A year ago today I came out of hospital and embarked on the scariest and hardest year of my life.

I went into hospital thinking I was having a stroke, completely disorientated and confused. I was diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorder. Something that completely floored me.

From there my mind and body went into shut down and I became bed and housebound for 5 months, fearful to leave the house, scared to look in the mirror. Almost unable to talk. I was a nervous wreck and thought my life was over. It was so scary and isolating.

I was never suicidal but I definitely had thoughts I couldn’t carry on. That this was a life sentence. Those thoughts scared me enough to try and figure out a way to heal and cure myself. It’s not been easy and I’ve felt like giving up numerous times. I retreated from life unable to do the things I had loved.

But here I am year later fully on the mend and living life again. No longer afraid of my own shadow.

I still have the odd anxiety attack here and there and those feelings of dread pop up now and again but I’m so much more resilient and appreciative of life.

I’ve come to learn how powerful the mind and body actually are and how interconnected they are. How our underlying thoughts, that we aren’t even conscious of effect our very being.

If you can learn to control your subconscious thoughts and reprogramme them, you can literally do anything.

If you suffer from anxiety and need to talk to someone about how to overcome it I’m here to talk. I know how scary it can be but I’ve also learned how to overcome it without the help of meds. The journey isn’t straight forward and your body takes time to heal but this isn’t a life sentence and I’m here to tell you, you can heal. You no longer need to just manage your anxiety, you can live and get back to being who you are at your core.