It may be hard to believe with me being a professional counsellor and comedienne that 16 years ago I was a client in therapy. I was suffering with depression and having panic attacks. For those who have never had one, let me explain…
‘A panic attack is like an orgasm – you’ll know when you’ve had one’!
I was in a black cloud of depression. I couldn’t see the point of anything. I had no confidence and no
self-worth.
If someone had told me 16 years ago that I would get through it, I would not have believed them. If someone had said that I’d not only get through it, but become a qualified counsellor and help other people with their mental health problems too, I would have laughed! And if someone had told me then that I’d not only get through it and help others but that I’d also write a book about my own personal experiences with depression including exercises that could help others, as well as perform sell-out mental health theatre shows and be featured on national TV, I would have thought, ‘That’s Impossible’.
Yet that is what happened.
Sixteen years ago when the doctor told me I had depression, I asked a very important question: ‘Why’?I was not born with a mental health condition, it came about as a result of external and internal factors. Some of my external factors were physical and mental abuse in childhood and generational behaviours; I internally blamed myself for things that were not my fault and got into a pattern of bad relationships. Through therapy, I learnt I needed to have a good relationship with myself first before I could have a good relationship with others.It does get better. The black clouds do break up and eventually, your inner light does shine through.
I learnt that the word ‘Impossible’ can mean – ‘I’m possible’
There are many factors that can affect us, which is why it’s so important we wake up to our
behavior’s. How have we been conditioned and what limiting beliefs have been passed on to us? There are other people’s worries, like the fear of what others will think. We worry about looking bad, that we won’t be good enough, that others might not approve and that we won’t be loved. No wonder at some point that one in four of us is expected to have mental health issues!
We need to build our own identity, to create the confidence that encourages us to do things that make our own happiness rather than rely on others. It’s important that we learn to be how we want to be, and that we teach our children how to do the same.
If you would like to know more and see me live, then my next Mental Health Show is on Thursday 1st June 2017 at The Gatehouse Theatre in Stafford. My book ‘The Power Of Knowing You’ is available from Amazon.
To find a qualified Counsellor in the UK or to come and see me for one-to-one counselling face-to-face or via Skype then please go to www.itsgoodtotalk.org.uk
I wish you all great mental health and encourage you not to take life too seriously…especially as no one gets out of life alive anyway!
http://WWW.CHANGESTAMWORTH.ORG.UK