MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK

I thought  I would  write a post about Mental  Health  seeing as a lot of people suffer from various illnesses.

Mental health holds so much stigma- seen as bad, not coping, being over-sensitive and  a lot of people because  of this hide how they feel and suffer through it not wanting to be a burden to other people and this is not the way.

I don't know how the stigma came about but it should not be there we should see it in a positive aspect  so more people feel comfortable getting help. Although  actually  getting the courage to ask for help and do something  about the way you feel is hard if the world had a more positive  view if Mental  Health people  might want to reach out more.

There is such wide variety  of different  mental health  problems, such as:

- depression
- anxiety / panic attacks
- post natal depression
- anger
- eating problems
- bipolar
- Obsessive Compulsive  Disorder (OCD)

This is to name but a few and people  who suffer from any of these can range from extreme to mild but both can be serious if not dealt with.

I know people  who have had to deal with certrain mental health issues and what they have been through and I admire them so much to being so open  and honest as it can be so hard.

For the last couple of years I have dealt with mild anxiety which I think was started by a bad experience work but after seeking help  I think I always had  it but it didn't  overpower my life. Seeking help was hard, I went to the doctors  with my mum who referred me to a counselling  service where I had a telephone  session for an one hour discussing how I felt in different situations.  I had 6 sessions with a counsellor in cognitive therapy- where they help you learn about what you suffer from and how you can help yourself. I found it really  useful and learnt so much and about triggers myself and how to help myself calm down.

If you feel like something  is not right or you feel sad, please  try to find someone to talk to whether that is a close person, family member or doctors. People are out there to help you and they want to.

Moral  of this post is:  MENTAL HEALTH SHOULD NOT BE SEEN AS A NEGATIVE  THING. WE NEED TO TURN IT INTO A POSITIVE  AND HELP PEOPLE IN NEED!

CYPRUS- Part 1

Summer of 2016 I went to my second home Cyprus with my boyfriend Alex! I love Cyprus and used to go year after year when I was younger but stopped when I was around 15.  This was my first time back since then at age 23 and Alex's first time at all! I was so excited to show him all the beautiful things I remembered and introduce him to my world.

We booked with LowCost holidays which meant we could pay in two stages but it all became a mess when they went into administration in July before our holiday.  When I rang to confirm that our hotel booking was still there they sent me an email to reassure me that the booking was still there and everything was okay.  

The day of the start of our holiday went okay we did miss the bus but managed to get to Heathrow on time and awaited our flight!  The flight was okay and went quick, when arriving in Cyprus it was soo hot and humid! Our taxi guy was hilarious and made us laugh so much we actually used him again once! It all turned upside down when at the hotel I had printed out the emails the hotel had sent us to make sure it all went okay but when they looked up our booking it turned out to be cancelled- a week after I called- I was devastated, the worst news I could have heard, where were we going to stay? Thank goodness Alex was with it I couldn't even talk properly except from having a go at them at the beginning saying how it was unacceptable.  In the end they were able to place us for 4 days at a half board rate which we had to pay for again and then the other 3 days we stayed in a self contained apartment which was okay but not all that.

We decided to try and put the disaster behind us and concentrate on our holiday. We went to our room which was gorgeous and did still have a sea view as well as a view on the terrace below which came in handy a few days later in the evening when there was a magician person around.  After settling in for a little bit we headed straight for the pool not caring it had been a long day!  We had a good time around the pool, basking in the scorching sun! In the evening we just ate in the restaurant a la carte! We went for a small walk along the beach which was calming and peaceful exactly what we needed on the first night after what happened.

The next day we got up early to make sure we enjoyed our day.  I definitely overate big time at breakfast because there was such a variety of foods to eat that was available I helped myself to nearly all of them!!   When I could finally swim, it was amazing , the cool water around me, the sun shining down and best of all, Alex was right beside me!  The pool had a bar which was so handy because we were able to order drinks in the pool if we wanted to!   That evening my sister and Aunty came down from where they were staying and we went to the finikoudes which is a street of restaurants that lies by the palm trees.  We went to a restaurant that I had been to before with my family last time we went called Hobos and it looked just how I remembered it! We had a great evening with my sister and Aunty ending with crepes and cocktails.   We were able to have Tuesday as just our day and not have to rush around to do anything so we made sure to relax around the pool for as long as we could!  For the evening we went to another one of my childhood favourites Gregory's and this brought so many memories from when I ate here with my family and I was so happy to bring Alex to see what it was like.  It hadn't changed a bit, it was exactly how I remembered it and the food was excellent, I wish I could go there every week.  We got the bus into the finikoudes which took ages because we either had just missed one or it was late and we had a few cocktails in town.

On the Wednesday, we just chilled by the  pool, swimming, drinking and relaxing! It was our last day at the hotel and we wanted to make the most of it. We went down to the lovely sunny beach for a walk and we also sneaked into the hotel next door to use the pool.  We didn't leave the pool till late and then in the evening we stayed in and had the mezze that was on offer from the hotel which was included in half board.