Welcome

Lauren Perry
Oct 8, 2019
2 min read

Updated: Dec 9, 2025

|October 19th 2019

So! (Ready..)

I’ve been in a few support groups and stuff before and frankly I find them pretty depressing – personally, the majority of the time I like to try and stay positive whilst being chronically ill as my mood can definitely be affected by others- but also realistic. My lifes not all sunshine and rainbows and that's okay.

So I thought I'd tell you a little about myself and why I decided to write a blog.

I’m in my second year studying English Language and Linguistics at Uni of Brighton. I am also a part- time beauty therapist (recently I have been working hard to complete courses to be able to fund being a disabled student woo hoo). My conditions do cause brain fog and fatigue - throw in doctors messing with medication alot and some days I speak a whole load of waffle so do forgive me if some things I write simply do not make sense...

At 14 I was diagnosed with Panic Disorder and Agorophobia with OCD which led to a pretty rough Depression; I didn’t really go out of the house much for two years – unless I seriously had no choice. Many people struggled to understand- I'm not sure I quite understood myseld- but through the support of my family, medication & multiple medical professionals, after a long haul battle I’d like to say I’m 90% over the panic stage of my life (touch wood).

I now live with the joys of complex health conditions and rely on a whole host of support from mobility aids to carers to help me live my life. (Turns out I may have had a few physical health things going on for a long time we didn't know about!)

Lots of things have improved my quality of life dramatically and I am so grateful for this. But I am still feeling slightly isolated. I have plenty of friends who are amazing but our energy levels simply don’t match up. It’s hard for people to understand why I sleep 26 hours a day or why I slur my words when I’m tired or appear in slow motion – as a 19 - year old most my friends are out clubbing till 6am.

I’m sure if you’ve ever experienced an invisible chronic health condition you are used to the ‘oh really, you can’t do that?’ and the ‘you really don’t look disabled’ comments that come along with the disability.

So basically, cut a long story short, I’d love to start being proactive in a positive way, to meet people with similar conditions to my own & share our experiences. I’m hoping that with a little insight into my life, it could help improve others’ and my own mental and physical health!

It’s okay to feel shitty sometimes: I spent yesterday crying – as going back to uni with Tourettes, is my idea of hell. For me, my own negativity tends to bring me down so…

As I’m writing this, I am trying my best to surround myself with goodness & maintain my positivity. Feel free to follow my journey of tics and tips 🙂