I think, in fact I know, that people believe that someone with mental health issues, dealing with something like anxiety, depression or other long term mental health diagnosis, are weak, and broken. I have had people say it to me. I have had people imply that, not so subtly. The way people react and treat […]
READ MORE
This is the first time I have voiced the sentence “winter is bad for my mental health” aloud. “Winter is bad for my mental health”. I have thought it for the longest time, but then dismissed that thought as silly, hippy talk. Too much Doctor Googling and not enough common sense. But in therapy we […]
READ MORE
There comes a point when you are having a mental health crisis where you reach the bottom of the ride. I tend to describe my anxiety like a fairground ride. You have your uphill climb, which is hard work, but you have no choice. Then you have the slow but gentle ride along a flat […]
READ MORE
This week is my last week of therapy before Christmas. I am not excited about my session but I am ok with going and last week was helpful, if not a fair bit painful. This is a brief post this week, but people have asked me what anxiety makes me do, how it manifests in […]
READ MOREWeekly therapy is looming. This afternoon, I get 50 minutes to disgorge the messy contents of my head and see if the jumble that is my anxiety and what’s going on in my life can be made sense of, in any shape or form. I am tired and I don’t really want to go, but […]
READ MORE
So I am three weeks into therapy. I should be feeling better right? All my problems should be obvious by now and we should have answers tumbling out to fix them. I should be feeling like I can see an improvement? Er, no, nope, not at all. In fact, it get worse before it gets […]
READ MORE
Today is therapy day. Session 2. Last week’s session was rushed and because I was nervous about what would happen and be said, and because I had rather stupidly overloaded my morning both before and after the session, taking on too many tasks and other people’s problems my mind was all over the place. I […]
READ MORE
Back I go. Sat in a waiting room. Paperwork filled in. Assessment complete. Waiting to see a complete stranger who will soon know more about me than most people who think they know me. Who will probably ask me questions that will make me cry. Who will listen whilst I pour out the jumbled, angry, […]
READ MORE
I will not apologize for my mental health issues. My name is Karen. I am a wife, a mother, I work part-time. I knit, I like to cook. I like to eat. I like to read. I like to watch police documentaries, when I can’t sleep. I have a family and friends who love me. […]
READ MORE
Something I have learned in my journey to dealing with my own mental health and getting myself into a more fixed better place is that not everyone wants you to be in that better place. Not everyone has grace for you to change your life. People don’t cope very well when someone makes changes […]
READ MORE