Is there anybody out there?

Animal rescue, animal advocacy, animal activism, in fact animal whatever is in our blood as, we're sure, it is in many others. It's beyond an interest, beyond a hobby or topic, it's a lifestyle and passion. To rescue and care for animals but also to fight for their rights and welfare doesn't just flow through our veins.....it boils in our blood.

In blogs past we have outlined some of our journey that led us to be where we are today and doing what we do. We still class it a privilege to care for animals, we don't refer to it as a job or task, but our decided destination. It is our number one "interest", one we chose and we truly feel we are here for this reason. But obviously we have other interests.

Like everyone we like other things. Football (Go the Power), music and film, reading. Hayley likes the odd cooking experience whilst Darren loves combat sports. There is another interest that sits close to our hearts and for a few reasons. Mental health.

Mental health is so prevalent in todays society. Some think that it is due to our modern, fast paced and busy lifestyles that so many people today have mental health issues. We think that may well add to the situation but also, we feel, more people talk about it now. In days gone by mental health was a "closet issue". Next to no-one talked about it, especially males who were to continue to live up to the stoic male stereotype. In many years gone by people would not talk about it for fear of ending up in a mental facility and ending up with shock treatment or the like. Of course, understanding and procedure have advanced many since then, thankfully. Nowadays it is accepted that people suffer mental illness for many a reason and talking is the way to go. Mental health specialists are far more knowledgeable and reasonable and treatment, practices and medications are far more advanced. We know that mental issues come in many forms - depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, paranoia, PTSD etc - and all these diagnosed conditions have many offshoots.

We have an interest in this because it is personal. Both of us suffer from different forms of illness to varying degrees. We say that openly and without fear as we believe that today we need to be upfront to remove the stigma that attaches itself to the most common form of illness in mankind. We would like to think that mention you suffer from a mental health issue and people will not picture you as a quivering wreck or someone with two heads but rather a rational, healthy individual who sometimes suffers and can think irrational whilst still looking happy and healthy.

We also bring this up because we realised that the two - animal rescue, advocacy and activism and mental health - are so closely linked that they are basically as one. Some might say "why the hell would you take on animal rescue if you suffer from A, B or C?" The answer to that is simple. Because all animal issues are held in such a high regard and priority by us, and those like us, that nothing would stand in our way. We don't do rescue for us, we do it wholly and solely for the animals. These precious souls simply have to be helped and we place them above our own health or existence.

But let us say that it does affect you, as it would anyone in the same or similar situation. Rescue can be so so rewarding. It gives you a sense of purpose when you think you have none, it provides for magnificent moments of elation upon successes and important rescues. You get to see the shattered souls that came so close to no-one noticing come into your care and blossom when, by their very condition, they would otherwise have perished. Animals! You simply have animals around you. That's enough to for any animal lover to feel blessed and happy about. We have experienced this and we get to see others go through the same emotions. Volunteers and visitors come and you can see an otherwise troubled mind open with joy and excitement. We see these people walk in under their own dark cloud and leave walking on top of those clouds. It is happiness of the greatest example. It gives us joy to care for animals, as much as we wish we didn't need to, and provides us with smiles seeing others enjoy Furever Farm.

But mental issues don't play to the beat of the same drum all the time. There is a darkness that rescue can seem to inflict upon you that no-one really talks about. Of course, it is not rescue per se but rather your own mind or, at the least, a combination of the two. Sometimes it is the downright tragic, those animals that you lose when you shouldn't lose them and even the loss of those animals that have lived a good life. Like dogs and cats, the animals in our care become "pets" both while they are here and after they leave to live with their forever family. When they leave the farm via passing it tears the soul right out of those that have spent so much loving time with them. It hurts, it hurts so bad and to the fragile mind it can be a tipping point. Then there are situations that simply may build. Daily running issues that go wrong, animals that get sick or injured, excessive workloads and lack of help. Suddenly you find yourself in a ball with nowhere to look besides your own, already fragile, coping mechanism. From a depression or anxiety perspective these sorts of feelings - panic, self loathing, low self esteem or confidence, suicidal thoughts or tendencies - it is so easy to totally miss any signs that things are coming. Before you know it you are crying in your own corner. Then things so small become things so significant - accidents happening where you feel you failed because others expect you to be perfect. The list could go on, of course, but what we're really saying is these two scenarios clearly have a bond, for good and for worse.

Don't get us wrong, this is in no way a complaint about rescue. Animals are our life and this is our calling and we will never stop or shy away from our privilege of caring for these wonderful creatures. We will never stop fighting for them either. This is simply to say that mental health is such a huge part of society and it affects everything you do. So, as we say, it is beyond an interest. We have, and do, live it and have studied it in the past to try to gain a greater knowledge of it. The mind, though, is such a tremendously powerful thing. Rarely what we wish is ever the case. Sometimes it is easy to feel like your mind has a mind of it's own!

Yes, we love what we do and there are times that we truly feel happy to be able to at least help the animals in our care. But other times that affected mind will see us struggling. In amongst the daily care of our rescues we will be struggling to feel like continuing. Not for the animals, that's a given, but you struggle to feel like you're making any inroad, that you're making any difference at all. There are two extreme feelings in rescue - ecstasy and defeat.

Sometimes you continue to portray that stoicism and smiling joy whilst inside you're crying and ready to crumble. Sometimes even the hardest of hearts or the thickest of skins just needs someone to talk to.

Mental health, it affects many people in many ways in many situations. Is it any surprise that those with hearts that sit squarely with animals suffer so similarly?

Darren, Hayley & all the Furever Farm team.