This post was originally published in 2018.

Hi everyone, in the past I’ve touched on having anxiety, depression and fibromyalgia, but it’s not something that I have really talked extensively about. If you suffer from any type of mental illness or invisible illnesses you will probably know how difficult it can be to talk about.

Today I want to talk about a cause close to my heart, and why I wanted this year to be the year that I took the leap to be a part of it. Liptember is an organization that raises money for women’s mental health, the money they raise goes to several organizations that are there to help women like me when we are in need of support.  

I’m lucky in my personal circumstances that I have a very supportive family and a really good doctor but I know this isn’t the same for everyone. That’s why the money that Liptember raises is really important because it helps women all over Australia get the support they need.

My Personal Mental Health Story

I’ve suffered from anxiety my whole life, as I have gotten older it has affected me more and more. Depression is a side effect of my anxiety disorder but it can be triggered by a range of things.   For me anxiety is part of my chemistry, while I can take medication to help balance it out, it only really takes the edge off. I have techniques I can use to help but I don’t always find them effective.   My anxiety has caused massive changes to my body, I now have dietary problems where certain foods now make me sick. Which in itself causes me anxiety and has also caused me to lose massive amounts of weight because I struggle to eat.   Last year I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, this has been a huge impact on my health both physically and mentally. My flare-ups can be caused by stress or anxiety, which can mean exhaustion, widespread pain, insomnia, brain fog and more.   If you want to know more you can read more about that here.    I have good days and bad days, on a really good day I can leave the house by myself and on really bad days I can be quite unwell.  

Related Post: Fibromyalgia Awareness Day

I think for me while I have accepted it in some ways, that this is the way I am, it doesn’t make it feel any better. I do still struggle to understand some aspects of what can trigger my anxiety, especially when it can end up quite severe.

Why I Decided This Was Going To Be The Year I Did Liptember

When I decided that I wanted to do Liptember this year I was going through a bout of really bad anxiety and depression. But that’s exactly why I knew I had to do this because I know there are people out there who are just like me.   For so long Mental illness has had a huge stigma attached to it, one of which I have never understood, we are humans after all with a range of emotions and our brains and bodies are very complex. We are not perfect and that should be okay.   I knew I couldn’t do this alone so I put the word out to some fellow makeup lovers and amazing artists if they wanted to join me. I was honestly overwhelmed with the response, so this September we will all be sporting bright lipsticks to raise awareness and money for Liptember.  

Update: Some of these links may no longer work because the have been deleted or reset (liptember resets their website every year and participants have to re-sign up if they want to participate again.)

Check out the Rainbow Pouts FB page or Instagram page to see all our pictures and our donation page to help us get some money to support Liptember’s amazing partners.

Until next time, I hope you have a lovely day.

Disclaimer – This post is not sponsored and doesn’t contain any affiliate links, links included are in case your interest in checking out anything mentioned in this post. Read full Disclaimer here.

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