Time to Talk: How talking has helped me

How can talking help improve your mental health? Here, a female in our care, discusses how talking has helped her in her mental health journey.

“Growing up I was always an active, confident child and I felt invincible. I thought the world was a place full of opportunities with bursts of bright lights and colours and I was OK with that.

“That was until I started feeling the pressures of depression and anxiety sneaking up on me, which crippled my every thought and feeling. I hid away, I was left empty and I didn’t understand why or how.

“I then actively chose to share how I was feeling to take the weight of this off my shoulders. In the beginning, it was so painful and hard, purely because I was scared that people would judge me and not understand, but it was the complete opposite.

“I started to understand that I wasn’t the only person struggling with these thoughts and feelings, and it helped me realise that I wasn’t ‘weird’ or ‘crazy’, I just had mental health issues.

“Talking about my thoughts and feelings gave me a clearer direction to go in and helped me gain confidence back within myself. I have found that I am now able to get through my day smiling instead of withdrawing myself and avoiding my problems.

“Although that big bad depression cloud comes to try and ruin my day on the odd occasion, I know that talking about issues can make that horrible rain cloud go away and can bring the sunshine out wherever I may be.

“It’s certainly not easy but 100 per cent worth it.”

Approximately one in four people will experience a mental health problem each year, but many are afraid to talk openly about it.

Talking about how you are feeling can help organise your thoughts, but it can also be an effective way of reducing anxiety. It can offer relief if you are able to share something that you felt you had to keep to yourself for so long, and it can be reassuring to know you are not the only one experiencing those emotions.

The recent Time to Talk Day, organised by Time to Change, is part of a nationwide push to get people talking more openly about mental health, and aims to change how we all think and act about mental health issues.

Services: Click here to learn more about our mental health services for women