Able and Disabled

Hey! So the last six months have flown by and here we are, I have officially graduated from the Scope For Change Programme. The graduation itself was amazing! It was wonderful to see so many of my awesome friends again and to hear from some great guest speakers, especially Sam Renke who is absolute activism goals! However, today I thought I would focus on the programme itself and what I've taking away from it because I feel so grateful and blessed to have been given this opportunity to grow and work with so many fabulous people. (Freya accepting her certificate for completing Scope For Change) How to put Scope For Change into words? Inspiration, Friendship, Encouragement, Support; it's so difficult to sum up such a huge experience into such few words. To help I thought I would share with you the speech I gave at the Graduation on the 14th (such a lovely way to spend Valentines Day, it was wonderful!): Hello, my name is Freya. I’m a twenty year old student studying Ti...

Hey! I hope you're well and have been taking good care of yourself. If you read my last post you may remember that one aspect of my recent difficulties has been a recent increase in my hair pulling, a behaviour linked to an impulse control disorder I have called trichotillomania. If you've never heard of this condition (trust me you're not alone!) the NHS defines the disorder as  " when someone can't resist the urge to pull out their hair." It is often classified as an Impulse Control Disorder, or more recently a BFRB, which stands for Body Focused Repetitive Behaviour. The most important thing to remember about Trich is that regardless of whether the individual is pulling consciously or subconsciously they most likely have no control over this behaviour. There is a very good reason why it is understood as a disorder of one's ability to control the particular impulse to pull. I've been struggling with Trichotillomania for somewhere around seven yea...

Hey! I've been having a shit time recently and I've been struggling to talk about that truth. Being able to admit to anyone that I've been struggling with my mental health has taken me about five months. Anyone who follows my blog will know that I am the biggest advocate for breaking down the stigma surrounding mental health and being open about our personal battles, but sometimes that is easier said than done and we shouldn't be judged when we struggle to be open. Mental health is an incredibly difficult thing to deal with because you are ill but you can also have your brain telling you that you have no reason to be ill or that it's shameful to be ill or that it's your own fault to be ill (which are all lies of course). However, right now I feel like I need to talk and I want to talk so that's what I'm going to do. TRIGGER WARNINGS: Depression, Anxiety, Self-Esteem, Trichotillomania, Mental Health ❤ I don't really feel like discussing the...