This is my first new post in a long time. Those of you who follow my Facebook page will be up to speed, but I’ve majorly neglected my website for a while now. Life has been pretty hectic since the whole situation with coronavirus turned our world upside down.
Since March, my three very young children have been at home, and so, like others all over the country, I’ve had to try to fit my job around home schooling.
Recently, my youngest two went back to school, leaving just myself and my nine year old, Sam, at home. Obviously this was much easier, but the mum guilt was strong. I just didn’t feel like I was spending enough time with him when I was working.
Jess (aged five) and George (just turned four) had only been back at school for a few weeks, when all of a sudden the summer holidays were upon us! So now I’m back to square one.
Mental Health Copywriting
I could quite happily just curl up in a ball right now and hide under the duvet. But since the area that I’m keen to develop my experience in is mental health copywriting, it seems to make sense that I blog about my difficulties!
Having suffered from postnatal depression after the births of Jess and George, the fog was just beginning to lift when I started my copywriting business. I actually think that the act of starting my business – aka doing something for myself – played a huge part in that!
Realising that I was good at something and that people really valued my work gave me back a sense of self identify and self esteem that I’d been lacking in massively.
My mental health and COVID-19
I also suffer from bipolar disorder type 2 and anxiety, and when COVID-19 hit, the anxiety went off the scale. Not about catching it; I was firmly in the camp of ‘if it happens, it happens.’ I guess it was more about the whole upheaval of my world, and the uncertainty as to when, or if, things would ever return to normal.
As work slowed down, and I had the kids 24/7, I began to lose my self identity again, and my self esteem plummeted to an all time low.
Whilst I have had a lot of issues with mental health services, there are many techniques that I learned when I was with them. However, I found that in this new situation my anxiety was so bad that I found them difficult to apply.
A common trait amongst sufferers of anxiety (and probably the majority of humans), is the need to have control over our lives.
COVID-19 reminded me of the lack of control I actually have over my own life. Even when you think you’re in control, it’s likely an illusion. A crisis like the one we are facing now is a stark reminder of how quickly our lives can be altered by forces outside of our control.
Accept the things I cannot change
I used to have a little card on my bedroom wall when I was younger. It said, ‘Give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.’
Never has that been more apt.
I can’t change the state of the world or my kids being home from school when I need to work.
I can change the fact that I haven’t updated my website in months, here I go right now, ta-dah!
Talk to me about mental health copywriting
If you’d like a chat about using me as a mental health copywriter for your business, get in touch. Either give me a call on 07821 873861 or send me a message and I’ll get back to you shortly.
Written by : jo
