Chapter 1: Together We Can Be

Hi all, I’d firstly like to welcome you to Together We Can Be. I hope everyone is well and staying safe during this lockdown, but more importantly, keeping both mentally and physically healthy while the current global crisis continues.

Together We Can Be will be a place where I share the personal experiences I went through that led to the deterioration of my mental health becoming quite poor. I want to discuss the journey I took from realising my issues to building on and strengthening my mental health with the help of those closest around me. This, for me, is what I would say is the key factor in regaining control of your mental health, using those closest to you to be your anchor, supporting hand or even just someone who listens to you. I would not be where I am today if I had not had my family, friends and even my work colleagues supporting me through such times where I was at my lowest or most negative. I was often told by those listening, “It was all you, we did nothing”, but, looking back now, this wasn’t true. In the most part, they were there to listen, which, for someone like me, and I’m sure for many out there, was more supportive than I could have imagined. It allowed me to speak my mind, as little or as much as I needed to. It took a while for me to realise that I needed to open up to those closest to me, but eventually there were times where I would just sit and roll off whatever thoughts were within me which allowed me to unburden myself in some ways. So, I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you for everyone who was part of my journey.

For someone who likes to be socially out there, from spending all celebration events with both my family and friends, to travelling the world and making new friends, and just genuinely wanting to be there for anyone who needs me, the term “WE” is a crucial part of my life. The phrase “Together We Can Be” has so many meanings behind it. I’d like this blog to either encourage you, yourself, to speak up to your loved ones about the issues you may be going through, or, be there for your close ones and act as their support if ever they need it.

Regarding my story, I am someone who went through, what was for me, two heart-breaking experiences back in 2017. They both impacted my mental health in ways that I only really began to realise two years later in 2019, and thereafter taking the necessary steps (including counselling) to re-build myself. Putting aside relatives passing away and instances where certain things have affected my family, these two moments were probably the hardest and most painful experiences in my personal life that directly impacted my mental health and well being. By writing about myself and telling you all my story, I am hoping to perhaps achieve some closure for any underlying pain and negativity that I still feel. But more so, I’d like this to remind you, any of you, who are feeling some kind of negativity, or feel their mental health is weaker than you want it to be, that most importantly, YOU are not alone, and WE are here to help.