Shanaz is a retired Occupational Therapist with over 15 years of professional experience, following earlier roles in customer service, housing and advisory services. She holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Leadership and has spent much of her life supporting others to build confidence, independence and wellbeing.

But Shanaz’s understanding of wellbeing is not just professional — it is deeply personal. Living with fibromyalgia has brought challenges that have affected both her physical and emotional wellbeing. For Shanaz, the impact has extended beyond living with pain and fatigue to experiencing the loss of aspects of a career she valued, changes to her independence and routine, and a sense of losing part of the identity she had built through her working life.

Alongside this came periods of isolation, loneliness, anxiety and depression. At times, Shanaz felt cut off from the world around her and longed to feel connected again. She also experienced the stigma and misunderstanding that can surround invisible illness and mental health, highlighting how difficult it can be to ask for help when you feel that others may not understand what you are going through.

Shanaz is passionate about challenging these stigmas and creating honest conversations about the emotional impact of health, career loss, loneliness and major life changes. She believes that losing aspects of the life you once had can affect your sense of identity and purpose — but that it is possible to find new meaning, rebuild confidence and reconnect with yourself and others.

She continues to contribute to her community as an Expert by Experience with the University of Bradford and is passionate about young people’s mental health, women’s wellbeing, menopause, healthy living and WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan). She also facilitates WRAP courses within the community, adapting her involvement around her own health needs.

Through sharing her story, Shanaz hopes to remind others that they are more than their illness, their circumstances or the things they have lost. Her message is one of hope, connection and resilience: sometimes life changes in ways we never expected, but we can still find purpose, rebuild our sense of self and discover a different way forward.