I’m Ilona – pronounced i-for igloo then loner. I live in and am completely in love with Manchester, work in television (everything from Panorama to The Valleys to One Born Every Minute), love to write and am ridiculously passionate about spreading mental health awareness.
I used to be anorexic and bulimic and had periods of crippling depression with a side of self harm. It was rubbish. It was rubbish, but I would never take it back. Sometimes, things are shit and things happen that nobody can control. What matters is what we make of it. It took me years to get to where I am now; healthy, pretty happy and vaguely successful – but I got here and I’m desperate to do whatever I can now to help those affected by mental health problems and attempt to encourage those who haven’t to understand what it’s all about. That’s not easy, but let’s see what happens.
I’m a bit of a media whore where mental health is concerned. I’ve blogged for The Independent for years, written for Mind Charity, Beat and Time To Change and appeared on BBC Breakfast, The One Show and several radio programmes. Shutting me up is difficult, but I like to think I’m doing my bit to reduce stigma and, most importantly, to normalise conversations about mental health.
Enjoy!
x
Maybe she’s born with it... Maybe it’s Fluoxetine. 
Hello! Im Manchester based too and want to talk to you about a Blackpool mental health project for young people. Any chance you could send me your email address to I can share some more details about its launch? Cheers
Hello Ilona,
I work for a small mental health company called Healios. We have recently created and launched ThinkNinja® into clinical trials. Our app has been designed specifically for young people, to help them better understand and manage their mental health. It is an early intervention with some clever AI to assist the user, and if required ‘step up’ the level of care.
I’d love to talk with you about working together and getting as many people as possible to be aware of ThinkNinja®.
You can see more here: http://www.thinkninja.io/news
You can contact me here: Spencer.Garner@healios.org.uk
I look forward to speaking to you soon.
Kind regards
Spencer
Healios