INTRODUCTION

Hello everyone!

Thank you for taking the time to come and read my first blog post! As some of you may remember, I did start a blog last year and didn't stick to it, however now I feel really motivated to create a blog focusing on mental health and I may add some lifestyle posts too! In the past I used to keep many private blogs, as since being young I have always been the type to write down my feelings and write what I am thinking, so I thought why not start a public blog! I have been so passionate about mental health for a long time now, having my own personal experiences and I want others to learn from my posts and potentially find support too!

I am 22 years old (next week) and I am currently in my second year of training at the University of Greenwich to become a Psychiatric Nurse. I decided that I wanted to become a psychiatric nurse because of my own personal experiences of mental health. Those who know me well, including people from school and my childhood know that I unfortunately have had a long battle with my own mental health, however without that battle I wouldn't be where I am today. My recovery began at the end of 2013, where I finally made the decision to ask for help and admit to all the struggles I had faced for as long as I could remember. Since choosing recovery I have had many ups and downs along the way and times where I have nearly given up, but my biggest achievement is being accepted onto my course to train as a Psychiatric Nurse, allowing me to help and support others suffering from mental health conditions. I'm proud to say that I passed my first year and I am now at the beginning of my second and I can honestly say I absolutely love that I have chosen this career path for myself. My passion is to help others in distress whether that be the patients I work with or friends and family, however I also want to help extend peoples knowledge and understanding around mental health by creating this blog.

My blog will focus mostly around mental health, helping you to understand what it is truly like to live with these illnesses and where you can go for help and support and what to do when in crisis. I really hope that over time I will blog about my own personal experiences of mental health without the fear of judgement, because I want to show people out there who are struggling that it IS possible to recover and live a normal life! I was once told by a doctor that I will never recover from my condition and I will never live a normal life... My ultimate aim with this blog is to prove him wrong!

I hope that you enjoy reading this and my future posts, whether you're a friend, family member or someone I don't even know! Please do not hesitate to request any blog ideas to me through Facebook or by commenting below, I would be so grateful to receive feedback about this blog because it will be something I put a lot of effort into in my spare time!

Again, thank you for reading and I hope you're having a lovely day!