My Confusion and I

School just started in many countries which is for many kids very exciting and they're looking forward to see their friends again but for some kids this is something terrifying and horrible. These kids aren't going back to the safe environment where they can be themselves, they are coming back to a place where other kids are making fun of them, punching them, freezing them out and making them feel like they are worth less than the other kids around them. You might not have been exposed to this but you are very likely to know someone who has and that is why we need to talk about this issue, because it is something that is happening right infront of us. Growing up, I was one of those kids. I was never physically bullied but I went to school everyday with the fear that no one would want to sit next to me or that I would have to stand alone during recess. In the UK 46% of children and young people say they have been bullied so I am clearly not the only one. 18% of these didn'...

We were recently informed that the hilarious and extremely talented man, Robin Williams had decided to take his life after a long battle against depression. When I got the news I was sad to hear about yet another person who found no other way to get out than to take his own life. As a person who has suffered from depression I know how it feels when you don't see any way to get yourself back up but I've been fortunate enough to never lose that last spark. What I noticed quickly after the news hit the world was that suddenly everyone seemed to acknowledge how depression is an issue in the world and that we constantly need to speak about it and we shouldn't be ashamed of it. This is something I realised a long time ago but for some reason a famous person that was popular amongst many of us had to die for the world to realise it. Suddenly I had friends, that had told me to cheer up when I was down, saying that we need to understand that telling someone that is depressed to che...

I've moved a lot. Within the last 4 years I've probably lived in more that 10 different places. This has led to me having to learn that becoming attached to a place is not a good idea and it is important to learn how to deal with people in different places. I've also learnt that if I don't like it in one place I'll always have the option to go somewhere else. This was something that gave me comfort when I felt that every place I went had some kind of memory that I wanted to avoid. However, this time I moved deciding that I needed a fresh start. By moving to a new city I would be able to start all over again and leave my past behind. I was wrong. I quickly realised that it was impossible to leave your past behind. We have a tendency to hang on to our memories and find the smallest thing to remind us about it. This means that we can't escape from our past, we need to accept it and move on focusing on the future. Sometimes our past can scare our presence which ma...

I recently met a few people for the first time. After spending less than 5 minutes with them they had already made at least 5 jokes about depression and other mental illnesses. Normally I would have told them off for it but I was a guest in their home and therefore laughed politely and pretended that everything was ok. But everything wasn't ok. Inside I was thinking that these people are fortunate enough to never have experienced enough bad things in their life to realise that mental illness isn't a joke and I don't actually find it funny at all. I started becoming jealous, wishing I could joke about mental illness and not see anything wrong with it but I quickly realised that I'm not jealous at all. As I've explained in a previous post I've been through depression. I still am and I have people around me going through similar things. It has taught me to appreciate the things that make me happy because I know that happiness isn't something that everyone expe...