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Julie Bjelland •

Why Misdiagnosis Keeps Sensitive Autistic Women Lonely — and How Self-Discovery Changes Everything — Julie Bjelland

Guest Blog by Lara Rodwell. Many sensitive autistic women spend years feeling unseen and misunderstood — carrying a quiet kind of loneliness that no diagnosis ever quite explained. This is about that loneliness — how misdiagnosis can deepen it, and how self-discovery can finally bring the belonging and relief we’ve been searching for.You know that question: If you could be any animal, what would you be? For as long as I can remember, my answer has always been a chameleon. I used to shrug it off, say...
The i Paper •

How I cured my phobia of phone calls in 30 days

One writer discovered the "callers high" after forcing herself to have a conversation on the phone every day for a month. For years, I’d felt uncomfortable making phone calls – a mix of social anxiety, fear of awkward silences, and a sense that no one really wanted to hear from me unless it was for a specific purpose. I’m not alone: a 2024 survey by Uswitch found that nearly a quarter of 18- to 34-year-olds never answer their phones, often opting to ignore the call, respond vi...
Metro •

I’m in a happy relationship - but I miss the thrill of dating

Curled up on the sofa after a big bowl of pasta, my hand reached for the remote to start another episode of First Dates on Channel 4. 
I was snuggled up with my partner, Ben*, one Friday night after we’d been together for around 3.5 years. 
Then suddenly, as I listened to the participants describe their mix of nerves and excitement before a date, I was reminded of how I used to spend my Friday nights – chaotic evenings filled with butterflies as I headed out on first dates. 
This is the moment I...
The London News •

The Great London Friendship Project – Building Connections that Last – The London News

29-year old lonely Londoner, David Gradon, set up a widespread project to help those in their 20s and 30s make meaningful friendships in the city 
In a survey conducted last year by Campaign to End Loneliness, 700,000 Londoners reported “often” or “always” feeling lonely. The report that followed noted five key characteristics that were closely associated with severely lonely people, two of which include being single or living alone; and going through significant life changes.
Additionally, youn...
West Sussex Mind •

West Sussex Mind | Supporting a sibling with an eating disorder: what…

When my twin sister, Katy, was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa at 13, I knew it would change the next chapter of her life. But I didn’t realise how much it would change mine too. Eating disorders don’t just affect the person struggling; they impact the whole family.
As a sibling, it’s normal to feel a mix of emotions: anger, confusion, sadness, even resentment. I often felt invisible, struggling to make sense of my role in the situation. Looking back, I wish I had understood that my feelings we...
The i Paper •

I'm Gen Z and this is why we're all so anxious and depressed

Today, roughly one in three Gen Z adults report experiencing mental health problems - higher than previous generations. But there are valid reasons we're all struggling  I’m 26 and recently started a full-time job as a content creator for a non-profit organisation. Getting this job means I’m no longer financially stressed, as I have been since graduating. I’ve also moved into a two-bedroom flat with my lovely boyfriend, and bursts of warm spring air hint that brighter days ar...
Together Co •

Why social connection is so important for the younger generation - Together Co

With 39% of young people in London post-pandemic not having the opportunity to meet new people or make friends, it’s become the “norm” for young people to spend their free time alone, in their bedroom – according to the latest “Generation Isolation” report.  
Nowadays, young people (Gen Z and younger millennials) have grown up as “digital natives” where the online world has been their second home for most of their lives. Though there are uplifting cases of technology being used as a creative and...
West Sussex Mind •

West Sussex Mind | Lara’s story: A journey through grief and mental…

On 5 September 2020 at 9.20am, my dad died of an aggressive form of bowel cancer in the care of St Barnabas Hospice in Worthing. Six months before that, at the start of the first COVID lockdown, he told my siblings and I that the doctors had given him a terminal prognosis.

One moment, in my head, my dad was fine. The next, I was faced with the reality of losing him. That was the year my life changed forever and my ongoing mental health struggles were put to the test.

