31-Day Blog Challenge | day 24

I’ve not been looking forward to writing this post as much as the others, and that’s because the prompt is A Difficult Time In My Life. I’m going to keep the details to a minimum, and instead talk about how I coped and how I’m a stronger person coming out the other side.

A few years ago, our family went through a very rough time. Like I said, I’ll keep the details to a minimum as I don’t want to have to relive the trauma and dredge up the past. The best thing to talk about here is what I learned from the whole experience and how my life is richer since.

The most beautiful people I’ve known are those who have known trials, have known struggles, have known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.
—Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety in the autumn of 2013. The mental health system in my area isn’t the best, and even though I was pregnant at the time and considered a ‘high risk’ case I still had to wait 6 weeks for my NHS therapy sessions to start. SIX WEEKS. When you’re feeling at your lowest ebb that is a very long time. Instead, I opted for a combination of anti-depressants and private counselling in the meantime. I’m very lucky to be in a position where my parents could afford to pay for a few private sessions for me, I’m not sure how I would’ve survived without it.

I touched on the coping mechanisms I was taught by my therapist in an earlier post. After talking through my depression and crying – a lot – we found what seemed to be the source of my deep-seated self-esteem issues, that had impacted on my adult life. Having an outside perspective, and being taught to see my dark thoughts from a more objective viewpoint helped massively.

Once my depression had lifted, I was still left with a crippling anxiety. That took longer to tame. I still, to this day – 4 1/2 years later as I write this – have to use the coping mechanisms I was taught. Grounding, fact vs opinion, the worry tree, all fantastic resources that help me every single day.

By the time I got to speak to someone from the NHS mental health team, I was stable and was coming off the Sertraline in preparation for the birth of my daughter.

In the following months, I got to see how strong I could be. I felt better and had a more positive outlook on life. I learned how to deflect the negative comments instead of holding on to them. I got back to enjoying my life, and good things followed. I wouldn’t say that I’d hit rock bottom, but I was pretty close. So rising up to, not only back to normal, but better than before felt amazing. To use a cheesy analogy, it was like a phoenix rising from the flame.

If you are experiencing a dark time in your life, I’d urge you to talk to someone. Whether that is friends, family, or a professional. I honestly feel that, in my situation at least, counselling worked better to solve the root of the problem than medication which often just treats the symptoms).

I hope this post was helpful to you, leave me a comment if you want to talk about a bad time in your life. Sometimes talking to a stranger can help.

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