P.S. Think about it

Inadequate comparisons isolate people with depression and other chronic illness.  Let me tell you a bit about my experience with chronic illness. This was going to be a generic, well structured article about how to interact with someone who has a chronic illness and you don't understand but it has morphed into a bit of an explanation of my own life journey and my own struggles with mental illness. I’ve done a lot of growing in the past few years through this, I think it has softened me a lot and given me a unique empathy for the suffering of others — and a humility I never had before. Everyone has their own struggles, their own heartbreaks, illnesses and lows. They are all legitimate and deserving of their own time, energy, and respect, but when we’re trying to understand others’ highs and lows this can naturally lead us to relate it to something we have experienced ourselves. But we have to be careful with this, because bringing our own stories and experiences in ...

I am continually astonished by the way I see people treat others, particularly those in service-type roles. Bus drivers, mail deliverers, kiosk workers, retail attendees, janitors, airline flight attendants and supermarket check out assistants are among the biggest targets for rude behaviour and this has to change. I used to commute to work by taking a train and then taking a bus service; It is a very popular bus (I worked at a university) and there were always lines of people standing - bored, untalking, unmoving, at the train station bus stop waiting for the bus to the university and, of course, there were always lines of people at the university waiting for the bus going back to the train. Day after day I commuted with dozens of passengers and day after day I watched most of them get on the bus without making eye contact or acknowledging the driver, and at the end of the trip they got off silently, as if the bus was merely an inconvenience, an obstacle in their schedule an...

Background: Recently (from 17th-24th of June 2018) I undertook Act For Peace's 'Ration Challenge'. The challenge entailed  spending an entire week eating only the rations that a typical Syrian refugee in a Jordan refugee camp would be given. I always feel my best when I am helping others and I have a huge passion for helping those less fortunate. I was more than keen to sign up for this challenge to raise some money for this wonderful organisation that helps provide refugees with access to food, education, hygiene supplies, medical attention and counselling. My heart goes out to refugees because they've been through so much, they've had to flee their homes and endure terrible circumstances to eventually end up in a refugee camp where they will be essentially stuck for an elongated period of time, the uncertainty of that situation must be almost unbearable.    [1] I learned so much from doing this challenge, and my awareness of the plight of refugees ...