I don't know if anyone has been watching the series of shows that have been on channel 4 this week, dealing with mental illness. Well I have and its a issue that is very close to my heart. For the most of my life I have been suffering from depression, something that was only really diagnosed in me last year. A lot of my behaviour especially when I was younger was always put down to shyness, it was only last year when I hit a very low point in my life that anyone thought it could be something more than I was just feeling a little low. I wont go into to much detail because its still a personal thing to me.

Even though it's a ongoing condition and I can honestly say I'm not the same person any more, I went to the doctors and got help and learnt how to recognise the signs that things may be spiralling downwards and you know one of the best things you can do, is just talk about it, talk about whatever is on your mind, don't bottle things up and don't think you aren't important or that you don't matter (that's always how I saw myself).

But the thing I really wanted to discuss was the overuse of the word 'depressed', I find it extremely annoying the amount of people who say how depressed they are because its cold out or they can't find something to wear. Grow up! That's not real depression, you can't even begin to comprehend how that feels without actually going through it yourself.

So if anyone actually reads this and maybe just wants someone to talk to, I'm here. I've got so many amazing people in my life who've been there for me over the past year and I wouldn't be where I am today without them so if I can do for anyone else what they've done for me then that's all I want.

ashleya_6@hotmail.com