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Saira's Story: Exercising to Manage Depression and Physical Pain

"I am an unemployed single mum of one. I have suffered with back and shoulder problems for nearly 10 years, from a couple of years before becoming pregnant with my daughter." "A year after giving birth, my physical health deteriorated dramatically when I developed a chronic pain in my left foot, for which I was given an unsuccessful steroid injection. This was the beginning of around three years of chronic pain in my left foot, ankle and knee where my whole left leg felt like a dead limb but immensely painful, making having a good night's sleep impossible. In pain and desperation I started...

Michele's Story: Running to Manage Stress

"I started to run to escape from the pressures of life." "My son, who is now 23-years-old, has suffered from mental health issues since the age of 15 and there was very little support for him and the rest of the family. I also work as a nurse with patients with addiction problems who often also have mental health problems and too often society sees people with these issues as a burden. I wanted to help raise awareness so in 2012 I ran the London Marathon for the Mental Health Foundation and, along with my friend, raised nearly Â£3,000! I have encouraged my son to run and sometimes when he is...

Janet's story: Reclaiming madness - a search for one's true self, following sexual abuse

Giving background information about myself or writing a few lines about who I am is where I start feeling resistance. Resistance to an attempt at producing the understandable story. Trigger warning: Janet's story describes her experiences of sexual abuse and rape. I've tried that too many times in my life - to explain things to others and to explain things to myself. Madness meant asserting the right to be tired of that, madness was daring not to be explainable and understandable, and I try to keep the memory of being that right and that daring. Every time I tried to satisfy someone else's or...

Julia's Story: Running to Manage your Mood

"If someone had said to me that I would be running a marathon in 2013 I would have laughed politely and told them they were mixing me up with a fitness junkie with too much time on their hands - however, this is exactly the position I now find myself in." "I originally started running (and I use the term in its loosest sense) three years ago when I was told by my doctor that my blood pressure was too high and that I was too fat! I work in a primary school, so under cover of darkness, I would attempt to run around the playground hoping no one would see the sorry sight or hear my rasping breath...

James' Story: Living with Manic Depression

"One of the strangest aspects of a manic depressive illness is that when you're feeling at your best, most productive, most generous, most alive and most active is exactly the same time as your GP and consultant say that you need extra medication and a stay in hospital until you feel better!" "I once read that 'inspired' is when you think you can do anything - 'manic' is when you know you can. There is, of course, the flip-side of the coin - times when depression takes hold and these are times you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. I guess I've been fortunate. The times of mania and...

Jamie's story: Running for better mental health

Jamie has found running to be invaluable in the fight against anxiety.

Bea's Story: The Benefits of Exercise Therapy

Bea is 43 and hadÂ been suffering from anxiety and depression for several years before being referred to the Active Lifestyles Exercise Referral Scheme. She credits the programme as the catalyst for her recovery. "At my low point, around October 2002, I was very ill and debilitated. I'm a graduate and I've worked in business and management, but I was homeless and had been socially housed in a completely different area. For about a year, I might have had interaction once a week â my mammoth task was to go out and make sure I had enough benefits or electricity, or to see a doctor. Â In the...

Albert's story: Talking about friendships, relationships and mental illness

Albert is 55 years old. He has experienced severe depression and also has schizoaffective Disorder and a social phobia which he now manages through a combination of medical treatment and family support. There's a history of mental illness in my family although it wasn't known until after my mother's suicide in 1986. I have had two major bouts of depression , which began during a non-physical relationship with a woman at work. The relationship became too complicated and resulted in me walking out of work and having two months off with depression. Eight months after I returned to work, I...