The room around me was strewn with my belongings and it was as though I had been possessed. Doctors informed my parents that I had suffered a severe mental breakdown and that I needed to be sectioned immediately under the Mental Health Act.  This diagnosis was completely incorrect. 

I don’t have a bowel any more! Yep, they took my second brain away after it became too damaged from Ulcerative Colitis. I can honestly say I doubt I would have gone for CBT if it hadn’t been for my physical health. It made me realise my mental health is just as important - even if the majority of the time my doctors are concerned with only the former and forget about the latter! 

Post graduate depression is a topic that universities need to seriously consider teaching students about. Even as a psychology major, I was not warned enough of this possibility. There is struggling after school that we should be made aware of. A degree does not equal a perfect life. Depression is common.

Running, quite simply, has been the healthiest coping mechanism I have found to date for handling intense bursts of emotion. I started Run Talk Run in October 2017, after some significant life changes had me spiralling into a spell of depression that I quite simply wasn't shifting. We are not therapists, or running coaches. We are simply peer-to-peer support, offering each other a safe space to talk about the "stuff" that can ordinarily feel unique to us alone.

I began exploring more about myself while I was in school to become a therapist. Which is where I also learned how harmful some therapists can be. Currently, I have a beautiful relationship with my mental health. And by beautiful I mean, I see all parts of myself and I accept them. I also see where the work needs to be done and I am doing that work.

Over different events in my life, I had come to the conclusion that I was only valuable when I was losing weight. Once I came to this conclusion, I had to maintain a daily quest to lower my weight. I’ve come to realise that there is only one measurement I should use to validate my feelings: My own pain. If I am suffering, that is enough a reason to seek help.

I learned, through a lot of pain and panic and isolation, that I suffer from something called ‘social anxiety’. I remember crying my eyes out the first time that I read that definition. They were happy tears, tears because I finally realised that how I felt was not something that was ‘wrong with me’, but something that could be defined because other people felt it too. 

I used to compare my life to some outdated fairytale and self imposed rules I thought I had to live by. I always felt a little intimidated by a lot of life, which left me feeling inadequate. So I decided it was finally time to change that. I stopped comparing myself to everyone else and people pleasing. It all started with a decision to start a regular journal practice - Once I accepted I COULD change my story, I stopped holding myself back and I started doing.

I was in a situation where I had been discharged from treatment services and had to cope on my own. Any form of treatment can actually feel like a comfort blanket in case something else goes wrong. But that’s where your mindset needs to change. it is so important not to think of a recovery as a temporary process, but to focus on making the small daily changes required to make the most of the life you have right now.

Now more than ever, our entire world seems to be ruled by social media. hey can often breed hurtful and dangerous messages. Bombardments of heavily photoshopped images, celebrity endorsed weight loss products, tabloid articles wrongfully critiquing women’s bodies and unrealistic portrayals of everyday life are all things that I know have negatively affected me and those close to me.