Back From the Brink

There's nothing quite as universal as the power of the mind; its ability to mold, mend, bend, break and build us. In lieu of Mental Health Awareness this month, W&H chats to three women who fought their way through adversity by conquering their mental mountains, donning a healthier, happier mindset

- By Savanna Douglas

Kym Wright

51, TREND & INNOVATIONS SPECIALIST LINDEN, GAUTENG

'As a child, I would always be unfocused and fidgety, half lost in a daydream. My parents, teachers and siblings all knew me as the chatterbox with the mind that would move in several directions at once. This is how I learned to live life, coming to terms with my apparent inability to pay attention like others did, and my disdain for monotony and doing things I couldn't bring myself to really focus on.

'At 48, I found myself desperate to take back control of my mind after my mom's sudden passing. I was exhausted, even after giving myself the time to grieve. Some mornings I would muster a good mood, genuinely happy about life. Then, I'd arrive at the office and something small would set me off and I'd plummet straight towards rock bottom. Not wanting to live between extremes anymore, I decided to see a psychiatrist.

'We chatted about life and about the feelings I had been struggling to deal with, working through the grief of losing my mom and the onslaught of mental health challenges that it had triggered.

We touched on my extreme lack of focus and how, at the time, it seemed amplified. My office environment, for example, was usually teeming with colleagues, but it suddenly became unbearable. Small things like voices talking over each other and sounds around me drained my focus, hurling me into an anxious mess.

'Little did I know that these were all telltale signs of ADD, and I had been displaying these traits my whole life! I dove into researching everything I could, better acquainting myself with the disorder.