My
Mental Health Story –
I’ve been through some difficult times, none more so than losing my sister in a car accident. I was still at university at the time and found it difficult to talk about. I thought at the time that not talking about it and trying to just power through everything would help me; it didn’t. 8-10 months afterwards it hit me hard, I chose to attend counselling sessions.
It really helped me to process everything. Speaking initially to someone who didn’t know me helped me to open up about it to my family. Talking can be hard but not talking can be destructive.
Over 10 years on, I have my own family, my wife Lauren and the kids, Lily (4) and Daisy (1). Lockdown has been a strange time to say the least, its great getting to spend more time with my family and not to have to do the usual 2 hours in the car every day for my back and forth commute.
It’s also been hard; balancing the kids, who demand your time because you are “at home” whilst still working remotely throughout lockdown isn’t easy. We’ll never get this time back and my advice is to try and make the most of it.
The positive aspect of remote working is that your working day can be far more flexible to work around the day-to-day. We’ve also been taking advantage of getting out a walk with the kids and exploring the woods around our home for the first time since we moved in 6 years ago; something we’d probably never have done without lockdown.
Coming back to the issue of Mental Health, I have a few things that I’d say are key for me in maintaining positive mental health:
1) Talk
Whether to someone you don’t know, a friend or relative – what’s the worst that can happen?
2) Vent
Find an activity that allows you to vent or free your mind e.g. sport, walking, watching movies or box sets, shopping.
3) Write –
Try writing a letter to yourself with advice about whatever situation you find yourself in. What would you tell someone else?
4)
Sleep –
Try to get a decent sleeping pattern (unless you’ve got kids who get up through the night – good luck with that).