{"id":7263,"date":"2023-10-10T16:20:25","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T16:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/?p=7263"},"modified":"2023-10-10T16:31:51","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T16:31:51","slug":"living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/","title":{"rendered":"Living with depression \u2013 Benita, Care Leaver\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

In the spirit of World Mental Health Day, we are sharing a powerful blog post written by Benita a care leaver who wanted to share her experience with mental health to help others and she also offers some advice on how to deal with it. <\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

World Mental Health Day aims to increase public awareness about mental health issues. It is an opportunity to work on bringing positive change to the health of every young person, and to bring attention to the importance of seeking assistance when experiencing difficulties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trigger warning: this blog post mentions suicidal thoughts, self-harm, domestic and sexual abuse. If you need support you can contact Shout which provides 24\/7 urgent mental health support: <\/em>giveusashout.org<\/em><\/a> by texting SHOUT to 85258, you can also find a local NHS urgent mental health helpline in England via this <\/em>link<\/em><\/a>: nhs.uk\/service-search\/mental-health\/find-an-urgent-mental-health-helpline<\/a>.<\/em> If you are under 19 you can also contact Childline which offers a free and confidential service: <\/em>childline.org.uk<\/em><\/a> by calling 0800 1111.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benita\u2019s experience of living with depression <\/strong> <\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Throughout my life, I have struggled with depression. In my experience as a care leaver, I have never felt safe. I felt that I lacked a family or friends. I experienced numerous placements, so nothing ever felt secure. Growing up, I experienced a great deal of isolation. Because I felt miserable all the time, I was unable to do what normal people my age would do. There were times when I would hurt myself and have suicidal thoughts. When I was alone, I would cry to myself. As much as I wanted all these feelings to disappear, it was difficult for me to deal with them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I never expressed my feelings to anyone because I was afraid of being judged, I struggled to find the right words and I just didn’t want to burden anyone with my feelings. It was just that I was unsure of how the other person would respond. This left me feeling vulnerable and I feared that communicating my emotions might not be shared by others. Good communication requires vulnerability, but it\u2019s also scary. Therefore, I suffered, and I kept my feelings to myself for most of my life. The inability to process my emotions prevented me from dealing with them effectively. Everything would be overthought by me. However, there is no right or wrong way to express your feelings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as I turned 19, I moved into my own apartment, I have spoken about this experience in a previous blog post.<\/a> I still feel lonely despite having my own space, and not being surrounded by people can sometimes worsen how I feel on a daily basis. It was common for me to suffer from panic attacks, anxiety and low self-confidence. Depression and panic attacks would hit me at home, at work or even in a shopping centre.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My life was negatively impacted by feeling emotionally numb on the inside. I have changed the way I think and the way I view myself and others as a result of it. This caused me to put my guard up. I felt very empty, dead inside, and I was unable to care about anything, even the things I used to care about. I felt completely disconnected to life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes I ask myself, \u201cis it possible that these feelings I have had will ever disappear?\u201d No, I do not believe so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I have learned to deal with them in a more effective manner. Despite this, I no longer push people away and I can now share my feeling with others. I can say I am not weak as most people might perceive me to be, I am a survivor. I have endured abandonment, cruelty, sexual abuse, domestic violence, bullying and everything else that comes my way. I am a survivor because, despite everything life has thrown at me, I rise above it and don\u2019t give in to intrusive thoughts.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The turning point in my depression occurred when I was eventually able to access a couple of online counselling sessions, where I was supported by a professional and I was able to discuss my feelings. Eventually, I was able to surround myself with good company, do exercise, and find something I was passionate about. The act of writing and singing songs would serve as a healthy distraction for me. Although I\u2019m still living with depression, it is not severe as it once was. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We all have days when we feel more or less engaged with life and excited about the future. But if you find yourself feeling emotionally numb day after day, for weeks on end, and it begins to affect your daily life and relationships, it might be a sign of an underlying mental health condition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some days are good, great in fact and you almost feel like you\u2019re better. Then a look from someone or a memory, can turn you into a complete mess. Depression affects so many people, you don\u2019t suddenly wake up and decide to feel hopeless.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason why I wanted to share my story is because I am in a better place now. I wanted to bring awareness to this issue and I just hope my story can help someone else feel less alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would like you to know that if you have similar feelings, it is ok to switch off sometimes, that it is ok to cry, you are human. I would suggest talking to someone whether it\u2019s family, a friend, or a therapist. Talking to someone you trust about something upsetting may help you to sort out your problem, see the situation more clearly and look at the problem in a different way. Focus on doing something that\u2019s important to you, that would be a great distraction and that would help you a lot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hopefully the advice I\u2019m giving to you can be useful, take one day at a time! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you need support, you can contact Shout which provides 24\/7 urgent mental health support: <\/strong>giveusashout.org<\/strong><\/a> by texting SHOUT to 85258, can find a local NHS urgent mental health helpline in England via this <\/strong>link<\/strong><\/a>, and if you are under 19 you can contact Childline which offers a free and confidential service: <\/strong>childline.org.uk<\/strong><\/a> by calling 0800 1111. Our <\/strong>resources for children and young people page<\/strong><\/a> also shares links to charities and resources that can help young people look after their mental health and wellbeing.<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n
If you are a care leaver and not getting the support you need from your local authority, you may want to contact the Children\u2019s Commissioner\u2019s Help at Hand team for more advice via their online form <\/strong>childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/help-at-hand<\/strong><\/a>, calling free on 0800 528 0731 or emailing <\/strong>help.team@childrenscommissioner.gov.uk<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n