My mental health journey...
Metro •

My friend told me her wedding date and all I felt was dread

When an old school friend, Charlotte*, asked me to be her bridesmaid just under two years ago, a cocktail of emotions bubbled up inside of me.
I was flattered, of course, and excited too. But I was also immediately filled with dread.
Autumn is Charlotte’s favourite season, so she’d settled on bonfire night, November 5, 2023 for her nuptials. But for me, that was a problem.
Because, every single year, around the beginning of October, my mood shifts like clockwork.
I start to feel trapped by the s...
The i Paper •

I spoke to a stranger every day - it helped my anxiety and boosted my confidence

Lara Rodwell has always had social anxiety, until she set herself a challenge to interact with a new person every day. Over the next two weeks, her mental health and self-esteem has improved It was the first Monday morning in December, and I rushed for a seat on a busy train. I was just about to put my headphones on, ready to tune out the noise, when I noticed a girl around my age (26) sitting opposite me, reading one of my favourite books, The Alchemist. I noticed a tattoo p...
Business Insider •

I asked my dad to write my wedding speech after he was given 6 months to live. I'm holding on to it for my special day.

I remember the moment my dad told me he had six months to live like it was yesterday. I was sprawled out on the cushiony sofa bed he'd furnished in the corner of his log cabin at the bottom of the garden. On a warm, quiet Sunday morning in mid-March, I was taking respite to the sound of olive-green goldcrests tweeting away in the nearby tree.I glanced outside to see my Dad, two cups of tea in hand. He made his way into the cabin, our dog Monty plodding along behind him. We often spent mornings l...
The Guardian •

How I stopped comparing my appearance to my identical twin’s – and healed our relationship | Lara Rodwell

“Why are you fat, and why is she thin,” a puzzled middle-aged man asked, as my identical twin Katy and I strolled into a restaurant in central Mumbai for a post-yoga samosa. It wasn’t the first time we had been asked this question – but each time it hurt just as much, and stoked a decades-long resentment towards my sister, who was always being told she was better looking than me.

As children, we had relished in our identicalness and were joined at the hip. Physically, the only way people (even my parents)...
Metro.co.uk •

'We were best friends — until we went on holiday together'

Before going travelling together, Sophie* and Poppy* were best friends. The pair knew everything that was going on with the other, and would voice note daily.

But a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Vietnam changed all that, and the pair haven’t spoken since. ‘I haven’t really thought about reaching out to her,’ says Sophie.

When you picture jet-setting halfway across the world with your bestie, road-trips to the beach, wild adventures and cocktails at sunset in the foreign heat spring to mind.

And,
Artefact •

Post-traumatic growth: 'The pandemic inspired a new breed of grievance' —

Young people are becoming more equipped to deal with trauma, according to grief experts. But why?

I knew my life would never be the same after my Dad died during the pandemic – and boy did he know it too.

In March 2020, whilst others were dancing along to Joe Wick’s workouts and organising book clubs over Zoom, I was coming to terms with my Dad receiving a six-month prognosis. A global lockdown seemed trivial compared to the turmoil I was facing and, if anything, it inspired me to craft the en
Artefact •

Twins: 'It can feel like your appearance almost belongs to other people' —

From self-consciousness to eating disorders, twins speak out about how unsolicited comments about physical appearance is toxic when it comes to their mental health

At the age of eleven years old, US-based identical twins and co-founders of Two Scoops of Style, Sarah and Leah Brzyski, were peer-pressured into sitting on either end of a “teeter-totter” (or a “seesaw”). Their friends wanted to see who would fall to the ground first – a form of harmless playground entertainment.

“I felt so humilia
Artefact •

"The goal of 'perfect digestion' dominated my entire life"

Dietician Imogen Wolsey describes how her obsession with gut health took the fun out of her twenties.

Sinking into a plush armchair tucked away in the corner of Le Pain Quotidien, 29-year-old Imogen Wolsey gifts herself a moment of rest. Amongst the hustling commuters she devours a generous mouthful of carrot cake before wiping the foamy lip of velvety cappuccino off her face.

A few years ago, it would have been impossible for Imogen to indulge in something as trivial as a piece of cake.

For
Dazed •

My partner wants to start an OnlyFans – how should I feel?

Masika, 23, has been creating content on OnlyFans for almost three years now, after she set up an account during the pandemic to subsidise her living costs. “I live with my mum and, when COVID hit, I wanted to be able to help her with rent,” she says.

Launched in 2016, the subscription-based content-sharing platform experienced a spike from 70,000 creators in 2019 to 1.5 million in 2022 . The platform is particularly popular among sex workers, with 70 per cent of all content deemed NSFW . It’s
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My Book

After my dad died in September 2020, I wrote and published a Guided Grief Journal called From Prognosis to Peace: Navigating Grief Through Gratitude, Discovery and Healing (available on Amazon.co.uk), inspired by the letters, poems and notes my dad and I exchanged with eachother in the six months before he died.