Speak up!

She had everything going for her; a successful career, husband, young daughter and lots of friends, but she found the burden of her daily life just became too much.

'I literally cracked. One day I was cooking a meal for a group of close family and friends. The next I had to remind myself how to walk by saying 'left, right' in my head. It was like running into a wall at high speed. I did not see it coming. I was carrying a huge burden of responsibility - in my work, with family, keeping in touch with friends - and it simply became unbearable.'

Jenny realised that you don't have to be alone or lonely to suffer from emotional health issues. Emotional isolation can occur in the most sociable of people.

'Regardless of how many friends you have, there are still many things that you cannot talk about freely with them. You fear they may see you differently, that what you are worrying about appears 'out of character' to them or that they will not understand,' says Hyatt.

'Put this all together and we have a meteoric growth in people turning to medicine to seek help when what they really need is emotional support.'

Psychologist Dr James Pennebaker has worked with bigwhitewall.com. He agrees that keeping things bottled up can be bad for your health. 'By not talking about upsetting experiences, people don't tie things together. They'll think about this part of it, or that part of it, or another part of it, but it's hard for them to see how the trauma may be affecting them in a broader sense.

'And by keeping big secrets or withholding trauma, they are not connecting with their friends because they are withholding a significant part of who they are from them.'

Jenny soon recognised that she was not struggling alone. Many people share the need to unburden themselves of 'negative' or worrying thoughts and emotions away from their social circle. Before boarding a flight to the states, she received a text from a friend that highlighted this, saying 'Drank too much. Wish there was a place for anonymous confession'. She wrote back, 'Me too, when I get back I am going to create one'.

On her return from the US, Jenny started to focus on the need for anonymous spaces in which people can talk freely, drawing on her own experiences of writing and creative expression as a way of dealing with emotional troubles, deeper concerns and hidden secrets.

'I became involved in a community event on an estate near where I live in North London which gave kids and adults from the estate the opportunity to express themselves on a row of condemned houses, which had been whitewashed to provide a big white wall for people to paint, write and draw on,' explains Hyatt.

'It unleashed a torrent of feelings from the community, turning the big white wall into a vibrant holder of written troubles and secrets. It gave me an idea.'

bigwhitewall.com was born.

Find a release

The key seems to be finding some way to manifest your feelings, whether it's through writing, drawing, or talking. The format doesn't matter, just find one that works for you.

Whatever you do, if you've got something that is troubling you, don't stop talking, expressing and communicating. Find an outlet and get it off your chest!

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