There's Always Light at the End of the Tunnel

Back in April I took an overdose ... Did I want to die? I'm not sure. Did I want to hurt myself? Maybe. Did I want help? Absolutely. A few years ago I went through a really rough patch, self harming daily, contemplating taking my own life and indeed taking attempts to take my own life. Did I want help? Yes! What's the difference between then and now? While many years ago I did get help, albeit it took time for me to find the courage to open up and actually ask for that help. I felt ashamed, guilty, scared, and overall I was worried that I would be looked upon differently by society. And in many ways my worst fears became my reality when after my first suicide attempt some friends retreated, they didn't want to be friends with a crazy person! This year, this year I spoke up and got help. This year things took a turn for the worst back at the end of January. I was coming to terms with a slight change in my appearance due to double jaw surgery, I was feeling the p...

Today I was thinking about writing about the budget that came out yesterday but then I remembered something important about this month, something positive and something, which I really want to share with you guys. On the 14 th of this month marked a very important day for me. The 14 th of this month marked 2 whole months without self-harm. The day before I got my leaving cert I was feeling low, anxious, lost and confused and I didn’t know what to do and as a result of all of these mixed feelings I took them out of myself to get some form of relief. It wasn’t a bad incident of self-harm but nevertheless it was still an incident of self-harm, which shouldn’t have happened, but it did and I regretted it. To be honest I hadn’t really thought about this important date until today and I am extremely proud of myself. I guess I am more proud of this 2 month milestone because for the past four/five months I haven’t had support from the adult services as there is a whole range o...

Today as part of my college course myself and a group of my peers were required to visit two youth work projects in Dublin’s inner city. This visit was a real eye opener for me, as I have never really worker with young people who are from disadvantaged backgrounds or in a youth club setting.  On the bus home after todays visits I found myself asking many questions about what does youth work really mean to me and what does working with young people give me. Well first of working with young people to me is encouraging and motivating them to engage in things they enjoy. It means working with them rather than for them to help improve their lives in some shape, way or form. It means I have to respect them in order for them to respect me and finally working with young people means helping bring about social change in a positive way to help young people learn the necessary skills to improve their lives, reach their full potential and help those around them too. Youth work give...