Recovery is complicated, difficult to describe and slow.This series of blogs about my experience of mental illness, is following a vaguely chronological path, but it hasn't been a direct route back to health (if only we could be guaranteed that!), and so these posts might meander somewhat...
They say, a problem shared is a problem halved. I say, depends who you share it with.If you are sharing your problem with people who are weighed down by their own trauma, If you are sharing your problem with someone who is very busy, If you are sharing your problem with someone lacking in empathy or sympathy, your problem is not halved. Your problem is increased, or ignored, or misunderstood and dismissed.Pre diagnosis (for this part of the story see here) I didn't really know what was going on, and that i was headed for a spectacular crash. But i...
So i knew something was up. But I didn't have a clue about recovery - how do you go about getting better when you don't really know how you got ill?My counsellor used an illustration to explain a few things to me. It went something like this:She told me I was like a bucket (...
To start: a caveat. I am not a health professional. I have no training in mental health, or counselling. I am not a therapist. I only have my story. Although i hope (and if the response to the previous blog is anything to go by - i think) that some of what i write might be recognised by some people, this story is particular to me - my unique set of circumstances and experiences. Also, for the record, I have never and still don't find 'depression' a very useful word. It is often used inappropriately and as a catch-all. And I have never...
Last week, when it had to be pointed out to ASDA and Tesco that their 'psycho ward' and 'mental patient' fancy dress costumes were not acceptable, I decided I wanted to start to write about mental health.In particular, my mental health.Be nice, I'm about to make myself pretty vulnerable...