3 December 2025
A blog by Jess Button
I wanted to write this blog to show that it is possible to live through mental illness and come out the other side. For a long time, I couldn’t imagine a life beyond fear or confusion, but recovery is possible. Now that I’m further along in my journey, I feel ready to offer hope to others who may be standing where I once stood.
For a long time, fear shaped almost everything I did. My mind felt unpredictable, my balance was off—emotionally and mentally—and I often felt overwhelmed by experiences that didn’t make sense to the world around me
Life was a dark cloud of fear that made no sense. I was so governed by fear I could not go forwards, trapped In a circle of despair.
At my lowest, life felt like a dark cloud of inevitability. I couldn’t cope with being myself. I was stuck in a cycle of dread, convinced there was no way out. It was exhausting, isolating and frightening.
But recovery doesn’t happen all at once. It comes in small moments—tiny shifts where you suddenly realise you can see just a little further than before. Gradually, I learned that even when it feels like everything is falling apart, healing can still happen. I began to see that strength sometimes arrives quietly, like a hand on your shoulder you didn’t know was there.
My guards are still up sometimes, but I am also conquering fears I once believed were permanent. Recovery feels a little like a gentle kind of exhilaration—like rediscovering the world with new eyes. I can begin to live again, and this time I won’t take the simple things for granted. I am learning what freedom means for me.
Now, I’m able to do things I couldn’t before.
I can plan my days, look toward the future, and make decisions without being entirely driven by fear. I can reach out for support when I need it, and I can enjoy moments that once felt out of reach. Most importantly, I can picture a life beyond survival.
One of the biggest tools in my recovery has been writing—especially poetry. For me, it has been a kind of personal therapy. Through words, I found a safe place to express emotions I didn’t yet know how to speak aloud. Writing helped me make sense of experiences that once felt impossible to untangle.
Poetry gave me confidence. It helped me face fears I thought would control me forever. And every time I put pen to paper, I rediscovered a small part of myself.
I hope that by sharing my story, someone else might feel a little less alone.
