INSPO Fitness Journal April 2017

Mount Kilimanjaro
ONWARDS
AND UPWARDS
When it comes to rising above hurdles, Morgan Storrie is
a dab hand. The 26-year-old is using her own personal
challenges to raise awareness around positive mental health
and wellbeing.
Known to her friends as Minnie, she
first discovered that something wasn’t
right when she came home from
school, sat down on the floor and bawled her
eyes out for no apparent reason.
“I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know
what’s wrong with me, why am I crying’? I
had everything in life – a loving family, an
education, friends, food on the table, a roof
over my head. I didn’t have anything to be
sad about,” she recalls.
“I was 18 years old and went from being a
happy, outgoing teenager to not wanting to
do anything.”
Fortunately for Morgan, her mum
recognised that she may be experiencing
depression so took her to the doctor.
“Mental illness runs in our family so, as
weird as it sounds, I was lucky enough to
have an amazing mum who could recognise
the signs of depression and knew the action
that needed to be done to get help for me.
“I had a lovely GP who was great at talking
about what was going on.”
Morgan underwent six counselling sessions
that helped her identify and talk about
things that had happened in her life that
could be affecting her. She also started on a
low dose of anti-depressants.
“My depression was kept at bay for a couple
of years. But as many people do, I kept it
to myself and didn’t say anything to anyone.”
24 INSPO – FITNESS JOURNAL APRIL 2017