Reducing the stigma around mental health
By Christopher Naylor “The stigma associated with mental illness harms the self-esteem of many people who have serious mental illnesses. An important consequence of reducing stigma would be to improve the self-esteem of people who have mental illnesses.” Source: ps.psychiatryonline.org. Mental health stigma damages self-esteem and delays recovery. It was Continue Reading
By Sophie Ann I get ready for my shower: marshmallow wash on the side, hair products beside it, mint green scrub to wash my legs, towels sprawled over the radiator, moisturiser propped on the washing basket. Stripping off my travel clothes, I pull out my ratty hair and observe the Continue Reading
By Shirley Davis Locus of control is a state of mind where we place our belief in how the outcomes of our lives internally or externally. Looking for someone else to make us happy is external locus of control, and a recipe for disaster. Looking inward for control over our Continue Reading
By Elli Being too busy is, for me, often the first step on the path to deteriorating mental health. I have made many changes to build a life where I manage my mental health. One of the most important disciplines I have started to build is the practice of less. Continue Reading
By Eddie Kedge “Lucky I don’t shoot you,” said the man standing over me in my garage. He’d already brought me to the ground and I was lying face down trying to do what he was saying to me. Well, trying to understand what he was yelling at me. “Lucky Continue Reading
By MissyDee My talk with suicide No, I am not suicidal. I’m pretty damn logical and well-balanced, I think. I might be emotional at times, but that is my need for acceptance rearing its head. A horrible depression, far more insidious than my normal episodes, made me struggle for about Continue Reading
By Joe Doyle I visited my mother’s grave on my 22nd birthday. As I stood there praying and talking quietly to her, every hair on my body rose. I believe that my mother spoke to me: she was there for a brief time. Inspiration for my songs I finished my Continue Reading
By Maureen Powell Several years ago I worked for a software company. It was a small, privately owned company with a family atmosphere. The pay and benefits were good and there was a feeling around the office that the owners really cared about the employees, many of whom had worked Continue Reading
By Elli Anxiety is a beast and it has no manners. It never waited for me to get dressed or have my breakfast before it pounced. It sat on the end of my bed waiting for me to open my eyes, dictating to me how the day would start. As Continue Reading
By Paul Jameson Follow the Giant Rabbit I watch the giant rabbit on the bed. The size of a small teenager, and ugly, it’s watching me and grinning maliciously. I can’t help but think of Pipkins and Hartley Hare, a dark demonic-looking creature, scruffy and dirty, with a grubby red Continue Reading
By Meg I feel like a criminal. It started in hospital, where many of the nurses thought it ok to shout at patients. Back then, I felt I had done something awful. Funnily enough, the night the police brought me home they treated me with compassion. They didn’t make me Continue Reading
By Sara-Jane Morphew I have always been a creative person, and have always known myself as one. Fairly early on in my counselling sessions, it became clear that my creative personality was being ignored. I wasn’t expressing my creativity day to day, and I needed to. This meant that I Continue Reading