Mental health update 1

*Trigger warning: descriptions on or extensive discussion on self-harming behaviour*

I recently made a blog post about my depression & anxiety and I wanted to give you guys an update. I mentioned in my blog post that I didn't plan on going to a psychiatrist/psychologist/doctor, but I did something else, I talked to someone online. 

First I want to tell you guys why I made the change to talk to someone. I was talking about it with my boyfriend and he comes from a family with a lot of mental health issues and he was kinda sick and tired of it. It's hard for him that I have depression and anxiety because he's been through a lot and he doesn't want to suffer anymore. I know what you're all thinking right now: "he's not a good boyfriend because he pushes you to talk to someone" blah blah. But actually it's something good. It's good to talk to someone professional, maybe they can help me figure out some things and teach me how to be better in control when I have some panic attacks/anxiety attacks. 

I reached out to Awel. It's a Belgian site where you can talk to someone. You can call them, message them or mail them. I was kind of scared to call someone or message them, I was scared to get a direct reply so I decided to mail them instead. In their mail they said that I was a nice girl that suffers, although I don't need to suffer because I can talk to them or others. They said how nice my boyfriend is and that it was a great idea to reach out to someone and talk. 

Awel gave me many options on what I could do to help me with my depression and anxiety. They gave me some info on people I could contact: a counsellor at my college, JAC or TEJO, or a website that gives you tips, such as Fit in je hoofd. I'm sorry that these are all Dutch websites, but here are some English ones: ADAA, WebMD is a website about all different health problems and here you can find some tips and also some more information, and Healthline is more or less the same. 7 Cups is a website where you can talk to someone and Blah Therapy is another website.

I hope that these websites can help you guys out and I hope they can help me too! I'm planning on talking to one of these websites and I might talk to my college counsellor. I'm not sure because I don't know if I can talk to someone in person (who's a professional) about my problems. But I'll keep you updated about my mental health and never forget: you can always talk to me!💞

Original depression & anxiety post