Last night, as usual, I was tapping away on my laptop at gone midnight, looking at the time, telling myself I must get to bed, when an email pinged into my in box. It was from Maria of Very Busy Mama fame about the linky #RealMomStyle which she hosts along with a few other style mummy bloggers. Nothing unusual in that per say, but this week, Maria wanted to let everyone know just what she has been going through lately. Something that really is very real.
I wrote a couple of weeks ago about my experiences of anxiety and depression. Maria replied to that post and mentioned that she had been experiencing similar. She was not the only one to get in touch, in fact, friends and other bloggers have been in touch since I wrote it, thanking me for my honesty and sharing their experiences. We are so not alone in all of this. Once you start to talk about it honestly, you realize this.
Unfortunately for Maria, it all came to a head when she was alone in San Fran last week. She ended up having some terrible panic attacks and had to go to hospital, all on her own. I really feel terrible that she is going through all of this at the moment. Maria was very brave and posted an extremely honest video of herself talking about what she is going through on her blog and I have to say I found it very hard to watch. Because I experience anxiety myself, hearing someone else describing what they are going through unfortunately is quite a trigger for me so I do have to be careful. But the thing is Maria, I couldn't not write some sort of reply to you. I know we've never met in person and only chatted on Skype once, but I feel we are friends and my heart just goes out to you. I am so glad that you are seeking help now.
Once again, anyone reading, if you are experiencing anxiety or depression, try if you can to speak up. We really are all in this together.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I now realize I've had bouts of anxiety and depression throughout my life, but life has never been this stressful or so overwhelming as it is now. And yes, I thought I could manage just being on medication and I ignored going to a therapist. Becasue the fact is, my husband and I don't speak much of this and I keep it all to myself nad have never pulled out the weeds per say. Funny because I'm known in my family as the one who always wants to "Talk it out". That video was raw, I wanted to do it when I was still in a state of mild anxiety to people actually saw my physically reaction the tears and the frustration. My husband cannot understant why I''d put that out there, but its done. I feel better. Today I back to work but moving SLOW. I don't want to dwell on this but I'm happy it's out there (and my snot!) and now we can get back to working on it and talking happy things! Alex, I consider you a friend, even if we've never hugged. Thank you for everything.
ReplyDeleteim glad more people are making anxiety and depression known and not a taboo anymore. ive had on and off depression for years including post natal and anxiety. i recently decided enough was enough, and despite 2 failed attempts with counselling decided to face help again. i asked a councilor for strategies to help me beat anxiety but she wanted to get to the bottom of the cause. its been so tough and im still having sessions but its been worth it!!!! it shows that we should try and get help, even if it takes a while to find the right support.
ReplyDeleteAaahh this is so lovely and another reminder of why I love blogging so much. It really is true, what ever the problem there's others who understand, identify with and who can support with kind words and virtual hugs xx
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