So in honour of World Mental Health Day I thought I would share with you , why it is I share…

Why despite knowing very well that there are people out there who don’t really believe the “depression and anxiety” diagnosis, am I not afraid to say that I live with these things?

I thought World Mental Health Day would be a good day to over share so here goes…

Firstly I was not always comfortable with saying it. Too many friends and family have made me feel like either A. I was just looking for attention or B. I was some sort of Jannie Jammergat, feeling sorry for myself.

The truth is I am neither. I am a girl whose body does not make enough  “happy hormones” it is as simple as that. And yes I know we are required to act all happy and upbeat and people should not see our scars, blah blah blah… But see me, I’m tired of hiding.

So in the last few years, I got real about my diagnosis

I am not my depression and anxiety, but much like my diabetes it is part of my journey …

It has made me a more caring person, in many ways I’m nice because I know how it feels when people are not nice

So I realised I needed to live my life and accept ALL facets of myself, so I  started sharing about my diagnosis on social media and shared my story with people who needed me to , I looked at my treatment, from medication and self care and started doing things like yoga to combat my anxiety 

But then I started listening to people again, took note of them rolling their eyes and quite frankly I became rather fake I stopped sharing about my battles as I wanted to come across as stronger, more acceptable.

Then on a whim I wrote about how I feel like people think I am jumping on some sort of anxiety bandwagon   yet again looking for attention.

People contacted me and thanked me for my candor, for saying what they did not have the words to say, I shared heartfelt tears with people the night I posted. I got inboxes from the most unexpected places  and that is why I am no longer ashamed of this aspect of myself.

I am a really cool chick, I care deeply, I laugh loudly and I live with depression and anxiety…and I do this by remembering.  Bernard M. Baruch — ‘Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.’

• World Mental Health Day – World Mental Health Day is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma. It was first celebrated in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organization with members and contacts in more than 150 countries.