Mental Health as an Illustrator and Mother // Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week

Freelancing and motherhood. What a rollercoaster it has been so far.

I often have people say to me, “I don’t know how you do it, working from home with a toddler!” or “you must be so disciplined to get any work done at home, I’d be so distracted”. And yes, a lot of that is true and is also extremely flattering.

The thing is, I am a complete imposter, because you see the problem is I am not nailing it one bit. One human being (or should I say woman because let’s face it, this isn’t necessarily an issue for all working men…) cannot be 100% full time working and 100% full time mum.

Illustrators for Mental Health

It's World Mental Health Day, and in celebration of a cause that's quite close to my heart I wanted to share something that combines two aspects of my life; illustration and mental health.

Here are some of my favourite illustrators bringing to life how it feels some days to live with a mental health illness:

Freelancing and Depression

There's a lot about freelancing which just shouldn't make sense to help depression. In fact, a lot of the elements that make up working from home, or for yourself, can be strong contributors to depression and anxiety; lack of human contact, unusual work hours and the ever ebb and flow of money have certainly been things that have contributed to my own depression.

There is however this unique and hidden gift lying under the crying snotty panic and fear riddled mess you seem to become when you have depression, and that is that freelancing can be your saviour.

Illustration as Meditation

A big HOORAH as this is not only the first official day of launching my new website but also my first post on my new integrated swanky blog! For my first post I wanted to talk about 2 of my greatest passions and what it means to have them work together.

Meditation, Work/Life BalanceDeborah PanesarJanuary 21, 2016meditation, freelance, illustration, work life balance, mental healthComment

Blog

It's World Mental Health Day, and in celebration of a cause that's quite close to my heart I wanted to share something that combines two aspects of my life; illustration and mental health.