Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
A FRESH OUTLOOK ON LIFE.. THANKS TO MRS HINCH
NI woman’s help from Insta star
INTERNET sensation Mrs Hinch has inspired a generation of people to fall in love with cleaning but also to speak out and address some of the more sensitive issues that others shy away from.
One such “Hincher” is Belfast woman Andrea Brown, who has also built up an army of loyal followers on her ‘letshinchandbehappy’ Instagram account.
But as well as showing her love of cleaning, the 26-year-old’s account also serves as a very honest, raw and unfiltered account of life when you suffer from poor mental health.
Andrea traces her psychological struggles back to 2012 when she said her “life fell apart” and she was contemplating taking her own life, only to be saved by charity Lifeline.
She told the Mirror : “I found it very hard to deal with certain things and u n f o r t u n a t e l y my mi n d just completely shattered. Due to family matters, I lost interest in my studies, friendships, life in general and started isolating myself.
“I decided I didn’t want to go on any longer. I was self-harming and decided what was the point, so I planned to take my life. At that moment, I knew I was struggling with my mental health.
“To this day, I still cannot explain how a Lifeline card was pinned behind my door and I found it just as I was about to take my life.
WOMAN
“I rang and spoke openly unloading to this woman on the phone and that phone call saved my life.”
After meeting her husband George, who works as a solider, the pair married in 2017 and Andrea gave birth to their son in April 2018.
It was the arrival of George that inspired Andrea to start her own Instagram account and use it for good.
She said: “All of a sudden, my anxiety started to take over, I hated the thought of leaving my son, I felt no one knew his routine, no one would know what he needed and it stopped me from going back to work.
“I wanted to stay at home and look after my son, so my home became my safe place.
“When George was going for naps, I found myself just watching Instagram stories or reading online articles and soon came across [the] Mrs Hinch page.
“She [Mrs Hinch] had roughly around 60k followers then. I loved her stories, naming her clothes and just going about her house.
“I got speaking to another account and said I just loved watching their
I will continue to hold my head high and try to break the stigma of mental health ANDREA BROWN ON HER REACTION TO ONLINE TROLLS
account and hers and was thinking of creating my own account and their advice was, ‘What have I got to lose, we only have one life, live it’ and so I sat that night and created letshinchandbehappy on 1st May 2019.”
Andrea has now amassed more than 17,000 followers on her account,
including Mrs Hinch h erself, who Andrea says she considers sid s ‘a ‘ friend’. fi d’
She added: “I never ever expected her to see my account but it happened and she became my 1,670th follower, after posting a grid post about her at her baby shower.
“From there, she has been a huge support to my page. I am really very fortunate to speak with
Mrs Hinch and I do believe she is a friend.”
Th e E a st B e l f a st woman has also been on the receiving end of trolling but admits she has learned to handle it better, adding: “At first, I honestly would fight back.
“I would get so angry and so upset. It was my husband who really pulled me back.
“Mrs Hinch has helped with sending lovely messages and checking in if I am OK. I will continue to hold my head high and try to break the stigma of mental health.”
If you or someone you know is in distress or despair, call 24/7 crisis helpline Lifeline for free on 0808 808 8000 or Samaritans on 116 123.