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The promise of hope
by katharinewelbyI have struggled over the past few days to articulate what I am thinking and feeling. It’s complex and confusing and quite frankly, overwhelming….
Surviving the Apocalypse
by katharinewelbyOne definition of ‘apocalypse’ is ‘an event involving destruction or damage on a catastrophic scale’. Covid-19 feels like if fits the bill to me….
Community, Health anxiety and Coronavirus
by katharinewelbyI am finding the current state of the world to be highly alarming. I have pretty bad health anxiety at the best of times…
Hope unfulfilled
by katharinewelbyI have always had hope. Despite the depression and anxiety that binds me, I am quite optimistic in my big picture thinking. Yet, hope…
Cold Cups of Tea and Hiding in the Loo.
by katharinewelbySo, with the launch of Annie’s new book I have been pondering the realities of parenting. I have to say, since meeting Annie I…
Life and Death
by katharinewelbyMy grandfather died two weeks ago. It came as a big shock to me. He was one of those solid sort of characters that…
New year… Same me
by katharinewelbySo, I have been wanting to properly get back into blogging for a while, but as mentioned in my last post, I feel somewhat…
Imposter
by katharinewelbyRecently, I have started putting myself into situations that make me feel deeply uncomfortable. Nothing exciting is happening, merely taking on a bit of…
What would I say to you?
by katharinewelbyWhy is it so much easier to give help than receive it? As mentioned in my last post my mental health has sort of…
Mum guilt and mental health
by katharinewelbyThere is so much pressure when it comes to parenting. You should do it one way and shouldn’t do it the other, but everyone…
Examining the Panic
by katharinewelbyToday, we went to an aquarium and I found myself in a state of such physical panic as to be utterly unsettling. I was…
Motherhood and Mental Health
by katharinewelbyIn my drafts I have two blogs titled Maternal Mental Health week. One from 2018 and one from 2019. They remained drafts because honestly,…
Crashing
by katharinewelbyI live every day with the reality of depression and anxiety crushing down on me. Most of the time, this is just an irritating…
Triggers
by katharinewelbyMy anxiety is generally pretty well managed, because I know my triggers. It’s how I get through life appearing to be pretty much fine….
I believe in fairies
by katharinewelbyWhen praying for healing I often find myself in a Peter Pan sort of mentality. I am terrified that my lack of faith, or…
Just don’t think about it
by katharinewelbySo, I have realised recently that my mental health over the past year seems to noticeably deteriorate after someone has asked me how I…
The System
by katharinewelbySo, I am going to jump back onto that old thing – the system for treating mental health. We all know (I hope!) that…
One year on…
by katharinewelbyTime flies when you haven’t got a clue what you are doing. One year and 11 hours ago I was in a pool, in…
Broken Referral
by katharinewelbyIt has been a busy year. Elijah will be one year old in a couple of weeks and since he was born we have…
High Functioning
by katharinewelbyMany people we encounter day to day do not fulfil the imagined role that people with mental health problems are thought to have. They…
Cry for Help
by katharinewelbyI have had depression and anxiety for a long time. My whole adult life I have been living with these illnesses with increasing ease….
All change
by katharinewelbyI haven’t blogged in while. It’s been a bit of a busy time, what with having a baby and trying to finish my book…
The Church
by katharinewelbyThere is a bit of a rant that has been building in my head for a while. Something that irritates me, but that I…
Dear God
by katharinewelbyI am confused. I don’t really know what you are doing or where you are. You feel present, like a nice blanket but right…
Finding Faith
by katharinewelbyThere are times when faith is an overwhelming prospect. How, when life is just feeling like a consistent and growing challenge, do you keep…
The perks of being used to discomfort
by katharinewelbyI haven’t written in a while. I am working on two big new projects, which will both be near completion over the coming months,…
The value of talking
by katharinewelbyThere is a lie that society tells us. There is increasing awareness of this lie, and growing numbers of people speaking out to put…
The myth of the ‘Fresh Start’
by katharinewelbyEvery year at this time I start looking to the next year; I’m not a fan of new years resolutions, because I can’t keep…
Why it hurts – #kenlivingstone
by katharinewelbyKen Livingstone has come out with some extraordinary comments today about depression. He was appointed to the Labour defence review, which caused much comment…
The Ghost Life
by katharinewelbyEvery now and then I re read all the Harry Potter books. I am just starting them again now and whilst reading the first…
WMHD – an encouraging day!
by katharinewelbyToday has been a really encouraging day for me. I have spent the day in Hammersmith taking part in the Big Mental Health day….
