All this week we are supporting #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek.The official theme for this week is loneliness and several of our #mentalhealthfirstaiders have written #blog posts describing their experiences of #loneliness.
A huge thank you to our MHFAs for putting pen to paper and allowing us to share in your experiences.
Loneliness. Michelle Peck Pareto FM
Having always been able to enjoy my own company I found when I had my little girl in Dec 2017 and experiencing Post Natal Depression, this made me feel very isolated and lonely. I had a lot of support but truly believe even with support and a lot of people around you, you can still feel lonely. I felt that I didn’t want to discuss how I felt with anyone particularly as I had my daughter through a very long and grueling IVF process. I felt If I told people how I was feeling they would think I was ungrateful.
One day I pushed myself to go to a baby massage class and it really was the turning point for me, the group teacher was so welcoming plus, there were like-minded mums there who were all so open and honest and pretty much cemented the feeling that I wasn’t alone. We set up a group chat and I am still friends now with those Mum’s and we all still support each other over 4years on.
No matter how you are feeling there is always someone or something out there that can turn you around – you are never alone if you can just reach out 😊