Guest Blogger Charlotte Opens up About her Depression and Tips to Overcome Feeling Down

Everyone deals with stress and depression sometime in their life, and mine is no exception, I am just a young girl living life and dealing with thing’s as it comes along.

One major event in my life has been my depression after breaking up with my ex boyfriend. Yes a boy, I know we all say don’t get upset over then, but when you have lived with them for just under a year and moving in after dating just 3 months. They become your soul mate, you best friend, and that is really hard to move on from.

I couldn’t handle being alone for a long time and I turned to self harm, One route I wish I never went down, and it can do just as much harm to you as drugs and booze would do. I would not wish upon anyone to ever self harm or even attempt it.

A year on since breaking up with my ex boyfriend and I have finally found ways to overcome self harm and distract myself, and it really works, As soon as my mind is taking away from it, I am stable.

One way I cheer myself up is buying myself some lovely little flowers to decorate my living room, flowers give off a lovely vibe and especially if they are your favourite colour it makes them extra special. I don’t need some boy to buy me flowers, I can choose my own.

Another way I distract myself is blogging, which is probably a way you could distract yourself too, Being able to express myself anyway I like because it is my blog, is amazing. One of my favourite ways to distract my mind is also writing a novel, which I am currently doing. It’s more like a diary really, think sex and the city, I don’t want to give too much away, but when I feel down, I write it as the girl in the story and what she does to overcome this obstacle in her life. It’s a very relaxing soothing feeling and when you re-read what you have written, it makes you very proud. I have also started jewellery making, which can be very time consuming it is also a useful way to distract your mind. By the time I have looked at my flowers, wrote a blog or part of my novel, I forget about what I was thinking before and I move on and smile.

Self harm can be done in many ways and it is often a cry for attention in a subtle way, I admit I have done it once or twice to get someone to notice me and my feelings. People who do self harm do not often speak open about it, but one way of dealing with this, is to talk about it and sometimes a good stranger is the best person.

If you are reading this my advice would be to talk to a friend, a stranger, parent myself or even Emma from this blog. You don’t have to do it alone and we would be honoured to help you overcome this. I also have my hamster harvey which gives me some small little cuddles.

My other useful advice is to check out this website, www.thesite.org I read it at least once a week and there are so many useful tips and advice for any problem you have. Bookmark the site!!

If you would like to contact me my blog is: http://theonlyexception-charlotte.blogspot.com/