Change induced brain malfunction
by katharinewelbyI saw my psychiatrist on Monday and was happily chatting to him about how well I was doing. Exhausted, yes – but seeing someone…
Rush hour panic
by katharinewelbyMost of the time I have my anxiety relatively well under control, but every now and then it slips out and I find that…
Feelings
by katharinewelbyMost of the time I doubt that what I feel is real. There is that thing, always in the back of my mind informing…
Where is God?
by katharinewelbyI process the thoughts in my head through writing, it is how I work out where I am at and when I write it…
In sickness and in health
by katharinewelbyI am feeling pretty desperate at the moment. Between Mike and me, there is such a range of physical and mental ailments that at…
A rapid descent
by katharinewelbyMy usual posts talk about the struggle I face with my mental health. Generally, I post when I am struggling to verbalise what I…
My mental health – MHAW15
by katharinewelbyMental health is a huge label to put onto the illness I have. It is sort of like going up to someone and saying…
I’m sick
by katharinewelbyYesterday morning I collapsed. Not mentally – I actually physically passed out. I even bit my lip in my unconscious state. It hurts. Since,…
Fear
by katharinewelbyI have discovered in recent weeks that I am afraid. Very afraid. Life is such a huge adventure and I have hit a point…
Despair
by katharinewelbyI love that the church calendar gives us time to reflect on the black despair of the death of Jesus before we move onto…
Christmas Pondering…
by katharinewelbyChristmas is one of my favourite points in the year (the other being my birthday, and this year we can throw in the wedding,…
All Things are Possible
by katharinewelbyToday I spoke at Premiers Woman to Woman conference, on the theme of ‘with God all things are possible. This is a tricky subject…
My God
by katharinewelbyI feel like I am at the bottom of a cliff. I’m in the water and the waves are crashing over me one after…
A question of success
by katharinewelbySecond blog in two days? Yup. There HAS to be something wrong. Or I have too many drafts sitting around and am finishing them…
A paleo beginning
by katharinewelbyI have not been very present on here recently. I have about 6 started blogs, some of which may see the light of…
Pressure, Expectation, Nehemiah
by katharinewelbyIt has been a while since I last wrote. This was not for a lack of things to say, rather because working out how…
Finding time for God
by katharinewelbyI am too busy for my faith. It’s a controversial thing to say really, as I profess to be a committed and faithful Christian…
Just being honest…..
by katharinewelbyHonesty and honour are a couple of words that I am a big fan of. I love honesty – I think the more honestly…
Jumping into holes
by katharinewelbyI am ill. Sitting in my bed, and feeling thoroughly sorry for myself. These moods take over on a regular basis but are made…
Easy as ABCD?
by katharinewelbyYesterday I spoke at the Christian New Media conference, looking at the after effects of writing hopeful depression, the church and mental health and…
Let my people go
by katharinewelbyI have been following the various different organisations that tackle modern slavery around the world for a couple of years. However, I have been…
Purity
by katharinewelbyMy thoughts have been very serious of late, and so, I shall return from a blogging absence with no hoo ha or excitement and…
Why believe?
by katharinewelbyI have been thinking recently about why I am a Christian. When I think about the fact that I believe in ‘God’, some deity…
What a week!
by katharinewelbyI don’t know how many people reading this have experienced that feeling of wishing you were dead. Not because you were suicidal but because…
Disconnect
by katharinewelbyI am ill. Again. This time I feel excessively sick, and tired. Not sick and tired, as in angry or fed up, more vomitous…
The Burden of Fear
by katharinewelbyOver the past few weeks the issue of fear in my life has come up again and again and again. My mentor bought it…
Prayer
by katharinewelbyI have been thinking recently about the Psalms. How do we relate to God? How do we pray? For years, I asked this question….
Come sing that The Lord is good!
by katharinewelbySo, I have a bad back. Bought on by tension due to stress and a bad bed (new mattress tomorrow) so I decided that…
Contradictions of the mind
by katharinewelbyThere are going to be a few rhetorical questions within this post, please do not fear for my mental state nor feel the need…
Complicating Character
by katharinewelbyI like titles that contain alliteration. It makes me happy! That aside, I have been thinking over the past month or so since I…
Ta!
by katharinewelbyJust a quick little post, to say thank you to all of those who have sent me messages of support. I am sorry not…
Dominant differences
by katharinewelbyIDEALIST ALERT: below is content of an exceptionally idealistic nature. If such things upset you, I suggest looking away now. GRAMMAR ALERT: Appalling grammar will…
Hopeful depression
by katharinewelbySo I realised this morning, my mind has been astonishingly blank the last week or so. Not that I have thought nothing – just…
Restorative Justice
by katharinewelbyThis is a blog I have written for the @liveitlocally blog – The Community Mission Blog on the value of restorative justice. For more…
How do you start writing a blog?
by katharinewelbyI didn’t really know how to start this blog. What is a suitable ‘hello’ post? It is clear, from the fact that this site…