The Lo Down - My Mental Health Recovery #1

Hey Guys and Dolls,

I've done a couple of posts over the last while which have been mental health related, they focus mainly on my experience with my mental health problems in the past. I've gotten lots of amazing lovely feedback from these posts so I thought I'd do a post on my Mental Health Recovery.

Mental Health Recovery is a long hard journey. I had really bad mental health problems for about two years and I'm still recovering now. I suffered from Generalised Anxiety Disorder and Depression. At the time I didn't really know what was what and I was stressed to the nines. It wasn't a particularly good time for me or my family and my friends. I didn't know what to do and of course they didn't either so it was a extremely tough time. 

As you all know by now I went into hospital twice over a 8 month period. I already did a post on my hospital experience but boy was it hard. It wasn't something I was used to as I wasn't used to the controlled hospital environment. I quickly got used to it and I made lots of friends that I'm still close to to this day. 

When I left hospital I went into a program that helped you live with mental health issues. It wasn't really for me so I left after a while and decided to do things on my own. This did make things that little bit more difficult for me and people around me as there was many ups and downs plus a few wobbly moments but we got there in the end.

I do take medication daily morning and night to help treat my problems. I was apprehensive about this as if you read up on meds they can say they make your symptoms worse which scared me completely I'm not going to lie. In the end I decided to take them regularly and after time I definitely saw a difference in my mood as of course these things take time after all.

I did attend a clinic every six months after I was discharged from hospital in South Dublin. We would just discuss my recovery plan and how my mood was in general. I didn't particularly like these sessions to begin with as I didn't think they were helping me at all but I came around after a while and began to realise they were the best thing for me at that time. The last time I was there they actually discharged me so I was delighted it showed that I had turned a corner with my recovery.

All in all my mental health recovery hasn't been easy by no means but it has definitely made into the woman I am today. I really appreciate everything everyone in my life has done to help me, they all have been amazing and I don't know what I'd do without them at times. If you are going through a hard time just know there is always a light at the end of the tunnel and always a way to get better you just need to think positively which is sometimes easier said then done but you can do it! I always say my mental health illnesses don't define me as a person, it's just a part of me that is sometimes hidden that I can over come with the right help and when I work on it. Nobody is a illness!

Laura<3