So today, unfortunately, I’m off sick from work. As I’m writing this I’m lying in bed, on my phone, barely able to move. I had a night of panic attacks and being almost completely unable to sleep. You may think that something horrible happened to make me feel like this, but you’d be wrong.

This is going to be a quick post.

Yesterday was fantastic. I worked with a colleague who I’ve never worked with before who was not only good fun, but also taught me a lot about what we do. We worked with an award winning group of young people with various physical and learning disabilities to develop some project ideas and I had a fantastic time. I came home to a lovely dinner and my family. Nothing to complain about here. I went to bed pretty early and read my book and fell asleep happy within a few minutes.

Out of no where, I woke up and struggled to breath, terrified and shaking and sweating. This is the thing that is important for me to  make sure people know about. Out of no where. Depression, anxiety, in fact most mental health illnesses come out of no where. It’s incredibly tough to control these things so again, if you have someone in your life who experiences this kind of thing, please don’t dismiss them, please don’t walk on egg shells around them, just be there for them. People need different things after an episode, some prefer to be left alone, some want people right there with them. Whatever they prefer, just make sure that you let them know, that you reassure them that they’re not alone and that you’ll be there for them if they need it.

Right now, sleep deprived, aching all over and bed ridden, I think I’m just grateful for the fact that I’m alive enough to tap away on my phone to share this post.

Signing off affectionately,

The Mental Oriental.