from Kirstyn
I’ve been thinking a lot, recently, about the acceptable face of mental illness. This began last year when Sinead O’Connor’s mental ill health was splashed all over the news. It was the beginning, ironically, of Mental Health Awareness Week, when the news broke that O’Connor had gone missing after posting a troubling message on Facebook that led many to think she was in danger of taking her own life.
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from Rita
Kirstyn and I first started working on Dear Diary in June of this year. And in that time, we've met so many people and come across so many different experiences and perspectives that it could fill far more than 30 days worth of blogs. The last four months have been a rich and fulfulling experience - and we haven't even gotten to the event yet! But one thought about the entire thing has made me sad lately. Oftentimes, our initial response to someone opening up about something, whether it be their mental health, their sexuality, their race... in fact any difficult or sensitive subject is to say 'You're so brave!' and that makes me sad. My Social Anxietyfrom Rachel Cree
When Rita and Kirstyn asked me to help out with Dear Diary with a guest blog, I was really flattered, and thought for a while about the different things I could blog about to help promote the event and open up the conversation of mental health. I wanted to write about something that I struggle with, something that both Rita and Kirstyn have been on the receiving end of in the past. A lot of people have told me how sociable I am, I’ve been told countless times how easy I find it to talk to new people, to network and even during a recent work review how I flourish at a launch where I have to work the room. That being said, I still really struggle with the overwhelming desire when I feel down, to avoid those closest to me, cut out friends, spend time alone, and ignore the very people who would likely help through the black cloud. from Kirstyn
This 30-day blog challenge is only in its fourth day and I already forgot that I needed to blog today. Rita was smart and did hers in advance; I’m not exactly the brains behind the operation. Part of my forgetfulness is because of a situation involving a huge email snafu: turns out one of Marbles’ email addresses hadn’t been working properly for three or four months, meaning I had tons of unread pitches and emails I hadn’t responded to. So today I have mainly been sending apologetic emails. Much like every other day, then. from Rita
I'd originally planned to write about Another Helping today. I was going to tell you why I came to start the project and how it's affected my mental health ever since. And you were going to get a cute picture of a baby hedgehog at the very end as a reward for reading the entire thing. It was going to be lovely. But then I noticed the date. September 21. |
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