Tag: anxiety
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Honey, I’m home! (reconnecting with myself)
It’s been almost two years since I last wrote a column, and loads of cool and some difficult stuff has happened. I’m excited to be writing again and to share how I’m living as a heartful and hopeful human. Last year I came to realise that despite all of the work I’d been doing to…
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Lonely, I’m Mr Lonely
I’ve necessarily pushed people away over the past five years. Self-preservation was my goal, and the sense of being a broken burden that a major depressive feels only compounded that. But now I’m through the other side and experiencing some great joys, much optimism and kicking quite a few goals, I find myself with very…
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Looking forward, looking back. I’ve come a long way down the track
Five years is a brilliant achievement for a printed publication, these days. Let alone one that is community-focused and produced largely by volunteers. FIVE. YEARS! Let’s all pause for a moment (or five) to acknowledge that in a period of time when printed newspapers are thinning in both quantity and genuinely-local content, The Westsider is…
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An appreciation of the winding road.
Yes, I’ve had multiple periods of time where my mental health was quite bad. Yes, I have hit the very bottom more than once. Yes, I have struggled to manage it in the past. Yes, I have had to take medication for a number of years, and I may need to for many more.It is…
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#YOUCANTALKABOUT suicide | The Westsider
A new suicide prevention education campaign has been launched through a collaboration of leading mental health organisations in Australia. The campaign aims to empower people and increase their confidence when it comes to talking about suicide. It is a collaboration between beyondblue, Black Dog Institute, Everymind, headspace, Lifeline, ReachOut and R U OK?, and in…
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Adelaide Fringe 2017. That happened.
As the cool kids say, O.M.G! Adelaide Fringe was something equally wonderful and terrifying. Nothing like I ever thought truly possible, but nearly everything I dared hope, at the same time. I was to do 5 shows of HUMPTY DUMPTY DADDY, my one-person storytelling show about fatherhood, mental health, and storytelling. It’s ultimately the story…
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Before me, an open field
Before me, an open field. A grassy field. No clear tracks I should follow. I feel like I’ve been here once already, but the difference I feel now is that the absence of clear tracks excites me, rather than frightens me. I don’t mind the lack of a clear path; it means opportunity. To veer around…
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In the face of nastiness, I will still be as strong as I can
This has been a week and a bit straight from the depths of hell. There are things going on in my life that even with my belief in candour and openness, I can’t and won’t go into right now. Some because it is now the subject of legal proceedings, and some because I simply refuse…
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Constructive ways to support someone with depression or anxiety (or both)
That someone you know will face a mental health challenge is unquestionable. It’s a cold, hard fact. Australian national charity SANE says 1 in 5 Australians are experiencing a mental health issue: around 14% dealing with anxiety, and 6% battling depression. 1 in 5! Only half of these people will seek or receive the treatment…
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I thought I’d hit rock bottom. I was wrong.
A few weeks ago I shared my battle with depression and anxiety. The ‘black dog’ as Churchill dubbed it. At the time I felt the worst was over, that the future could very well be brighter, if a little bumpy, as is the way with this beast. But I was wrong. Yesterday was close to the…