STORYTIME
(This is not my dog, although I wish she was!)
My name is Danielle, I'm the designer and maker of the Discovery Journal.
I was diagnosed with severe anxiety disorder and OCD at the age of 16 and although I am in a place where I can say I have my condition under control I still have tough days.
I've come far but it took a lot of years and trial and error to get me here. Mental health is a marathon, not a sprint.
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I designed the Discovery Journal when I noticed someone I cared for dearly was struggling with their mental health. I saw myself in them. I wanted to help but not interfere and the Discovery Journal was how I did it.
JUST IN CASE YOU WANT TO SEE MY FACE.
At my worst, my anxiety was debilitating, although I'd experienced OCD since childhood with anxiety coming along in my teens I struggled to understand what caused it. I had tried CBT, Meditation, Yoga, and anger management before I found journaling. At such a young age I couldn't seem to commit seriously to the process of therapy. Perhaps I just wasn't ready. When my anxiety peaked in university I struggled to leave my bedroom, and participate in trips or social gatherings. I was lucky to surround myself with people whom I could trust to support me and who weren't strangers to mental illness themselves and I found ways to manage my anxiety with their support and guidance. I learned that it's not "one size fits all" and I could find a way to make every day easier, by personalising all the techniques I'd learned over the years to who I was and how I think.
I'm a very strategic person, I work well with lists and routines, and anxiety had taken this from me. It is unpredictable and unwelcome. I knew it could turn my day on its head in seconds. Anxiety was dictating my life. I started to think of anxiety apart from myself, something that affected me but wasn't who I am. I needed to regain a sense of self without anxiety so my journals are clear-cut and logical, monitor emotions, and identify triggers. Much like a Fitbit, it gave me the facts and allowed me to expand on them.
