Category: Mental Health Conditions

How exercising through cycling helped me to manage my anxiety

12th May 2023

Anxiety can present itself in many different ways for us all, and we have different ways of coping with symptoms and managing our mental health. We spoke to Josh and Mellissa, who told us their unique experiences with anxiety and poor mental health, and how exercise and cycling helped them both to improve their mood and ease feelings of anxiety.

Anxiety doesn’t define me

11th May 2023

Anxiety is not linear, nor one dimensional and it affects people in different ways. My experience with anxiety started when I was a child. I would not go to sleepovers as I was anxious that I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I was also anxious in school and didn’t really mix with other kids particularly. I was bullied my whole school life. When I was a teenager I suffered very badly with anxiety, I would avoid situations I didn’t feel safe in and hide in my room a lot.

Cost-of-living money worries leading to suicidal thoughts and relapse

10th May 2023

Money worries are leading to suicidal thoughts and panic attacks in people living with severe mental illness amid the cost-of-living crisis, new data from Mental Health UK has revealed, with significant numbers of people experiencing a relapse and having to increase their medication dosage.

My terror of living with health anxiety

5th May 2023

Health anxiety is a lesser spoken about condition that can have a severe impact on someone’s life. The anxiety that you’re going to get unwell or that you are unwell can cause daily life to consist of panic and fear. We spoke to Lillian about her experience with health anxiety and how she reached out for support.

How opening up about my mental health helped me overcome my negative perception of my appearance

24th November 2022

Christian was born with facial differences known as severe craniofacial anomalies. Growing up, he had over fifty reconstructive surgeries to transform his appearance and improve his confidence and life outcomes. Opening up to the people he loved is what helped Christian change how he thinks and feels about himself physically, which in turn eased his mental health difficulties.

Putting my mental health first made me stronger

7th October 2022

Fundraiser, Luke Hamer tells us why putting his mental health first made him stronger – as part of our World Mental Health Day campaign encouraging people to make their mental health a priority.

“Too young to be this depressed” – Ramses’ story of growing up as a transgender man

29th June 2022

Ramses Oliva is a valued former colleague at Mental Health UK, as well as a transgender inclusion specialist and writer. One of his biggest struggles growing up was not having the words to describe his identity. Not only did this not stop him from being gay and transgender, but it also made it extremely difficult to ask for and receive help. Here’s his story.

A father and son’s journey navigating life with obsessive compulsive disorder

16th June 2022

Living with a mental illness can have a profound effect on your own life but also on family members’ lives, because they often take on a vital role in ensuring their relative has a good quality life. We spoke to Rich and his dad about what it was like living in a house where OCD dictated their day-to-day life.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – Sophie’s story

16th March 2022

Sophie is a 26-year-old mental health advocate who has lived with OCD for 11 years. She won a Bill Pringle Award with Rethink Mental Illness for her poem on managing OCD in 2019 and has spoken publicly about her experience on radio and on social media. She is open and vocal about mental health and mental illness because she knows first-hand how isolating and scary it can be in the beginning.

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