Please welcome first time contributor Federica, an Italian woman in her late twenties. She was diagnosed in 2012 with recurring panic attacks and mild depression. She has also experienced mental illness in her closest family members, including anorexia, bulimia, and depression. Frederica is currently recovering from a severe relapse after moving to the UK last year. She’s found comfort by reconnecting with her camera after losing interest in every form of self-expression she once loved – photography, illustration, and reading.

About this photo: “Actually, this is a picture I discarded from an ongoing project. It’s the first time I address my pain directly, and the future series concentrates on the bright end of it, with color instead of black and white, and a focus on strength instead of despair, because it’s what I want and need. Yet, this picture exists. I endlessly shift between light and dark, reaching to one without really being able to leave the other. To me, this image represents the struggle, the violence of recovery, the desire to feel better – to BE better – and the ultimate refusal, physically turning away from it only to get back to sulking until you can’t take it anymore, and the whole process begins again.”

Find more from Federica at her website, Flickr, and Instagram @greenfeda

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