Ash is currently sitting her leaving cert, poor love. She wrote this piece a few weeks ago. Enjoy. Recently I discovered I am an addict. Whether it’s being addicted to smoking or routine I am an addict. I enjoy repetitiveness. It really only occurred to me recently after I saw the new trainspotting. No everyone
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This is Katie Joy Crawford, a photographer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Last year, for her final college project, Katie made a series of photos to capture her experience with anxiety and depression. The series is called My Anxious Heart, and Katie created each photo herself, using a remote camera. Katie said “It quickly became a cathartic experience
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The day I entered an all- girl secondary school I knew that trouble would lie ahead. For a whole year of my life I endured on going bullying from a group of girls that still to this day remain anonymous to me. It was a time in my life that was dark and lonely, a
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A lot of people think because I’ve written a blog I’ve been cured of my own mental health struggles and honestly that couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m not cured I don’t even think there is a “cure” however, I’ve learned to manage and not let My Black Dog dictate my day. This morning
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Last year we shared the most amazing letter from Miss J. It really blew our socks off. Well, shes been back in touch, and she’s doing amazing. So here she is with an update…. Dear Shona, It’s me again! I should be more specific, given that you probably just stole a hasty glance at my
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Earlier this week we shared our thoughts on the word ‘perfect’ and how harmful it can be. This post inspired Ellen to think about her journey with her own body, and she kindly shared them with us…. I was born on August 29th 2000, two weeks overdue. As the anticipation of me being the first
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As some of you know, Nicole Sadly lost her brother, Alex 18 months ago. Since then, as she slowly heals, she has channeled some of her pain into trying to prevent others from suffering the same loss by talking to young people in schools about synthetic drugs. This was a tough week for her. We’ll
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Stigmatized. Wow. It’s taken me a long time to build the courage to write about this. And of course, I’m not quite sure where to start. My name is Abigail McDonnell and I’m 19 years old. At this moment in my life I am content, I am strong and I am excited about life, about
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I was part of a loving and stable family. I was lucky to experience no trauma in my life. I was the captain of my school, club, and county. I was the leader of the Senior Concert Band. I was a young coach and referee. I handed in all my homework. (Well, most of it.)
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Today, the lovely Jen Ronan has shared a really heartfelt piece on the Stigma around mental health on www.thejournal.ie. Jen is a mental health advocate, and can regularly be seen on TV3’s Midday programme, telling it like it is. Today she shares a blog post with us on how she manages to get through the
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Something that I really had to think about when writing a blog was the use of my own identity? Do I hide behind an alias? Am I ashamed of an illness that I live with? I wrote my first post mainly as a therapeutic way to deal My Black Dog. I never really intended on
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Most of us girls have a negative opinion of our bodies. Many of us admit that we are fighting a constant battle to keep up with the unrealistic expectations that society puts on us to be perfect. Our culture views our bodies as ornaments and not amazing wonders of nature to be used as tools to run, dance,
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Ellen Sheehan is a transition year student in Eureka Secondary School, in Kells County Meath, Ireland. She wrote this piece on her blog about how people react to the clothes we wear. Please follow Ella’s blog at https://unspokenbutdefinitelyfelt.wordpress.com/ I had and always will be the girl, who thrives off the idea of beauty. Who loves the
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Last week, Megan told us a little about herself and her journey through recovery from anorexia. This week, she has written in more detail, in this beautiful, honest and insightful piece. x I can’t tell you when it started, because if I did I would be lying. The truth is, I don’t remember, it’s all a
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Everyone has bad days sometimes. You can’t blame people for being stressed or not skipping around the place as if they have just won the lotto. Today there are so many pressures in our daily lives. I mean for teenagers alone we have the stress of exams and education, making our parents proud and trying
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18 year old Megan has just joined our youth council, and hopes to use it as a platform to raise awareness and start conversations about eating disorders in Ireland. Here is her first post. She will be writing more about her experiences in the future. Welcome aboard Megan x When I heard of anorexia as
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When I was growing up, I was a huge reader. I devoured books. I spent years waiting until I could start on my sister’s collection of Babysitter Club books, and distracted myself with Jacqueline Wilson’s heartbreaking tales. I went to my local library, my school library, my brother’s bookshelves, anywhere I might find a new
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Very few people know how to respond when people when they say they struggle with mental illness. Here’s some things that have been said to me that made me irritated/belittled. There’s also a few responses at the end. “Oh that’s shit I get pretty depressed too. Especially when everyone goes out and I don’t and
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