What a vote means to me (Repost)


I recently found out that one of my blog posts has been nominated into the category for the best blog post in the Blog Awards Ireland this year. This is a huge honour especially because the post which has been nominated is one which focuses on self-harm and the devastating effects it can have on a persons life, have a read of it here. In order to get your blog post into the top ten for the final you must secure the most votes you can possibly secure. I'm currently at 160 votes as a a result of bombarding people on social media sites to vote for me but its not that I just want to get into the final, its much more than that for me, its much more important that just a few clicks here and there, it is this post which has the power to create a better understand of self-harm, encourage theses who engage in self-harm to speak out and it also focuses on a topic which is still very much a taboo in Irish society. Getting people to vote for my blog allows them to read the post, encouraging them to share the post and most importantly it provides people with an opportunity to being conversations about mental health!

So what does a vote mean to me?

A vote means more people are becoming aware of my blog. This in itself is a huge thing as my blog has many post about mental health giving people an insight in the life of a young person struggling with mental health issues. This is important because it allows people to gain a greater insight into the world of mental health issues, it encourages people to begin to talk about mental health challenging the stigma in today's society and it shows people that mental health issues can happen to anyone, anywhere and at any time!

A vote means that more and more people get an insight into the effects of self-harm allowing both the self-harmer and those around them to become more comfortable in many ways with the issue so that they can work together in addressing the self-harm and then begin to challenge the self-harm on a collective levee because after all self-harm is something which is extremely hard to beat on your own and with this post creating awareness about the issue more people can come together to beat self-harm.

A vote means that something which I wish I had when I was struggling is available for those who are currently struggling. I can't describe how important a vote is to me because the post which has been nominated is one of my better pots in terms of how it is written but it is also a post which took a lot of time and planning and was extremely hard for me to write. That post and the response to it is why I continue to write about mental health, it is why I am still self-harm free and it is why I have a more positive outlook on life. Blogging is more than just writing words down on a page for me, it is an outlet, a way of expression and it is what helped me get through the darkest day.

So if you want to give me your vote this week I am more than grateful and you can vote by simply following the below ling and selecting the blog which you would like to vote for.

http://www.blogawardsireland.com/best-blog-post-2014/

Popular posts from this blog

A prisoner of my own mind

A while ago I wrote about a bump in the road that saw me take a step backwards…. That bump is still very much on the road and I am simply coasting along hoping the end is in sight somewhere. But when the end comes I have to ask, how long will it last for? How long will the good times last before we hit another bump? I don’t want this anymore, I no longer want the label I have attached to me, I don’t want borderline personality disorder. When I was first diagnosed I resisted my diagnoses, last year when I got unwell again and found myself re-entering the mental health services and engaging with the community mental health team I had to use every ounce of energy to truly accept my diagnosis and in many ways empower the label and allow it to help me understand myself. That label, which had a positive purpose no longer holds the same status, now it is simply something I do not want, something which has taken over my mind and body, it is something that I need gone, I need it to disappe...
Read more

An unexpected week

Last week I went back to work and to say I was scared would be an understatement! On Sunday night I prepared myself as much as I could for what I anticipated to be one of the worst weeks I would experience in work. I expected to be riddled with anxiety to the point where I wouldn’t be able to go to work- I was not. I expected to feel pure panic as I drove to work each day, bordering on a full-blown panic attack- I did not. I expected to cry, each day over something minor, something small, something that wouldn’t have mattered- I did not. I expected to obsess over everything; put more rituals in place to ensure everything was perfect-I did not. I expected to hide the fact that I had been in hospital for my mental health, I expected to allow the shame I was feeling to take control, I expected to shy away from my colleagues during the week, I expected to fight this battle on my own, but I did not. It was a hard week in many ways, it was the first week back, I was sc...
Read more

Day 14- Two weeks post-op

Image
It's hard to believe it has only been two weeks since my corrective double jaw surgery, it feels like it happened months ago! I was hoping that my two week update would be as positive as my first week update but I’m afraid its not. For about the past week I have been dealing with a lot of pain on my right side particularly at the site of surgery on my lower jaw. Having met with my surgeon last Friday he prescribed another course of antibiotics, as he was concerned there could be a slight infection due to the pain I have been experiencing, much to my dismay the pain in my right side is only worsening. It’s nothing I am very concerned about; I mean it’s only two weeks since the surgery so it is more than likely as a result of you now my jaw being broken! But nevertheless it is something, which I am monitoring and keeping a close eye on, should it continue to worsen over the next couple of days I phone call to the surgeon, might be in store. Swelling has improved a lot sinc...
Read more