​This week I'm sharing Nicole's story. This incredible warrior lives with ​multiple chronic illnesses including Bipolar Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder as well as undiagnosed chronic pain and fatigue.

​Her interview is part of ​our ongoing series ​​featuring spoonie warriors from around the world, each ​highlighting the realities of life with ​chronic illness and invisible disability and how they celebrate life in spite of it all. 

​I hope their stories will encourage you and help you to see that whatever you are going through, you are not alone. There is an incredibly supportive community of chronic illness warriors online - and I can't wait to introduce ​them to you!

I'd like to speak about my own mental health. I feel like some people misunderstand my condition, so I wanted to address the matter directly. Yes, I have a severely debilitating illness. Yes, I practically live in bed. No, I cannot go out and I cannot have visitors coming over without paying for it​, but I am okay. Seriously.

​​In this interview series ​we ​explore ​how diet and chronic illness affect each other and today I have the honour of sharing Jo's story. Jo's ​appetite was severely affected by her mental health, but with the help of loved ones, she ​found a way to overcome it and get back to a place where she could once again enjoy a healthy diet.

When it comes to chronic illness, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, especially when it comes to healing through diet. ​It's up to us to try different approaches until we find our personal solution - the thing that our body responds to most positively.

I hope ​this series will inspire you to make changes to your diet too, you never know how much relief you could experience through just a few modificaitons. What you eat really can make a big difference!

Would you like to know how you can reduce the stress that comes from doing life with a chronic illness? When living with a chronic illness it is easy to let all sorts of negative feelings creep in. Guilt, loneliness, fear, frustration, helplessness, these are all common emotions among spoonies, and they're not the only ones or the worst.

​But the problem with letting such emotions linger is that they tend to cause havoc in our bodies, often making us more ill. It is important for people with any sort of chronic illness to find ways to reduce stress and negativity if they wish to feel any improvement.