Okay, before I even introduce myself and this blog I want to
have a little discussion on the subtitle and why I chose it. The reason I’ve
added, Fighting for the Light while living with the Dark, is because I like the
symbolism and its connection to my emotions and how I actually feel. The
simplest form of this symbolism is happiness (light) and sadness (dark). When
I’m happy I do feel brighter and warm inside, and when I’m sad I feel dark and
cold. This description works best for me so I can explain the contrast and intensity
of the emotions that occur because of my mental and physical health problems. It
sums up well the most important fact- I’m trying to fight for the happiness/light
that I want, despite various struggles that make me feel sad/dark inside. The
wording is also important to me as the concept of, ‘Living with the Dark,’ was
a key step in understanding that most of my struggles will never go away and
it’s how I live with them that makes the difference to my happiness.
One last point is that talking
about mental and physical health and its relationship to being happy and sad/light
and dark is a very simplified description of a very complex subject. However,
it is a good foundation to build upon and captures the essence and goal of this
blog, which is ultimately to promote happiness and hope in the face of
adversity.
Well, I guess I should introduce
myself now. My name is Steven Guscott and I’m 26 (soon to turn 27). The truth
is I’m an average guy, but I feel my journey and experiences have been
interesting, and I've gained a good perspective and objectivity towards life. I
currently live and always have lived in United Kingdom, well apart from a
summer I spent in America when I was eighteen. I spent my childhood growing up
in England and from my teens onwards I lived in Scotland; I’ve actually just
moved back to England (I’ve been here about two weeks). As I blog I’m sure the
reasons for these moves will be brought to light, but this introduction isn’t
the place to elaborate just now.
As I
said, I’m pretty average. I enjoy a variety of music, film and television, I
love fictional stories and write my own too, I enjoy socialising and spending
time with my friends and family. I also love sport and the many physical and
mental benefits this once gave me, and occasionally still does but just in a
limited way.
For about five years now I've had some physical and mental health struggles,
which by themselves wouldn’t be too major for me, but together make for a
unique battle to balance everyday life. I’m not looking for sympathy, but I
guess in a way I'm trying to promote understanding, but that too is blog topic in
itself. I've decided to write about these experiences from my viewpoint in the
hope that it might help someone experiencing similar things not feel so alone,
and actually understood instead, or even help those who don’t have such
struggles become more aware of the details of mental and physical health
difficulties.
So what qualifies someone to
discuss these things? I guess academic education, experience, and understanding
are the three things that stand out to me. All are crucial but there's a
unique strength and hope that comes when you know someone else understands,
really cares, and knowledge that you are not alone.
I want to say I do really
care. It’s so tough, and a mental struggle in itself, to see and know that so many people are struggling with many pains and difficulties, and many way way
worse than mine, but if there is a chance this blog shows there’s someone who
cares and understands, and has had similar experiences, then I want to write it.
With that
said, obviously a good combination of practical professional and medical help,
combined with someone who understands is what can truly benefit someone with mental
and physical health struggles. It’s important to note here that though I have used the
terms mental and physical health, they are actually linked very complexly. But
for simplicity, when I talk of, ‘physical,’ it is predominately things related
to the body, and, ‘mental,’ predominately related to the mind/thoughts, emotions and
behaviour.
I will
always try to be specific in my discussions but a lot of the time
generalisations will be made too, as these have their place to simplify topics,
but I will try my best to limit them, but still keep the discussion to the
point and simple. I will also try to give my coping strategies etc but I cannot
give any quick fix answers to what will be discussed. The truth is I could give
answers to problems that were right for me, but actually would not be right for
others. That is the nature of these things and why it is so complex and
difficult to help people. What works for one person won’t work for another.
There is no absolute answer, just many answers that in the right combination I believe
will help and allow for a better life.
As I write I will
express my theories and practices, both what has worked, and what hasn’t, and
you can take what you want from what I say or ignore it too. I strongly believe
a great way of understanding, helping, and living with these things is to gain as
many perspectives as possible. And for those who actually have such struggles
to apply them and see if they work. Then, hopefully, over time enough things
that help will be collected and allow the happiness and life you want to take
shape. It requires a level of out of the box thinking, adaptability and
patience that is easier said than done, but if you try I fully believe that you
can find the level of happiness you want and deserve to have.
To conclude
this introduction I want to apologise in advance as there will no doubt repetition
at times of certain points of view, but I will try to keep that to a minimal.
Yet there is value in repetition as that is how we learn and remember things,
so I’m not going to be too strict on this. I also think repetition is okay as a
lot of these things interrelate and are interchangeable. They don’t just apply
to one struggle or topic they are actually applicable to many aspects of life.
I hope you’ll join me as I write about mental and physical health and in the next post I'll discuss
specifically what struggles I face to further build the foundation for discussion.
P.S. At the end of each blog post I’m going to link
something I think is educational that discusses the chosen topic, and also
something I find fun which is completely unrelated to all this as all this
seriousness needs to be balanced out in my opinion.
Educational Link:
This is tiny introduction to psychological
struggles that I found informative. It comes from, ‘Crash Course,’ on
Youtube. There are obviously loads of ways to learn about all this but I’ve
just chosen to share this one as it’s very simple but educational too (I’m
going to use Crash Course a lot).
Fun Link:
Let’s have SpongeBob explain fun.
It always puts a smile on my face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fkm9kvblME
P.P.S. Each blog post/update below this one will be the latest. If you want to go back and start from the beginning just click the earliest dates on the tab to the right :)
P.P.S. Each blog post/update below this one will be the latest. If you want to go back and start from the beginning just click the earliest dates on the tab to the right :)
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