My Story - Kristy

He became more distant and took to confiding in a young lady from his workplace and the rest... well I’m sure you can see where this is going. Our marriage broke down and I was now facing what I thought was the toughest challenge of my life - single motherhood. As I started to struggle, I went on a mental health plan and anti depressants because as our GP said “one of you needs to be healthy to raise the children.” I called the antidepressants my ‘don’t give a f#%ks’ as I was neither highly emotional or low for the few months I was on them.
Skip forward 3 years and my earlier struggles paled in comparison to what I was about to face. My best friend of 20 years, was murdered by her ex partner in a murder suicide after she had broken up with him. It completely turned my life upside down and I was not prepared for the sudden downward mental health spiral.
I knew I had to give troubled youth the chance to speak about their problems and arm them with ‘tools’ that they could take into adulthood. Safe, mindful tools-an ability to get your point across, feel heard or know when to walk away while not hurting yourself or others.
I furthered my studies and now work with troubled youth building on their social and emotional skills by helping them build relationships. Can I say it ain’t easy and some days really take their toll mentally and physically but the next generation carve our future and aiding them to do so in the best way possible -that is so worth it!
I’m also doing volunteer peer support work for QHVSG and provide support to new/existing families knowing all too well how hard this journey is.
I still struggle with anxiety somedays and especially on significant dates or times of year. I also know it’s totally okay to feel the emotions, have a cry, visit my happy place (mine’s the beach) and I can talk about it. Though I’m no gym junkie I exercise and meditate often. The positive influence it has on my mental health speaks for itself... I laugh I have fun and I feel pure joy. Tomorrow is a new day full of possibilities.
If something traumatic has happened to you I can’t encourage you enough to speak up and join a like minded support group to normalise so much of your day to day. It enables you to relate to others and build connections and make progress.
Life is full of challenges and sometimes we have to just stop and smell the roses; be grateful for all we have and all that we are. I was fortunate to have an incredible support network to help out through my journey thus far and I hope you do too and please know there are so many resources and groups to support you that are out there to assist, you just need to speak up.
If you are struggling, visit our Get Help Page for organisations that can help or visit our online forum from SANE Australia which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.