When I was at my most sad, I felt that one of the only things that helped me through was writing. I wanted to let my feelings explode on paper. I wrote for hours, locked myself away in my office, and just let everything I was feeling out. I tried to explain how I felt – and I couldn’t quite find the words.

I had a very difficult childhood – and since then, my head has always felt somewhat confused. It sometimes feels scrambled, fluid, unstable, confused, shaky. That’s when the metaphor came to me: my brain felt like jelly. But not just a nice, pristine jelly – a chopped-up jelly.

A jelly that was a bit all over the place. I had managed to describe exactly how my brain was feeling!

Jelly is wonderful, colourful, fun, just like all of us – but when we feel sad, confused and angry, our fabulous jelly heads can feel like they’ve been chopped-up and scrambled.

A jelly takes the shape of its mould, and that’s what our brains do. They are unique to fit us as individuals.

We are all wonderfully different, unique, special – but we all share things in common. One of those things is that, at some time in our lives, we all struggle to cope with our feelings. Looking after our minds is so important – our brains are the powerhouses of our bodies.

When your brain feels like chopped-up jelly, everything we do becomes more of a struggle. So we need to try and help ourselves as much as possible.

Try and speak to someone, try and find what makes you feel a little calmer – sports, art, reading, watching TV – and try to be kind to yourself. We need to help each other to help our communal chopped-up jelly heads – and more people than you think have them.

Good luck coping this Christmas. Try to find enjoyment in all the little things that don’t cost money. Like watching the birds, or feeling thankful for even being able to see them… sight isn’t a given for everyone.

Little reflective moments help to give perspective to our fragile jelly heads.