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DEPRESSION AND MY TRUTH

Dionne Simpson-Amuah • Oct 19, 2018
Due to the sensitive nature of this platform, it isn’t very often that the guests I interview are willing to waive their anonymity. This can be due to many factors and of course it is respected.

So it was my absolute delight when the founder of Life Essence UK not only agreed to do a podcast on her journey to healing, but also offered to guest write the blog piece too!

Speaking with Kelleigh that day honestly lit up my soul.  

Whilst I wouldn’t consider myself a devout Christian or religious per say, there was no denying that Kelleigh’s blossoming relationship with the church has made her an infectious ball of positivity. It was this relationship that forged her healing and enabled her to ‘birth’ her business and platform ‘Life Essence’.

Read her thoughts following our recording below:

By Kelleigh from Life Essence
Life Essence

Well guys, I have just finished recording a podcast about my truth of suffering from depression, as a result of being in a toxic relationship with Love Laid Bare.


Boy do I feel open right now!! But open in a good way 🙂 for it has been so long of hiding and being ashamed of how I really felt and what I allowed myself to tolerate. Being able to share my story and recovery with you has  been a blessing in it’s self and I really hope that you will be blessed by my openness around certain subjects.


We can all end up in some crazy “how an earth did I even get here” type of situation which cut us deeply, leaving us to deal with the mental and emotional impact that the situation or event has left us with.


However WE ARE NOT what we went through or what we did or what others say we are. It is so important to focus on how we heal, grow and learn from these experiences that will shape the rest of our lives going forward. AND that my Friend’s is one of the Essence’s of Life!! Using experiences, events and situations to grow and become the beautiful people God created us to be!


ME I USED MY PAINS TO GAINS AND SO CAN YOU



Healing from feelings such as Rejection, Loss, Fear and Desperation takes a lot of work but guess what guys? FEELINGS ARE TEMPORARY!!!


Learning how to accept and sit with these feelings and thoughts that you are experiencing, is not easy and its painful. Because sometimes the truth can be very painful, we tend to ignore the pain and brush it under the carpet. By creating distractions to gain a temporary high to numb the pain and to forget being sad for all of a few hours! Some of us use partying, sex, drinking and taking drugs!


But guys, lets be honest, ignoring the feelings and the pain you feel is also painful right? That “come down” from your night out for drinking to much or that wild steamy lust filed experience did nothing for your inner soul and the pain your in!

So now, we can choose to ignore the pain, the situations, as they sit on your shoulders forever!! Or we can Look pain dead in the eye, hold it’s hand and start the healing process, work through the changes and learn to let go and be free to be your Happy Amazing Self.


For me ignoring the fact that I was depressed and had to look pain in face scared me to death, it was much easier to continue in my rut of despair.  However I have been set free and you can be set free also, invest in you and be kind to yourself and start your journey of freedom and happiness!


Get support and speak out! You will be so glad you did.


After listening to my podcast story and reading this blog, you may think it was as easy for me. It may even seem that I am making it out like it was as easy as praying and 1,2,3 everything was over and I was healed! 

I never said it was going to be easy! 


Have a quick listen to one of my fav tunes Wont He Do It – I always smile back to it as it reminds of how far I have come in so many ways spiritually, emotionally, mentally…Well hey I am still working on the physically hahaha!


No No No No!


I had to NOT run into another DEAD relationship or throw myself at some UNWORTHY cause just to feel better and block out the pain. I understood that If I wanted to be free wholeheartedly and to be superbly duperbly HAPPY.

There was a lot of reflection, determination, focus and it had to start with ME and NO-ONE ELSE!

Flat on my face with nowhere to go, was where I really met Jesus. All his love, grace and mercy.

In the Midst of my Sin he Loved me, I let Jesus into my life not just partly but I fully surrendered my heart, to him and him only.


It was at this point when I really started to believed every word God had said about me, I started to really build my relationship with him, not just believe there was a God but actually get right with the Lord!

Remember that life happens to all of us, regardless of if we believe in God or not, because that is life!!! However it is through Christ that we gain our strength to deal with life. 


When I was at my lowest, I waited on the lord, sought his kingdom (Matthew 6:33) and boy has he renewed by strength and added riches to my life. I am so thankful! Jesus suffered in so many ways, he understands perfectly your sorrows and your weaknesses. As the Son of God and Saviour, he can help you in every situation: sickness, sin and personal sorrow.

“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). 


1. Jesus died for me and he died for you too-Like guys that is serious!!!


“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. “- John 3:16


2.Gods love for us is unbreakable-How many people in your life can you say that about ???


“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, or anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39


3.There are no limits to the love God has for you.


“And I pray that you, being rotted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge…” Ephesians 3:17-19


4.Knowing God’s heart means consistently, radically, and very concretely announcing and revealing that God is love and only love, and that every time fear, isolation, or despair begin to invade the human soul, it is then that we must pause, pray and ask for the Spirit to bring us once again to the point where “the love of Christ controls us” 2 Corinthian 5:14. When we are controlled by the love of Jesus, we enter eternal freedom because His love comes without any conditions and limits.


Whatever situation you are in now


Do not blame yourself

Do not be ashamed

Do start talking

Do seek support


Do remember you are loved

If you would like more information on how you can get support please contact

Kelleigh @lifeessenceuk or Dionne at @lovelaidbare


I would like to thank Kelleigh for being so honest and open about her journey to recovery.


Listen to the podcast here and don’t forget to to like and subscribe to this post.


Thank you for taking the time out to read this blog and all of your ongoing support.

Take care of yourself.

Dionne x


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