The stigma of mental Illness

                The stigma of mental Illness

This is an extremely interesting topic and I thank Ariah for inviting me to a guest blogger, it’s a huge honour to contribute.
 

When I think about equality, many issues spring to mind and it’s extremely hard to focus on all that it conjures. I’ve been a critical care nurse so equality in the health care system is an issue that I’m extremely passionate about. I’m a wife and mother of two beautiful children and am 39 years of age. I’ve had many jobs such as a beauty therapist, retail representative, critical care nurse and a project manager for indigenous health. My biggest challenge by far is being a mother and dealing with chronic pain and depression.

I’ve been experiencing chronic pain now for 26 years, the last of these years were spent in bed, 22 hours a day. The last five years is when my pain started to rapidly increase and as a result, I began to lose the use of my legs. Despite having numerous tests, treatments and surgical procedures, no one knew what was going on! At one stage I was tested for multiple sclerosis - MS. Facing the future of living in a wheel chair while my kids were only 4 and 6 years of age was extremely confronting and a frightening thought. I had absolutely no idea how I was going to face the pain and not be able to use my legs day in and day out for the rest of my life. How the hell was I going to do this! I had previously attempted suicide twice in my early twenties, and I recognised suicide as my only way to  relieve myself of the pain and free my family of this burden. I reached crisis point and, much to my own disgust at the time, I chose to live and get the assistance that I needed – I couldn’t deprive my children of a mother and a husband of his wife, even if she was broken goods despite me desperately wanting to die.

Upon reflection, although I received the required crisis intervention for my mental health - I felt ashamed that I required this crisis intervention. Even in front of the crisis team that visited me one morning, I felt that “surely these people are judging me” and “I’m now going to be completely broken off from society because I’m officially a nut bag and no one is going to want to deal with me”.

I was so upset that I needed this crisis intervention, I felt weak and pathetic. Despite my broader family knowing that I suffered from depression I was certainly hesitant to inform them that my mental health had deteriorated to that extent. Why did I feel ashamed of this? I certainly wasn’t hesitant to talk of my physical illness. So this conjures the question........why are people ashamed to
talk of mental illness and to reach out for assistance particularly when it is so common with one in five people living with a mental disorder.

There have been massive improvements in relation to reducing the stigma of mental illness in recent times. However, I feel that the stigma still remains for many reasons, many of which are derived from a lack of understanding in the wider community. People are often scared and don’t know how to communicate and interact with people who are suffering from a mental illness. There is also the view that people with an illness such as depression are not capable of interacting and contributing to  society, this is certainly how I felt. People can deal with physical pain but not someone’s mental anguish. 


I want to start a conversation by posing the question WHY. Starting a conversation will be a sure fire way of educating people on mental illness, thus continuing to break down the stigma.

Love, Lowanna Lowes


Australian Pain Society
Beyond Blue



An Unbalanced World - Celestralite


Our world is unbalanced.
In many ways it’s natural.
In many ways it’s unacceptable.
Inequality exists throughout the world today. It disrupts the harmony we strive for in a modern civilization. This is not just an issue of gender, but an issue which ranges from social to religious to racial to economic, and so on. Double standards run amok, jealous and ignorance divide the sides, stereotypes fuel our fears. We continue to strip each other of the dignity—the common courtesy—of equal terms.
But we are getting better.
Despite what the media will present, the world is safer, the world is less violent, the world is more accepting…then it has ever been before.
That’s why, we as a people of Earth must continue to work towards global equality. Continue this trend of promoting each other. Work towards balance.

Check Celeste out on her wonderful blog! Or her socials below;

Instagram      Twitter      Bloglovin

INTRODUCING AUGUEST




Introducing AUGUEST!

I am very excited to announce that this year in August I've got something very special for all of you. Every week during the month of August you'll have a guest blogger, sharing with you their opinions and thoughts on the same topic.

'Equality and it's role in our society today'

Equality is such an interesting concept, there are so many different kinds of equality. Social equality, gender equality, civil equality, economic equality, equality of opportunity and education...

You'll be hearing next month from some of the most creative and intelligent people I know, who will be sharing with you their take on equality, what it means, how it impacts them, how it's changed over time. 

