If anyone had told me several years ago that everything would get better, I would have nodded while screaming disbelief inside my head. I thought things simply could not get better, that I’d be forever feel imprisoned in a dark room.

However, my greatest remedy is writing. My novel, Just Perfect, is based on the difficult times I’ve gone through. It took me more than three years to write, but it was definitely worth it. I wanted my work to inspire and help others by sharing my own struggles. I wanted to persuade people that they are not alone and that they, too, have a life worth fighting for.

I needed to talk to someone, so I called the Mind Infoline

Pete, who suffers from anxiety and depression, has run seven marathons and raised several thousand pounds for Mind.

I ran the London Marathon for Mind in 2017, and that was life changing for me. It gave me so much confidence. I’d achieved something that was a massive challenge and had found something that made a big difference to my mental health.

Running got me outside and gave me goals and objectives. As well as being active, running helped me live in the moment, instead of worrying about the future or past, which I’d always done. I’ve now run seven marathons and raised several thousand pounds for Mind.

Putting in the ground work for Mind

Mark explains why he has set himself the challenge of cycling to 116 football grounds in 34 days to raise money for Mind.

I wanted to take the focus away from myself and focus on helping others, so I decided to support charities concerned with my two passions – football (Luton Town) and cycling. Being able to exercise through cycling had helped with my mental health, so for the 2021/22 season I set myself the challenge to cycle to all the away games raising awareness and funds for mental health and other charities.

My message to everyone is ‘it’s ok not to be ok’ and don’t be afraid to ask for help. No one should ever have to face struggles with mental health alone.

My EUPD Journey

Nadia blogs about her journey of being diagnosed with EUPD (also known as BPD), learning coping techniques, and helping others to find their own coping strategies by volunteering, speaking, and teaching.

Nadia is a mental health advocate and passionate about sharing her own mental heath experience to bring hope, positivity and awareness. Follow Nadia on Instagram at instagram.com/the_mind_mentor

My passion is to share my own lived experience of mental health to bring hope, positivity, understanding and awareness. I realised my passion and purpose in life and made steps to make this a reality.

In the last four years, I have co-led courses at the Greater Manchester Mental Health Trusts Recovery Academy as a volunteer. I am now also a qualified public speaker; I use my voice to talk about my passion. I am also currently studying to be a Mindfulness Teacher. Mindfulness has really helped me in recovery. When difficult thoughts or emotions come to me, instead of reacting like I used to with my old coping mechanisms, I sit with how I am feeling, take time to understand what’s really going on, and accept how I am feeling and let my emotion out in a healthy way.

Recovery for me is a never ending journey of growing pains. The transformation of “becoming” can be painful but coming home to ourselves is worth it, it’s what we deserve.

Overcoming Cultural Stigma to Fight my Depression

I was 14 years old when I first experienced depression. I began to feel an overpowering sense of loneliness and, for the first time in my life, I began questioning everything about my existence. Often, it felt like the darkness would never lift — like I would be forever trapped in a pit of despair with my feelings of worthlessness. This sadness and self-doubt brought me to my lowest point, and I contemplated suicide daily.

After my rocky teen years and difficult time in the military, I wanted to make a difference in the lives of people experiencing similar issues. I now study Criminal Justice and Psychology at Victoria University, work in the corrections industry in Melbourne, Australia and provide support to existing youth/community services. Many of the people I work with have a history of mental illness, and I find that I’m often able to relate and offer guidance. My goal is to become their advocate and help them communicate what they’re feeling.

Steph’s story: overcoming my fear and anxiety with a skydive for Mental Health Awareness Week

On 14 May 2022, I threw myself out of a plane! Actually, I was securely strapped to a qualified instructor who I put my complete faith in that they knew what they were doing! So why did I do this?

The skydive was petrifying and exhilarating all in one go! There were moments of pure terror combined with sheer excitement and adrenaline. I don’t think I could ever top that experience, but now I know that whenever I am floundering or thinking I can’t do something – I will think back to the day when I threw myself out of a plane and know that I could do anything if I put my mind to it.

And, of course, I wanted to raise lots of money for the Mental Health Foundation, which does so much work around raising mental health awareness and prevention. So far, I have raised £1420 for the Foundation. Thank you to everyone that has donated and supported me through this truly life-changing event!

I became homeless and was battling depression… so I decided to hike the UK coastline, wild camping along the way

A dad who found himself homeless and struggling with his mental health has revealed how he made a complete lifestyle change and spent eight months trekking the UK coastline, wild camping along the way.

Before this incredible trek, Jim McIlwain, 45, had spent the last six months of 2022 couch-surfing in his native Bristol, trying to hold down a job while suffering from depression.

Jim isn’t finished hiking for good though. He regularly goes on walks and has high hopes for big treks and wild camping trips next year.

He said: ‘I want to do the Yorkshire Three Peaks. There’s the Outer Hebrides [in Scotland]. I want to go climb some mountains. Do Ben Nevis again. There’s so much I want to see and do in the future.

‘I’m going to keep doing it [hiking] at the end of the day, because I need to keep my mind focused and to stop myself wandering off to a dark place again. I don’t ever want to get to the stage in my life where I think suicide is the answer.’

My Story Isn’t Over

I was diagnosed with depression at age 16 after spending a year on the controversial medication Accutane to clear up my acne. As much as I would like to blame my depression on Accutane (the drug is known to have serious side effects), I was also predisposed to mental health issues. For a long time, I thought there was something wrong with me. I was a shy kid growing up. I was quiet. I was an introvert. I don’t think my family knew how to handle an introverted kid.

Every year, I raise money for NAMI to support mental health services in our state. I know thousands of people do more for mental health than I can, but we all play a role in destigmatizing mental illness.

Simply sharing my story isn’t enough. For the last five years, I wanted to do my part in combatting our world’s mental health crisis. Since 2018, I have raised over $5,000 for NAMI St. Tammany through the annual NAMIWalks campaign. By sharing my journey and raising money, I hope that it gives someone who is struggling the courage to ask for help. There are no periods in my story; only a semicolon because my story isn’t over.