Skip to main content

Squashing Mental Illness with And 1 More Makes 3



I recently had the pleasure of “e-meeting” a fellow mommy blogger and kindred spirit. Leah, the creator of And1MoreMakes3.com, uses her blog as a platform to discuss mental health issues, using her own experiences as a springboard into the larger discussion of mental health for moms and others in the UK. Her tone is frank, open, approachable and light. She makes the topic of mental illness less scary by virtue of her attitude about it.

She suffered from depression and anxiety for over 10 years, and now considers herself a “survivor.” Her blog is an extension of her own journey to mental wellbeing, as well as a platform for sharing with other people that it is ok to feel this way and to get help. By using her own journey as the example, she shows her readers the benefits of facing mental illness and fighting it. She helps remind those who have forgotten that there is hope, and it is possible to take control. There’s no shame in suffering a mental illness, or an invisible illness; And 1 More Makes 3 also reminds readers that there is hope too. 

In the awesomely titled post, Invisible Illnesses Suck, Leah shares some of her readers’ experiences dealing with those who cannot “see” the illness. From this we learn that there are many different types of people who suffer, and invisible illnesses are not confined only to mental illness. And everyone who suffers from a condition unseen struggles with some form of unintended discouragement from the outside. Perhaps it’s a well-meaning co-worker who says “get over it” or a parent who continually suggests that you just “need some fresh air.” While fresh air never hurts, these seemingly thoughtful suggestions imply that any pain you’re experiencing because of your invisible illness is simply imagined. Leah’s post reminds readers that these encounters with those who don’t understand happen to all of us. As survivors, we must continue the discussion and keep educating and supporting ourselves and others.

In addition to sharing her work with you, I’ve had the pleasure of “interviewing” Leah about her own journey as a mommy blogger, and her viewpoint on mental health perceptions in the UK. I’ll soon be sharing the details of that exchange. 

In the meantime, connect with Leah and learn more about And 1 More Makes 3!

FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM
Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 18, 2016 at 1:03 PM

    I am so excited about this collaboration. Thank you so much for including me, I am honoured! xx

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Breastfeeding: Part 1 of 1,000,000

I'm sure I'll circle back to this topic often! Breastfeeding in public. I've done it. I love it. I support it for all. I think all places of employment, public bathrooms and more should be retrofitted with Nordstrom-style mommy rooms for breastfeeding. But I can't muster up the gumption to do it in front of any male family members. In fact, while I'm comfortable in front of friends or almost any female visiting me in my own home, there are female family members I'm not sure about. Would I whip out a boob to feed my daughter in front of my mother-in-law? If it were just us and in my home, I probably would. But I might feel a little weird, or pause first. And if we were at her house, I would probably go in the other room to feed the baby. In front of my father-in-law, my father, either of my brothers or any other male family member? Close male friends? No way, man! I have fed the baby in public, in plain view of many a male passerby and it didn't bother me...
Post a Comment
Read more

New, Hot, Cool Mom Stuff

I'm back! I took a break, and then an even longer break. I lost my confidence and I guess my voice too. In reviewing my last post - from March! - I can see that my thinking was not as sharp or clear as I'd like. I have a lot to say but am really nervous about saying it or writing it. The truth is that as much as I seem to want to do this, blogging is very hard for me. I have in my recent past really hurt people's feelings with my writing. I have also taken some personal risks and wrote things that later embarrassed me. Worst of all, I've both hurt other people and embarrassed myself at the same time with my writing. Sometimes I guess I'm fearful I'll make the same mistakes again... or if I'm really honest about it, I feel as though I don't deserve the chance to write about whatever I want to now because of the mistakes I made then. There was also an incident. A short, brief conversation. Not even a conversation... my mother made a passing commen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Participation Trophy Woes

The image is taken from this article .  I'm a millennial, but an older one. I was born in 1984 which I believe is the beginning point of the millennial generation. I want to talk about a specific aspect of growing up millennial: participation trophies. These were somewhat regular in my childhood. Although they were not always guaranteed, they were around enough to matter in critical times during my development. I had some participation trophies, while I also had some other earned trophies. However, those participation trophies had an impact on the "earned" trophies. For me getting participation trophies taught me to devalue all trophies. When I was a junior or senior in high school, my mom found several awards I'd won shoved in a drawer in my bedroom. One such trophy was a writing award, another was my "Rookie of the Year" plaque I'd earned for diving into the Youth & Government program gung-ho even though it was my first year. I'd just jo...
Post a Comment
Read more