On the IMO website (for care experienced young people) we also share a list of <\/strong>helplines, advice and support<\/strong><\/a> for a wide range of topics.<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Benita previously shared a personal blog post with us, describing her experiences leaving foster care, <\/strong>‘My journey to independence: A care leaver’s journey’<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong> <\/h5>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the spirit of World Mental Health Day, we are sharing a powerful blog post written by Benita a care leaver who wanted to share her experience with mental health to help others and she also offers some advice on how to deal with it.   World Mental Health Day aims to increase public awareness about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":7265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,4,64,25],"tags":[11,21,50,38,69,19,23,6,149],"class_list":["post-7263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-experiences","category-life-hacks","category-positive-outcomes","category-your-stories","tag-advice","tag-being-in-care","tag-care-experienced","tag-care-leaver","tag-cep","tag-foster-care","tag-real-life-stories","tag-wellbeing","tag-world-mental-health-day"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"Living with depression \u2013 Benita, Care Leaver\u00a0 - IMO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the spirit of World Mental Health Day, we are sharing a powerful blog post written by Benita a care leaver who wanted to share her experience with mental health to help others and she also offers some advice on how to deal with it.\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Living with depression \u2013 Benita, Care Leaver\u00a0 - IMO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the spirit of World Mental Health Day, we are sharing a powerful blog post written by Benita a care leaver who wanted to share her experience with mental health to help others and she also offers some advice on how to deal with it.\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"In My Opinion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-10T16:20:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-10T16:31:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/living-with-depression-Orange.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hannah Cox\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hannah Cox\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1c4e73e6ec7c3805267e1713aef26e4f\"},\"headline\":\"Living with depression \u2013 Benita, Care Leaver\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-10T16:20:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-10T16:31:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1203,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/wpuploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/living-with-depression-Orange.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"advice\",\"being in care\",\"care experienced\",\"care leaver\",\"cep\",\"foster care\",\"real life stories\",\"wellbeing\",\"World Mental Health Day\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Career experienced people\",\"Life hacks\",\"Positive outcomes\",\"Your stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\\\/\",\"name\":\"Living with depression \u2013 Benita, Care Leaver\u00a0 - IMO\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/wpuploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/living-with-depression-Orange.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-10T16:20:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-10T16:31:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1c4e73e6ec7c3805267e1713aef26e4f\"},\"description\":\"In the spirit of World Mental Health Day, we are sharing a powerful blog post written by Benita a care leaver who wanted to share her experience with mental health to help others and she also offers some advice on how to deal with it.\u00a0\u00a0\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/wpuploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/living-with-depression-Orange.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/wpuploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/living-with-depression-Orange.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/\",\"name\":\"IMO\",\"description\":\"IMO is a voice for teenagers in care and for care leavers. Somewhere you can share stories, experiences and achievements, get and give advice, and find loads of great free stuff!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Living with depression \u2013 Benita, Care Leaver\u00a0 - IMO","description":"In the spirit of World Mental Health Day, we are sharing a powerful blog post written by Benita a care leaver who wanted to share her experience with mental health to help others and she also offers some advice on how to deal with it.\u00a0\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Living with depression \u2013 Benita, Care Leaver\u00a0 - IMO","og_description":"In the spirit of World Mental Health Day, we are sharing a powerful blog post written by Benita a care leaver who wanted to share her experience with mental health to help others and she also offers some advice on how to deal with it.\u00a0\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/","og_site_name":"In My Opinion","article_published_time":"2023-10-10T16:20:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-10T16:31:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/living-with-depression-Orange.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hannah Cox","Estimated reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/"},"author":{"name":"Hannah Cox","@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/#\/schema\/person\/1c4e73e6ec7c3805267e1713aef26e4f"},"headline":"Living with depression \u2013 Benita, Care Leaver\u00a0","datePublished":"2023-10-10T16:20:25+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-10T16:31:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/"},"wordCount":1203,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/living-with-depression-Orange.jpg","keywords":["advice","being in care","care experienced","care leaver","cep","foster care","real life stories","wellbeing","World Mental Health Day"],"articleSection":["Career experienced people","Life hacks","Positive outcomes","Your stories"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/","url":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/","name":"Living with depression \u2013 Benita, Care Leaver\u00a0 - IMO","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/living-with-depression-Orange.jpg","datePublished":"2023-10-10T16:20:25+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-10T16:31:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/#\/schema\/person\/1c4e73e6ec7c3805267e1713aef26e4f"},"description":"In the spirit of World Mental Health Day, we are sharing a powerful blog post written by Benita a care leaver who wanted to share her experience with mental health to help others and she also offers some advice on how to deal with it.\u00a0\u00a0","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/living-with-depression-benita-care-leaver\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/living-with-depression-Orange.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/living-with-depression-Orange.jpg","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/","name":"IMO","description":"IMO is a voice for teenagers in care and for care leavers. Somewhere you can share stories, experiences and achievements, get and give advice, and find loads of great free stuff!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7263"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7269,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7263\/revisions\/7269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}