I  would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. The aim of Auguest is to generate thought and discussion... so please leave a comment below. If you disagree with the guest blogger, please speak up! I think it's so important to discuss issues like this and create conversation and awareness.We'd love to hear what you think. Or email me if you're interested in being a guest blogger yourself.

First up, we've got Claire Louise, author of the blog Stomp the Wallflower, brilliant photographer and creative artist. 



Leah Ridley is an amazing fashion designer, musician and poet.  



Celeste is a writer, artist and blogger. She's super intelligent, funny and gorgeous. 



Lowanna Lowes owns her own business, mother of two gorgeous kids, writer.


And last but not least we have the gorgeous girls poppy and mop. They're super cute young photographers and creative girls who share a blog. 


I look forward to hearing your thoughts on "Equality and it's role in our society today". 

AB :)

SKATEBOARDING

Skateboarding
 I had a lovely day out with friends the other day, enjoying the last days of warmth before the winter kicks in here in Australia... and I got some nice shots... I thought I'd share them with you :) Enjoy

 













A NIGHT OUT WITH FRIENDS

A Night Out With Friends

I recently went out with some of my closest friends for a few drinks and some dancing, as a belated birthday celebration, and we actually got a few great shots during the night so I thought I'd share them with you lovely people. 







We had such a fun night, we made friends with some jokers while waiting in line for a bar, drank the best cider we've ever tasted, we had an awkward run in with a pretty confident lesbian who had the wrong idea about my friends sexuality, and ate street food served from the side of a gratified, Double Decker bus. All in all it was a pretty excellent evening!

AB :)

Nutella and Strawberry French Toast

Nutella and Strawberry French Toast

 
I haven't done a recipe in a while, so I thought I'd share this one with you guys, inspired by buzzfeed food. It's super easy and really delicious. With this recipe you can make it look like you know what you're doing in the kitchen, even if you REALLY don't (like me.)

So here goes...

INGREDIENTS:
 * Nutella
 * Strawberry's (about a punnet)
 * Bread
 * 2 eggs
 * Sugar
 * Milk

METHOD

#1. Flatten out your bread, cut off the crusts and spread a thick layer of Nutella on it, as well as a small handful on thinly sliced strawberries. 
 

#2. Mix 2 eggs, a small hand full of sugar and 1/4 cup of milk. 
#3. Roll up the bread and dip it in the mix. 
#4. Fry up the rolls in a hot frying pan and serve with icing sugar and chocolate syrup.  
 


So there you have it, dessert for breakfast! Click here if you'd like to check out the tutorial video, from buzzfeed.  

Happy cooking guys.

AB :)

A trip Home

A Trip Home


Doritos and mints by my side, I slid into my car with a full tank of fuel and a full heart, I hit the gas and headed for home. Now, I'm the kind of gal who always needs some music playing, so I had created a playlist (or should I say SLAY-list?) to help the two and a half hours go a bit quicker.
I'm also the kind of gal who doesn't like to spend large amounts of time by myself, so even this short time in the car, all alone felt like an age. But after a long drive of belting out Adele's 'Hello' and seat jiving to San Cisco's 'Too much time together' (Check them out if you haven't already, they're good tunes. And if you're looking for other cool song to listen to on a drive then follow my 'cruisin songs' playlist on spotify, ariah.holmes) I finally made it. 

The next day I was woken at 6am by a small Rylie (my younger sister) catapulting herself onto my bed in. Not long after that one of my other sister's, Iliana, came and joined us for a big sister snuggle (the best way to start your morning, in my opinion.) We shared songs with each other talked about life. I made everyone coffees on our little coffee machine and taught Rylie how to pour a babychino.


In the afternoon I went 'round to my friend Emma's house and made a bunch of cocktails in preparation for her upcoming 21st party. It was so much fun, and we found a few that we actually really liked. We danced to K-pop and watched 'Kingsman' and talked and laughed. All in all, a good night.




I find visiting home to be a very relaxing and recuperating experience. Even if I can't do it very often, I love being home and being with my family.

I hope you're all well  and loving your families.


AB