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Hello and Welcome! I’m Anna and have been dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder since I was seventeen years old.

PTSD comes with a whole host of mental health issues from anxiety and depression to  flashbacks and panic disorder which alone are a handful to deal with at the best of times.

Before I had many misconceptions about mental illness. I never understood why people couldn’t just get over it and be happy or they were just acting extra sad for attention at school. Honestly, the misconceptions around mental health know no bounds.

Personally, I always hid behind a smile and still find my experiences really difficult to talk about. At the beginning I was too ashamed to tell anyone what was happening to me and when I got the courage to open up to a few close friends one of them said “I don’t understand, you always seem so happy.” Most people who know me now have no clue what has really been going on.

There are so many things over the last four years that affect me differently in everyday life than they used to. Simple thing like my sight has changed, I literally see things differently. Although I’ve mostly learnt to control it, this change was truly one of the most terrifying experiences I’ve had. Trying to explain what I see and feel was so difficult and I really thought no one would properly understand.

That was until I met someone else who had been through a similar experience to me. I have never been more shocked to find out the that many of the “side effects” I thought I suffered alone were shared by her! The comfort it gave me was like no other.

Getting better is a process which can take years and PTSD has definitely changed me forever and in some aspects for the better.

So, What am I doing now?

My life has been put on hold somewhat. For example I always thought I would go to University but I was so immersed in trying to get through the everyday that it just slipped away from me. And realistically I don’t think I would have survived away from my family and support network at home.

Going traveling is also something I’ve always wanted to do and for the same reasons as above I hadn’t believed I could do it – let alone by myself. So I quit my job to embark on an adventure!

My mission and my passion is twofold:

Firstly I would love to reach out to anyone who feels, for whatever reason, that they can’t do something big or small. I hope that by reading my blog I can encourage people to take steps in the right direction towards a goal or a lifelong dream to be fulfilled.  You don’t have to have a mental health issue to feel anxious, scared or unsure to do something.

Secondly I will be blogging about my past experiences to show how the challenges of normal life and traveling alone affect someone like me. There needs to be a change in how people perceive mental health, so what better way than to see than the world through my eyes?

I am very fortunate to have had some brilliant support over the years but I know others aren’t so lucky. I would love it if I could help anyone to realise that they are not alone and the world is still your oyster!

Give me a follow for updates!