We often talk about how people portray themselves and their lives on social media. From the picture perfect holidays to the seemingly always camera ready outfits just to go to the shops. But what about how we portray particular events? In amongst the mental struggle of recovering from a major heart event there is often a subconscious need for us to make people believe that we handled such events in a certain way.
For me, I was determined to not let that vulnerable girl in hospital seep through into my social media life, though there was posts and the occasional photo, there was never mention of the pain, the sleepless nights, the injections or 3am wake up calls for medication. Though in recent months I have been very open about my journey both here on Just Jess and on social media, being such a big trauma in your life means that in talking about it you have suddenly let your guard down and have made yourself open to the opinions and judgements of perfect strangers who have no knowledge or understanding of your situation, and to me, though scary was something I felt like I needed to do, both for myself and for others like me.
There is, I believe a stigma about CHD and heart disease. People have in there heads that it is a) a mans disease and b) something that only effects older people. I am determined to break the stigma and present an open and honest view of what it is like as a young female to have gone through it. When people see young seemingly healthy people with heart disease it challenges their beliefs and therefore they tend to shy away from talking about it. This is something I want to change, that NEEDS to change.
So here is little old me trying to lift the curtain on CHD and make people more comfortable to talk about it and for warriors to talk about their experiences and there stories. It is so important.
Jess xx
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