Dear Self I know what a hard time it’s been lately. I can hear your thoughts when it gets tough. I know how hard you try and how little progress you think you are making. It is okay. You are okay. The little outbursts of happiness are okay, being sad for a while is okay. Feeling very tired and needing to rest is okay. You are okay. Live every healthy moment to the fullest. Let kind people into your soul, dance in the rain, love fully and unapologetically, read all the books you often feel too sick to read, don't be scared to be in pain it will only make your heart kind, write all the time even...

When I was a kid I had many friends. Boys and girls. We lived in the same neighbourhood. There was nothing I loved more than playing outside with them. But unless there were other girls with us too, I could not go outside with only the boys. Back then I did not understand how wrong that was. People would say that it was some rule that protected my "reputation", whatever that meant. I really hoped someday something would change. To this day, I think the mistreat of women has not gone away, it has only changed shape. We sometimes fail to comprehend the incredible creation that is women. We are...

People rarely understand the importance that words have. I was only 14 years old the first time I experienced cyber bullying. After being bullied at school for a few years the girls in my class started this rumour that I had talked about them behind their backs, of course what they needed was a reason not to look guilty in front of others. And so they confronted me. And I tried explaining myself but they were clearly not looking for an explanation. When I got home they had opened Facebook group chats where they would continue talking mean things about me even though I would beg them to stop...

Changes can sometimes be tricky. When you have an anxiety disorder they can be triggering . For me panic attacks mostly occur in cases when I feel "trapped " for example in traffic, in queues, or when in very crowded places. I was having a really hard time even before the pandemic spread. I had just dropped out of University because I was too sick to continue doing something I didn't really feel I truly wanted and I was struggling with finding myself without being labeled as a "student". The unnecessary stares and unwanted opinions of others on my decisions were hurtful and didn't really help...

Life is very overwhelming for everyone. To carry a big weight on your back is very hard, but to not have a safe place is even harder.I'm an only child, and both of my parents expect a lot from me-because they think I can do it. Being the introvert I am, I don't like it when there are people around me when I feel tired.So my safe place-as weird as it sounds-is a pile of papers with thousands of letters printed in them, and a colorful cover on top of all of it.It might sound crazy but I really like hiding away in a book. Looking over the life of a goddess, or a warrior queen, or a princess-and...

I grew up in Prishtina, the capital of Kosovo, but my birthplace is Prizren, a very well known city of Kosovo-known for the history every inch of the land has. I have a big family, both on my mom's and on my dad's side. Both of my parents encourage me to do what I love and feel happy about myself, and my dad tells me I am not a piece of property to anyone. Because my dad works as a freelancer in IT, my mom usually has to run all the errands of the house while also working as a Registered Nurse. My 80-year-old grandma lives with my aunt, who works as a physicist.I have two uncles and one aunt...

My battle with anxiety started during summer 2018. From when I was diagnosed I knew I was about to embark on a tough and challenging journey. Not just me, but everyone who was close to me as well. It was really hard to come to terms with the fact that it would take time to be okay again and even harder to accept that it could hit me again at any time. My dad had battled with anxiety a few years earlier, so he knew what was going on and he was the greatest help. It didn't take long for my siblings, parents and close friends to get used to my disorder. They knew what to do when I wasn't feeling...

I have struggled with my mental health for the past few years. It's not easy. The stigma is undeniably present, and therapy can be too expensive for most people and so getting help is often not an option. In my journey I've been lucky enough to have a supporting system. A loving family and supportive friends. But I'd lie if I said I didn't experience judgement from others. People don't like to believe what they can't see and fail to realise that you can be physically fine and still be in unbearable pain. From my own experience I think the key factor is to educate yourself regardless if you...

The word "recovery" often sounds like something hard to do but very beautiful. But again it depends on one's perception of beauty. Recovery is messy. It is never linear. Especially if what you're recovering from isn't physical . It is feeling your best one day, being convinced it is all over, all in the past to waking up feeling down the next day. Its two steps forward and one back. But its moving. Not stoping. Like many others, I grew up believing solely on the physical part of pain. Never associated it with what would later become a life lesson to me. Anxiety not only scares you but it also...

Having a magical childhood you can always go back to with such nostalgia for all of the happy memories I think has an impact on the adults we become. I don't know how one would deal with having being denied such an experience that is one of our basic and most important rights. This year I wish with my entire heart that no child's childhood gets stolen. I wish all conflicts, world issues that are affecting children come to an end. This Children's Day I am more aware than ever of the real struggles children face. Of how they go through such challanges too big and difficult for their age. I will...

As a teenager I had little information on Mental Health. I would read articles of people telling their stories, I would believe they were in pain, however I just could not imagine it being that bad. They were just feelings. They'd come and go! Nothing to be taken seriously , I'd think to myself. I didn't have the slightest idea of how wrong I was. But during the entire 12 years of school I had maybe 2 to 3 times ever learned about anything mental health related, adding to that where I live mental health is never discussed, never acknowledged, most importantly you are rarely believed...

As a kid I was bullied. For a good few years. Sometimes it was because of my haircuts, sometimes about my glasses, but most of the time only because they were bored. For years I would find flaws in me and excuse people for their bullying...thinking somehow I deserved it. But as I changed, their behaviour didn't and I stopped blaming myself. I actually started to realise it wasn't about me. It was about them. But that period of time left a few marks that I try very hard to erase. It left a shattered self-confidence. It hurt even worse when female students were part of the bullying. Something I...