We are obsessed with the Beat girls. Paula, Shonagh and Trish are beautiful, successful, strong and full of confidence. Right? Well yeah, sometimes. Just like the rest of us, they are wonderful works in progress, and all have had times when they struggled, made bad decisions, were too hard on themselves, or forgot to focus
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Hey there! So, again, my name is Skye Turner and if you read my last article for Shona, you’ll have read me talk on depression and the stigma around it and my experience with it along with social anxiety. But there was another aspect of my life I struggled with that I refrained from writing
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For many of us, going to college is an expectation, its not a case of ‘if’, its a case of ‘when and where’. Many others grow up in a different world, one that feels hopeless and helpless. Tammy Donaghy grew up in a home where addiction controlled everything. In spite of that, she created a
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I knew myself I wasn’t happy, we always know even when its buried deep within us. I just had nothing to be sad over, you know? On paper everything looks good in your life, but this is often when we ignore ourselves the most- when we don’t really know what’s wrong. I started 2018 with
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Statistically, Monday the 22nd of January is “the worst day of the year”. This is because of weather, debt, time since Christmas, time since failing new years resolutions and low motivation levels. January is the most terrible month of the year. The most triggering, the most depressing. Only the strong escape January unscathed. Because in
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I hope everyone had an amazing time over Christmas, I know I certainly did by spending the afternoon of Christmas Day floating down the Zambezi River with other volunteers and getting my first sighting of hippos and elephants which was amazing. I’ve been at holiday camp every morning (we got Christmas Day off) getting to
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Exciting news Shona fans. This Christmas, The Shona Project will be heading to Africa to spread our message to the young girls of Zambia. The workshops will be delivered by our newest team member, and you’ll never guess what her name is. Meet Shona. Nope, we’re not even kidding. Tomorrow, Shona will be heading to spend
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It is thought that up to 1 in 5 women have polycystic ovaries and that 1 in 10 have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). I am that one in ten. PCOS is basically a really common condition of hormonal imbalance that a lot of women and young girls have. The female hormones of oestrogen and progestogen are lower than in
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Hi everyone, Our names are Roisin and Jovana, two transition year girls from ArdScoil Na Mara in Tramore. We are both aged 14 and are in 2nd year. We have qualified for this year’s BT Young Scientist Exhibition with our project called “Cervical Check and the HPV Vaccine- Information, Opinion and Fake News”. This is
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Bipolar disorder is a touchy and difficult subject, being traditionally a very misunderstood mental illness. It is generally viewed as rapid mood swings, but these “mood swings,” are usually months long, having very extreme ups and downs. People affected by it experience crushing depression and then inflated, maniac-like happiness, receiving impulses (often self-destructive) that are
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Recently, I’ve thinking a lot about the word “feminism”. I always identified as a feminist, anyone who knows me will agree that it’s basically all I ever talk about. But I don’t know if I like that about myself. I think sometimes we get ourselves into these little bubbles where we don’t open up our
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1000 followers and 700 Facebook friends, but who can you call? I’m not good at making friends, I think it’s to do with my depression. I tend to shut people out or I take a long time to open up and let people in. Something I’m sure of is my family. There’s four girls in my
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One of our readers submitted this post in the hopes it would help anyone who is experiencing loss. Grief is a very difficult thing to understand or articulate and we felt that this reader told her story beautifully. Please read to the end for more advice… I have a box of Ikea sandwich bags which
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When I was 17, I became very ill with conditions that were later diagnosed as P.O.T Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and M.E. so being at home a lot sick has meant I spent quite a lot of time on social media! In fact, being at home so much with my illnesses often made me confused as to
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We are often told that we should love the body that we are in and embrace our curves and how strong is the new skinny. But do we actually follow or believe this advice or do we still focus on the areas of our bodies we want to change? The following 5 steps might help you become
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Hey there Shona readers! My name’s Skye, I’m a new member of the Shona Youth Ambassadors and for my first article I’m gonna talk to you all about mental health, specifically depression, anxiety and the stigma around them in the hopes it might help educate you on your own mental health or simply give you
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Why does society expect so much of me? That word “should” has really gotten me down lately. I should have so much experience gained by now. I should have a job by now. I should have it all figured out. I should be settled in a steady relationship. I should be happy… I was happy,
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I can still remember the exact moment when I decided that being a girl was bullshit. I had spent my first few formative years generally unfazed by gender roles. Sure, I had to wear horrendous dresses on special occasions, and that seemed unfair. My brother wore shirts and shorts and ran around like a loon
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