Your stories

Anxiety, GAD (Generalised Anxiety Disorder), emetophobia (fear of vomiting), depression, anorexia. These are just a few of the labels I have picked up in my 21 short years on this Earth. It’s usually great to get a diagnosis, then we know what we’re dealing with or how to make it better. But, with mental illness, it’s rarely straightforward! I’ve had these diagnoses for...

She is well educated, has a good job and was well brought up. She's living in a dream flat with her best friend, doing her dream job, with a great circle of friends. You wouldn’t think, then, she would spend two and a half years in and out of a psychiatric hospital. Or survive a suicide attempt. You wouldn’t think that, at 31, she’d have to move back home with her parents and...

I have lived with severe depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember. My therapist says that while it is hereditary, a lot of it can be learned behaviour also. When I was 10 years old my mum had a complete breakdown. She wouldn’t get out of bed, she wouldn’t eat, she wouldn’t talk. All she did was cry. I remember how skinny she got. It was so frightening to see my...

I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression at the beginning of 2016. I have always been a 'worrier'. I even remember being at primary school, worrying about something pretty much every day. I found myself (and still do) catastrophising about everything - again, that's how I've always been, so I didn't really think anything of it: the nervous tummy, headache, aches and pains. They were all things...

Hi there everyone. I'm Sow Ay, an anxious twenty-something living in Clermont-Ferrand, in the beautiful centre of France. I'm in love with music and try my best to make a living out of my passion as a freelance illustrator. I make designs for bands, t-shirts, exhibitions and I play music and draw on my blog in my free time. This is my story. I've been living with anxiety and mental illness for...

The face is a blank canvas on which you can explore your wildest artistic desires. Makeup, as an art, has the ability to break the boundaries between who you are, and perhaps, who you desire to be or what you feel on the inside. This specific art has assisted me greatly in working through my anxiety and depression. It's given me a platform to express my inner feelings, as well as vent them...

My story starts when I made a change in careers. I bought myself a Ford Puma (which I loved) and, having accepted a new job, my confidence was at an all-time high! I’d had the car a week and was keen to drive it everywhere I could.  One sunny Saturday morning, I decided to go out for breakfast with my boyfriend (now my husband) and wanted to drive there. On route, along a dual...

I have three beautiful children, two of whom are autistic. Our journey with multiple autistic children has certainly had its challenges. And it’s only now, four years after diagnosis and six years after the first referral, that I am beginning to see a positive change in our family dynamics. Lola is eight and is diagnosed with autism, with a demand avoidant profile - we call it...

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been quite an anxious person. I tend to overthink scenarios and often get stressed over making the wrong decision. Whether it’s something important or simply just deciding what I want for dinner, the idea of making a bad choice has occasionally led me to make no choice at all. I am incredibly hard on myself when I do make a mistake, as...