As a Woman and a Primary Care Giver by Sandra Dillon

As a Woman and the Primary Care Giver

by See Change Ambassador, Sandra Dillon

Movement is incredibly effective at reducing symptoms of depression and its benefits to lifting moods but try telling myself that when I was experiencing mental health issues and anxiety.

Now I can acknowledge, I find just stretching my arms creates a space for me. it allows me to cope with the daily stress and helps to invite positive thinking associated with good physical and mental health wellbeing.

My journey

Asking for help as a woman of young children builds strong foundations, however due to my mental health issues and the fear of Stigma this was the hardest part of my journey on the road of mental health recovery.

Fear of the unknown lead to isolation, frustration and desperation. They say good mental health is the ability to express cope and manage a range of positive and negative emotions, but for my mental health how could I express my deepest feelings around my children’s births when stigma in society said this was the most amazing time of my life. I had two beautiful children that eventually turned into three with a special need.

I became overwhelmed and totally out of my dept. Every picture I ever saw showed a lovely couple smiling and embracing their situation, but my image was of an inadequate individual struggling for help and begging someone to hear my cry for understanding.

Over the years I experienced a wave of different emotions and feelings, and that understanding never came till one day after an episode of hiding under the stairs, that’s what I called my depression and anxiety.

I read an article about Stigma and stigma reduction and quietly realised that I was self-stigmatising myself?

My curiosity got the better of me, so on one of my better days, I attended a meeting run by See Change and the rest is history.

I discovered likeminded people struggling and actually talking openly about their struggles. I slowly started to open up and I realised I had always just needed a listening ear without judgement. That was in 2014 /15. Since then, I have developed my own space to express my feelings and even support others just like me…….a mum /a daughter / a carer /a sister but just as important, a woman who lives with a mental health issue without, FEAR OF STIGMA.