Feelgood Friday

I got this beautiful note card set for Christmas from my little sister.

Last weekend I decided to finally put it to use and wrote a card to my sister, detailing what I've been up to since I've last been home.
I talked about my new addiction to Netflix, seeing Dublin city from the mountains, how much I missed my pets.

The Problem with Current Mental Illness Terminology

I wanted to share with you this article from The University Times I read this morning. This may be a student newspaper, but it's one of the best articles on mental health I have ever read. It's called 'The Problem with Current Mental Illness Terminology' by Seán Healy and he takes a really interesting stance on the terms we use around mental health, and in-particular to illnesses and disorders.

"A diagnosed mental illness is rarely just a state of mind, but a very real inability to accurately perceive reality, keep emotional balance or maintain good cognitive function..."

I don't usually talk about the 'science' behind mental illness, mainly because I just don't understand it. I know Depression occurs with a chemical imbalance. I've heard of dopamine and serotonin, and I can only guess that an increase or decrease in their levels can be triggered by experiences, events etc.

A Good Mental Health Week

Too often we reflect on the negative. Consumed by our fears, our sadness, the darkness.

But, I have had a good week. It may have been the first week back to work, and the first week in January, but the January Blues haven't hit me.
Instead, I've been happier than I have in weeks. I didn't notice until half way through the week. I was watching TV and it was funny and I started to laugh. Out loud. And that's not like me. Most of my feelings, the majority of the time, are kept locked up inside myself. I don't express, and I certainly don't do so by accident.

I'm Not Sad All The Time

SE Smith in The Guardian:

"When I’m having a depressive episode, I’m not walking around in tattered black clothes, weeping and wailing. I go out with friends and I crack jokes (especially sardonic ones)."

This piece was published in The Guardian newspaper at the weekend. Through wonderfully descriptive personal stories and examples, Smith shows us that Depression doesn't make you sad all the time. Nor does it mean you act a certain way.

New Year, New Goals

Okay, so I have a Memories Jar to remind me of the best bits of my year. But in 2015 I also want to try settings goals; things I want to achieve in the year.

I've read a lot about Goal-Setting as a great tool when it comes to Mental Health with its motivational benefits, having targets and a clearer sense of focus, and ease of measuring achievements (not to mention the actual feelings of achievement.)

I started this goals list back in September - 23 things I want to try before I'm 23. (I found it on Pinterest, but no creater was linked to it so I'm sorry I haven't credited them!)

23 things I want to try before I'm 23

I've decided that out of sheer laziness this will also suffice as my New Year Goals list.

The Christmas Break

I've been back to the family home for the Christmas period. It's been a lovely break from Dublin, work, and also Twitter.

I am a Twitter fiend. I am constantly sharing, and oversharing - everything from the mundane to the slightly more interesting.

Retweeting interesting tweets, funny tweets, tweets I agree with utterly and tweets I disagree with completely.

Basically I am always on Twitter.

That Christmas-y Feeling

This is what Christmas was to me in a couple of pictures:

Spiced Apple tea by an open fire that tastes like mulled wine 

Pumpkin Spice Candle