About - LIFE AS BRITNY

Life as Britny is a safe, empowering space dedicated to YOU:

The millennial woman wanting to live her best life – even with depression and anxiety

Here’s the deal: You’re so much more than a label or a diagnosis. You’re an incredible woman with big dreams. Sure some days life feels so hard you can barely pull yourself out of bed. But other days? You want to experience all. the. things.

You want to:

have fun
eat delicious food
create things
pursue your passions
travel the world
simplify your life

You don’t want to feel limited by your mental health – and I’m here to show you that you don’t have to!

As someone who also deals with depression and anxiety on a daily basis, I know what it’s like to feel like everyone else has this whole life thing figured out.

The truth is rates of depression and anxiety have skyrocketed in the past few decades. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), at least 17 million Americans experienced a major depressive episode in 2017, with the prevalence impacting more women than men. Not to mention, statistics show that approximately 40 million adults aged 18 and older have an anxiety disorder.

The takeaway? You are not alone!

Here you’ll find tools, resources, and inspiration to help you manage your depression & anxiety and enjoy everyday life a lot more.

Not sure where to begin?

Here are a few recent posts to get you started:

10 essential items every anxious traveler should pack in their carryon

7 life-changing books to read when you’re feeling depressed

6 lessons chronic illness is teaching me about self-love

A bit more about moi

Hey girl! It’s me, Britny!

I’m a Mississippi girl traveling the world since October 2015. That’s when I quit my job, sold everything I owned, and started my own online business as a life coach and a healer. Yeah I’m kinda crazy pants like that!

In the last 4 years I’ve lived in Spain, Croatia, France, Bali, Thailand, New Zealand, and Slovenia. As you can imagine – I’ve seen and experienced a lot! You may even be thinking damn girl, that’s #goals.

But you know what? It didn’t matter where I was in the world my depression and anxiety just came along for the ride. For awhile that really frustrated me and even made me feel a bit ashamed. I mean here I was living a life most only dreamed about and I still felt depressed?

That’s when it hit home that I couldn’t just run away and hide from the pain. I had to face it and learn to love myself in spite of it. (Hint: that’s what this blog is all about btw).

My depression story

I’ve had depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember, and it’s been anything but an easy road. I know you can probably relate!

Back in 2013 I had a major depressive episode when it seemed like pretty much everything in my life was falling apart at the same time: I was going through a major breakup, working for an emotionally abusive boss, and to top it all off I had a miscarriage.

On the outside my life looked pretty great. I had just graduated with a masters degree in public health, I was planning a big move to Nashville, and I was only 23 years old with my whole life ahead of me. However, on the inside I felt totally lost and hopeless.

If it weren’t for a voice from within that gave me hope that things would get better I don’t think I’d be here writing this today.

It was at this period in my life that I had my first spiritual awakening, and I realized that I had been living my life for everyone else but me. I quickly became obsessed with all things personal growth and self-help. That path led me to start my very first blog Facing Sunshine and later inspired me to become a coach & a healer. And of course it also empowered me to leave the 9-5 life far behind me.

Why I started this blog

About a year ago I started to feel that pull again to start a new chapter. The idea of creating a blog for women with depression and anxiety kept calling to me, but I wasn’t ready to make it happen until recently. I kept thinking, “who the hell am I to help others with this when I’m still dealing with it myself!?”

Then it hit me that maybe this is the reason I should do it. Because who in the world is gonna feel inspired by someone who has never dealt with real life problems?

Let’s get real: I’m not a guru on depression and anxiety. I don’t have all of my shit together. I don’t have all of the answers on how to do this thing called life. Not even close. I’m just a girl choosing a life of joy and vitality over a life of feeling crappy and hopeless.

And that makes me super duper qualified to write about these topics 😉

Not to mention I have always been a huge nerd about psychology. That’s why I got my bachelor’s in it back in the day. #mesearch

Now that Life as Britny is a real thing and no longer just in my head, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is what I’m meant to be doing.

My goal with this blog is to help women like you and me feel less alone in the world. We need to de-stigmatize mental health. I mean it’s 2019 right? No one should feel alone in this!