Grace Mongey Gernon: I want to be the voice I was looking for
Social media content creator and mental health advocate Grace Mongey Gernon (FacesbyGrace). Picture: Marc O'Sullivan
Grace Mongey Gernon was 17 when she was first diagnosed with anxiety and depression.
The now 34-year-old, who is best known by her alias Faces By Grace to her 177,000 Instagram followers, says at the time, she couldn’t understand why.
“I was in school, I had a job, I had a boyfriend,” she said. “It was a lot less spoken about back then, and it seemed like a big thing.”
The make-up artist attended a few counselling sessions at the time, but she says it wasn’t until she was in her mid-20s, having lost her dad aged 20 and relocated to Australia, that she really began struggling.
"I started to feel very down. I couldn't be in social situations. I was paranoid and overwhelmed. I found it hard to be out with friends or to concentrate on work.
“It progressively got worse, it got to the point I was having daily panic attacks. I was losing a lot of weight, and unable to sleep.
“I was living with friends at the time, and they could see how bad it was getting.
“[In the end] a friend from home came over to visit on holidays. I didn’t realise it at the time, but my mam and sister had said ‘If you don’t bring Grace home, we’re going over to get her'.”
Grace says it was then she made the decision to move home and get help.
“I went to the doctor, I was prescribed medication and after a lot of therapy, I came out of it.”
Looking back at what she calls the “lowest point” of her life, Grace says she just wishes there was someone she could have related to at the time – and that’s why she’s come onboard as an ambassador for Walk in My Shoes, a national mental health education and awareness campaign by St Patrick’s Mental Health Services.
“I want to be the voice I was looking for back then,” she says, adding that having her children Sienna, six, and Hayden, three, has made her even more committed to educating herself and constantly “checking in” on her own mental health.
- Walk in My Shoes is a national mental health education and awareness campaign by St Patrick’s Mental Health Services. See walkinmyshoes.ie.
I go to the gym almost every day. I do cardio and heavy lifting, that's my thing. I started going back to the gym last July. At the time, the thoughts of going back to it were killing me ... but now I'm at the stage now where I look forward to it every day. I never thought I'd get to that place, that I'd be that person who loves going to the gym. But I think, the more you do it, the more it becomes a habit, then you see the benefits from it.
I am a real morning person. I love to get up in the morning when it's nice and quiet, have my coffee, maybe sit down, and just have that quietness just before the mayhem of the morning. A morning routine is really important to me so I'm in the right headspace going into the day.
I am not fussy, I'll eat anything. I enjoy lots of fruit and vegetables. When I'm in a good headspace. I'll make a conscious effort to eat healthier, but I don’t focus too much on food.
Lighting all my candles, and putting on a really romantic movie or someone I love on YouTube. Running a bath, doing my skincare... a little pamper session.
Lavender, I find it so relaxing.
I only know this from my husband [Chris Gernon], but my worst trait might be that if I am asked something, I only give the least amount of information. I am very bad at texting and getting back to people.
Cuddles or affection, whether it's from my kids or my husband or my dog.
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