understand – Simply Life:

In Advice, Anxiety, Awareness, Depression, Feelings, Friendships, Life Lessons, Mental Illness, Truth

3 Reasons NOT to Say ‘Look on the Bright Side’…

JulieFebruary 10, 2019February 10, 2019Leave a comment

‘Just look on the bright side!’
‘It’s not as bad as you think it is!’
‘If you just focus on the positives, you’ll feel better.’
‘Your life is wonderful, you don’t need to be depressed!’

We’ve all heard them, and a lot of us have even said them. But you know what? These things don’t help (believe it or not)! I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again; people like us, we can’t just look on the bright side to feel better. If it were that simple, who would need antidepressants? Therapists would be out of a job, and we would all be ‘okay’! Here are a few reasons why you really shouldn’t tell someone with a mental illness (or even someone who is seriously struggling with something) to just ‘look on the bright side’:

In Advice, Anxiety, Awareness, Darkness, Depression, Feelings, Friendships, Hurt, Love, Mental Illness, Open letter, Recovery

An Open Letter to My Friend Who Doesn’t Understand Depression:

JulieOctober 15, 2018October 15, 2018Leave a comment

Dearest Friend,

Some days really are better than others. For me at the moment, there are a lot of days that are better than the ones in the present. And there are some things you need to know.

I understand that you are one of many people who go through life having no idea what it is to feel depressed or to experience anxiety. And that’s okay too. But for those of us who do, it can be incredibly difficult to explain what’s going on in our minds, but it’s also difficult for you to understand us.
Yes, it’s okay to not feel okay. I mean, hey. It’s not alright that people have to go through this, that fact is just awful. But this is to you, my friend, who doesn’t know what it’s like, and I ask you to take a moment to read just four things that we struggling people really want to tell you…

In Advice, Feelings, Friendships, God, Love, Moving on, Open letter

An Open Letter to My 10 Year Old Self:

JulieAugust 21, 2018August 21, 2018Leave a comment

Dear younger me, I imagine you won’t even recognise me at the moment. Life has changed so, so much, and I have too. Becoming an adult, marriage, parenthood, and just life things have changed me in to such a different person, and I have a few things I want to tell you. You’re 10 now. … Read More

In Feelings, Forgiveness, Friendships, Healing, Hurt, Moving on

An Open Letter to my Ex Best Friend:

JulieMay 18, 2018May 16, 20181 Comment

Dear Ex Best Friend, A lot of time has passed since we spoke, lots has happened, and life has changed drastically, for both of us. I feel as though some of the things that went down between us through our friendship, especially towards the end, are something that I need to speak up about. We … Read More

In Anxiety, Awareness, Depression, Feelings, Healing, Mental Illness, Recovery

Me, on feeling okay.

JulieMay 16, 2018Leave a comment

Hey lovely people. This is a bit of a story and a few of my thoughts, straight from the heart. My thoughts and feelings on recovery, and how I am going with feeling okay. Sometimes the craziness of life gets the better of us, and we get very quickly overwhelmed, especially if how we feel … Read More

In Awareness, Feelings, Healing, Mental Illness

Feelings: What to do when they hit you

JulieApril 18, 2018May 15, 2018Leave a comment

Feelings. They creep up on us out of nowhere, confuse us, bring us joy, and even pain. But what do you do when they hit you like a tonne of bricks? When you’re overwhelmed by this perhaps foreign concept, these things called feelings? A lot of us struggle when we begin to have different feelings, … Read More

In Uncategorized

It’s Reality: Part III

JulieMarch 10, 2018April 21, 2018Leave a comment

Part III: How to help a loved one with a mental illness Do you have a friend or family member who is struggling with mental illness? The way you respond to them can have a massive impact, but it’s hard to know if it will be negative or positive. Here are some important things to … Read More

In Uncategorized

It’s Reality: Part I

JulieFebruary 27, 2018April 21, 2018Leave a comment

Part I: Stop the Stigma Even though in today’s society there are many things spoken about that have been silent until now, mental illness is something that still has huge stigma around it. For people who don’t know what that is, it literally means “a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or … Read More

In Uncategorized

It’s Reality: Introduction

JulieFebruary 24, 2018April 21, 2018Leave a comment

It’s real. Whether we like it or not, mental illness is the real deal, a sickness, just like having tonsillitis or a broken bone. Just because the signs may not be as obvious, it still needs to be taken seriously. I’m all about stopping the stigma of mental illness, letting those who struggle with it … Read More

In Uncategorized

It’s Reality: Introduction

JulieFebruary 3, 2018February 24, 2018Leave a comment