Our mental health is important to us.
Between us we have some life experience. This is some of our story, very abbreviated. And some tools we developed, sharing can be caring right.
Experience of PTSD. Experience of the unspokeness of PTSD, lack of resourcing, assistance or help of that time. Experience of the rabbit hole of the black dog and inevitable downside of 'self management'. Experience of some brotherly (and sisterly) love from comrades of days gone by helping with the 'self stiff uppercut' seeking help and moving on.
Experience of narcissistic emotional and phsycological coercive control. Experience of potential impact of legal routes such as protection orders (a frequent precurser to violent assault and deaths in Aotearoa) and the same authorities recomending relocating to another region. Experience of the denial and refusal of aknowledgement by family and friends and their "it's obviously you not them they are way too nice"! Experience of the love of a few good people and social enterprises in understanding and helping out.
When we got together we took on body building as a means of discipline and repair. Physical and mental reset and redefining, remembering who we are and what our capabilities can be. As our bodies got stronger so did our mental status and strength. We went on to win national titles in our respective classes and achieved massive gains across our lives and ways of being. We rebranded ourselves to natural us, creating our own mutual crazy and relearned to love life and us!
We are not experts in mental health by any means. We do have an intimate understanding of the mental health issues that have impacted us. We actively support those organisations working in this space while advocating against domestic violence, coercive control, and the rights and safety of both people and animals impacted by such inexcusable behaviours that just should not exist.
Mental health doesn’t mean mental health condition. Sometimes we get a little depressed or the struggles get a bit too real. We’d rather listen to your problem than your eulogy; so we developed some self-help tools. Simple quiz's to give you an idea of where things are at and some qualified help that is available in Aotearoa. We retain no data!