The Blog

I’ve been feeling a little down following a benefit assessment last week so i decided to amalgamate this photo challenge that’s been going around and my gratitude journal into one; ‘the alternative gratitude journal’ – taking a photo each day of something that’s made me happy. Not only is it nice to reflect back on the week but it’s also encouraging me to keep on the lookout for lovely things so in a way it’s become a little mindfulness exercise!

Here we have: painted cows on the exit i take on the subway to my new home, flowers my cousin and his girlfriend bought me, a weekend with my family, an awesome (very Cambridge) bike outside my swimming pool, the lights up on oxford street and a bit of a painting i’ve taken out of hiding .

My Auntie and Flo

Me and my cousin Flo playing X Factor

So admittedly i am a little over my October month of guest bloggers but when Dannys blog on recovery language (see here) got my Aunt and i chatting about ability language i told her she must write me a blog! As far as i’m concerned if your eloquent in a passionate rant about something then you are destined to share your thoughts on that topic with the rest of the world. Once she got talking i realised how weird some of the terminology we use is and it’s certainly given me cause to reflect. As with recovery language not all of it will sit right with everyone but if we can all be aware of the gold standard then we can at least aim to get somewhere close – sort of like how i know i should eat large amounts of vegetables a day but i also intersperse this with carb heavy macaroni and cheese… Continue reading Final Guest Blogger: ‘A person who happens to have..’

I’m all for us taking responsibility for our own actions and this isn’t going to be a blog about how to blame the rest of the world, but it does help to know how your own brain is busy tripping you up when you are desperately trying to do your best. Throughout my life, I have had many things that I didn’t like about myself, but my anger was the main one. I used to get so angry, full blown tantrum. It took quite a lot to trigger me but then, as a friend described it, I could go ‘nought to nuclear’ in a split second. Continue reading Guest Blogger 5: Why your brain is like a computer and anxiety (or anything else) really isn’t your fault!

The thing with emetophobia (the overwhelming, intense anxiety pertaining to vomiting, including a fear of vomiting in public, a fear of seeing vomit, a fear of watching the action of vomiting or fear of being nauseated, according to the internet), is that the dreadfulness of being sick is constantly being reinforced all around you. You never hear someone saying “I was up all night being sick, I bloody loved it.” All you see and hear are people looking absolutely miserable, pale and unwell describing how they had been sick all night; the “worst thing ever,” the “most unwell I have ever felt,” “it came on within ten minutes and I could barely move,” and “my daughter was sick first thing on Christmas morning with the norovirus and it spread like wildfire, taking down the whole family one by one” like the apocalypse. Continue reading Guest Blogger 4: Sick of it: Coping with Emetophobia

The lovely Danny (who you’ll remember as my fantastic second blogger on recovery language) has written a very interesting piece around medication which i’d like to share with you. Psychiatric medication is often a controversial subject as side effects are common and difficult to manage and the NHS currently has a predominantly pro medication stance; This can make a dialogue around medication with professionals tricky. Common side effects are weight gain and sedation which i certainly found very difficult to manage as well as a kooky few like lactation (whaaat!?). Having been on a variety of medications that made me feel awful i am very lucky to now be on medication that has no side effects at all which makes the question of whether to stay on medication pretty simple. I have also been lucky to have a very positive dialogue with my Psychiatrist and CPN (community psychiatric nurse) around medication and in fact was given three different Psychiatrists in order to find someone with more specialist knowledge after i poo pooed all the standard treatments. I am therefore pro medication that makes you feel better and against medication that has intolerable side effects, i am also pro the NHS introducing/placing more emphasis on non medication treatment plans and removing the concept of someone being ‘non compliant’ when they disagree with their treatment plan. Continue reading Guest Blogger..The-Unmedicated Life

It is my absolute pleasure to introduce to you my wonderful colleague turned friend Jonathon. This is a man who goes to meditation festivals in his spare time, will casually bring up Freud and whose openness around mental well-being makes him both an inspiration and a true kindred spirit of mine…..o and he also writes a mean poem.. Continue reading Roll Up Roll Up Guest Blogger Number 3..

My lovely home

One of my besties

Being outdoors

Another bestie

A pavlova making cousin

A Cheryl Cole impersonating cousin

This dog

Another bestie

My lovely mum

My grandad

errr teapots..obvs..

Making art/11

(The things that keep me well – yes people a teapot keeps me well!)

When I began this blog back in 2014 my aim was pretty simple, I wanted to create a platform in which members of the public could ask questions, even tricky and potentially offensive ones, without fear of judgement or reprimand. I felt strongly, and continue to do so, that a large proportion of stigma around mental health comes from fear; fear that we will say the wrong thing and offend someone, fear of the person themselves, fear of the ‘illness’, the unknown and the unpredictability of something that we do not understand and cannot relate to. Continue reading Happy World Mental Health Day!

Introduction: I met the ever wonderful Danny Bowyer on the Peer Work training (those with lived experience support others in their recovery journey) i completed last summer; Danny was a Tutor who did a session on Recovery Language and quite frankly i disagreed with 90% of the things he said. It is therefore a testament to my absolute respect for him, his approach to recovery language and his ability to discuss and explore alternative ideas that i went out of my way to ask him to write a piece on it. Whilst i don’t agree with some of Dannys opinions i do think the intent behind them is something we both strongly agree on and he is 100% the best person to articulately and compassionately share the concept of recovery language with you and i am very privileged he agreed to do so. Continue reading Guest Blogger 2 – The Art Of Communication – Recovery Language

As many of you will know (but my newbies wont) i am inviting my lovely followers to guest blog/create for World Mental Health Day in October. Although this formally lands on the 10th October i’ve decided to extend it out to a full month of mental health awareness and open up the floor for you to share your own experiences. Continue reading Have your say! Share your experiences and thoughts..