A WOMAN has opened up about her struggles with mental health in a new book.

Charlotte Coltman, 48, has lived in Salisbury, near Old Sarum, for five years. She runs Salisbury-based business, Community Retreats, has opened up about her struggles with mental health, depression and anxiety in a new book called 'Healing Me So My Children Can Be – The Dark Night of the Soul'.

Charlotte told the Journal: "Since my teenage years, I struggled with bouts of depression. Periods of six months or so, where my life ground to a halt and stagnated.

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"I felt I was drifting through life purposeless.  I also experienced spates of anxiety alongside."

While living overseas, Charlotte experienced post-natal depression after the birth of her second child.

She said "My relationship was already struggling, things just reached a point of no return. Due to a set of circumstances and for personal safety reasons, I left East Africa, with four suitcases and two toddlers on an overnight flight.

"We haven’t returned since. The resulting effect was trauma and panic attacks.  It was at this point, I took control of my life and started to heal."

Salisbury Journal: Charlotte ColtmanCharlotte Coltman (Image: Charlotte Coltman)

Charlotte's book documents her journey with mental health over the past nine years, giving insight into how she navigated obstacles along the way.

She said: "In brief, it describes mind health conditions from the perspective of an experiencer and goes onto describe the different tenets of healing I encountered such as inner child healing, ancestral and other trauma-based healing.

"The path to healing was not with mind-based solutions and endless counselling but with solutions of the heart and soul. These are presented in the book as a possible path to explore.

"The path does have a spiritual context – there’s a section of fundamentals as well as a section of energies not on the visible spectrum. It unpacks the overwhelm so many experiencers have and presents alternative possibilities."

Charlotte now runs the not-for-profit business, Community Retreats, and works as an angelic reiki healer, house and land healer as well as a  spiritual mentor.

She said: "I am an extremely sensitive individual, however, have learned to manage this, allow it to play a positive role in my life and indeed grow from it.

"I don’t really experience depression anymore, nor panic attacks, nor any of the horrific symptoms that accompanies trauma.

"I have mild anxiety, which I perceive now as a gift. It’s an early warning sign of imbalance in my life and the call to do more healing and inner work."

Readers can find more information about Charlotte's book by clicking HERE.