#074 Managing your mental health in difficult situations. Figuring it out with blogger Jessica Ward

This week we are helping you figure out…

How to deal with toxic relationships  Supporting friends with mental health challenges Protecting your own head during COVID19.

 

Charelle and Verity chat to multi-award winning Mental Health Awareness blogger, Jessica Ward. Starting as an online private diary - until it was discovered by a school friend - when she was a young teenager, Jessica recorded her thoughts and feelings as a way to process and reflect on the bullying she was experiencing. From an exercise addiction to depression to deciding to be homeschooled, Jessica discusses the journey she took as a teenager which led her to her positive outlook on life now.

 

At 16 she got into her first relationship where she experienced mental abuse, leaving that in 2017 to go on to win some great awards for her blog. We discuss how you can get lost within a relationship, having control issues and eating disorders. We delve a little deeper into difficult relationships - both romantically and platonically - and discuss managing our mental health in these situations.

 

We chat social distancing, physically and digitally, the lessons we learn from each moment in life and accepting how we are feeling and sinking into that. Verity talks with Jessica about attending therapy sessions and the feelings that come up surrounding that. We discuss the danger of making assumptions of people’s lives and how we can try and stop doing this to protect our heads.

 

It is important we know how to support friends who are experiencing mental health challenges and Jessica provides some beautiful advice on how best to do this. Let’s step away from the word normal and this is not the time for self-sabotage. We then discuss how to manage your mental health during COVID19 including building a routine, minimal news consumption and not losing your identity within this altered world.  

 

Simple politics https://www.instagram.com/simplepolitics/

ABOUT OUR GUEST, JESSICA WARD
Jessica Ward is a multi-award winning Mental Health Awareness blogger, fitness enthusiast and marketer.

 

Her blog began when she was 13 and at this time, it was a private online archive to document her life as a teenager struggling with bullying at school. During this time, she suffered with difficulties including health, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, confidence and overall wellbeing.

 

Having hit an all-time low, Jessica realised it was time she needed to make a change. Positively Jessica Ward was set up as a blog to help others and as a location for all things positive. Magnetic colour, mouthwatering recipes and infectious positivity!

 

Follow her blog for a daily dose of positivity https://positivelyjessicaward.com/

Find her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/positivelyjessicaward/

 

Have some feedback, a question you would like us to answer or a topic suggestion?

Drop us an email at freeandfiguringitout@gmail.com

 

Follow us https://www.instagram.com/freeandfiguringitout/ 

 

Your hosts are...

Charelle Griffith, 31, is a marketing strategist for solopreneurs and founder of PropelHer, a personal development blog and book club. She lives in London, dates men and has been single for 4 years (except for a summer romance in 2018). Connect with Charelle https://www.instagram.com/charellegriffith/ 

 

Verity Brown, 33, is a northerner and the founder of The Authentic DatA Revolution and is currently living in the Lake District, UK. She is bisexual, was single for 3.5 years and is in a relationship with a woman. Connect with Verity https://www.instagram.com/theseasaltplan/