Wayne Read`s Mental Health Journey.
Wayne Read`s Mental Health Journey
Hello I am Wayne Read, I`m 34 years old, I live in Cornwall and I have been living with Mental Health issues for the past 15 years now, which includes having anxiety, depression and OCD so I`m here to express my proud journey with you today.
Well at the start of my journey I didn’t really understand the whole mental health subject and what thought process came with that, so personally I`ve always tried to look back to see, when did my mental health issues start. I am sure they started when I went up into secondary school but the thought process didn`t really come to the base of my life til I was 21 years old.
It felt like I had so many thoughts that included good ones and bad to block it out as much as I can. But with time that passed the thoughts got worse and then I got but I had no way to express them and I couldn`t handle it all at once so I just tried to a place where I needed to seek advice, so I spoke with my doctor and he asked me to write down all my thoughts on a bit of paper.
After looking at it and after a short break, he called me back in to tell me that I have been experiencing mental health issues and that was very tough to hear and I didn`t really want to believe him and after I went home to process everything and speaking with my amazing support network, I went back to the doctor and seek advice where do I go from here.
He guided me onto Outlook Southwest and I completed the sessions but I didn’t notice anything was changing, so I spoke to my doctor again about it and he advised me to try BE ME and it was truly a gift from heaven. They gave me HOPE and some amazing techniques that I still currently to this day but most of all I`m so grateful to them for the guidance they showed me on how important it is too get my body and mind working together to succeed and have the best life possible and after a lot of soul searching and a lot of sessions I am finally feeling positive about life for the past nine to ten years since I finished my last session with BE ME
There are days still and always will be where the positive outlook is not there, but I have to remind myself why I do what I do and feel blessed from where I`ve come from til now and that`s down to my hard work and to the amazing BE ME for guiding me through this process. One main lesson I will always remember having taken away from them is to believe in myself and my ability a lot more and learn to stay living in this moment right now and let the next moment take care of itself, and accepting the illness for what it is and realizing it might be part of your life going forward but that`s ok because we are all amazing and we are all doing an amazing job in our journey of life so
Please remember to keep moving forward and keep smiling all the way down that path of greatness because living with mental health will never stop us from having the life we all deserve and want, so I will always be proud of myself and my journey no matter what and hopefully you will do the same.
Aside from all of that I am currently attending a well-being group once a month, which im enjoying and meeting new people. I also started a healthkick about 21 months ago where I started to eat more healthly and look after myself better by going to the gym once or twice a month, while also exercising at home twice a week as well, which includes boxing, hand weights, kettle bells and using my very own exercise bike. I have fallen in love it with exercising so much and it has been truly amazing for our mental health and I have witnessed the rewards from all my hard work.
I am enjoying life again and sleeping so much better at night because a good night sleep is so important also for our minds also when I have finished my workouts I feel so refreshed afterwards and feel so ready for the day ahead of me while feeling positive towards the day to. I also go running a few miles on wednesdays and go walking with my family members to get each other out in the fresh air while spending time with my family is so important to me as well.
I want finish with a message to anyone who are suffering with mental health issues, you are not alone and please seek advice when feel down or alone because there is some amazing help out there if needed. Please never suffer in silence and please talk and open up to your family about this important topic and your very important thought process too, because you will need a support network around you.
My advice on counselling too is please attend but it will truly be very hard work because you will have to go to the most inner dark places in your mind to reach the place where you want to get to, and that is the very bright light shining within and a gift of strength that you will take on going forward. Don`t worry if you haven`t found that gift yet, trust me you will and when you do, be proud of that gift of strength and never feel ashamed of expressing yourselves or your amazing journeys.
With each person sharing their own stories about mental health like I am today, it will hopefully inspire others to do the same because together we are as One in this journey of life. So please remember to keep talking about mental health awareness because its an illness which should never be ashamed of and having the feelings or emotions that comes with it, so stand up proud and keep smiling all the way til the end.
YOU ARE AMAZING AND YOU ARE DOING AN AMAZING JOB, THE WORLD IS LUCKY TO HAVE US ON THIS PLANET.
