| Mental Healthy

My recovery to a full meaningful life with schizophrenia and ME

Like Charlotte, the editor of this fabulous site, I have a favourite mental health quote: “Recovery is about building a meaningful and satisfying life, as defined by the person themselves, whether or not there are on-going or recurring...

Anonymous

22nd June 2011

Most people with schizophrenia are neither violent nor homicidal

If you have read my work for a variety of mental health magazines and my other blogs you will know by now that I have a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. I'm not a "paranoid schizophrenic" -- this is a stigmatising and...

Anonymous

25th June 2011

The acute pain of my first psychotic breakdown

I was moved to tears by Charlotte's latest blog on Friday and I promised her I would open up fully about what it's like to experience an "acute psychotic episode" -- the worst kind of nervous breakdown -- which happened to me 8...

Anonymous

27th June 2011

The joy of recovery through photography

If you've read my previous blog, you may have spotted a couple of images of BBC TV Centre and Big AM Manchester's former studios at Salford Quays, where I was a journalist and bulletin editor/newsreader. A few people have asked me...

Anonymous

2nd July 2011

When professional boundaries break down

I dedicate this to my friend going through the same issues as my former mental health worker: So lonely for female companionship was I At a time I was so low It was all I could do not to die My young mental health worker caught my eye...

Anonymous

9th July 2011

Video of my recovery from psychosis by CBT

Recovery from psychosis by CBT - my story I was feeling quite low on the day Charlotte commissioned this video so although I smiled with my voice I did not with my face. This is how people who've mainly worked in radio often are anyway: we...

Anonymous

15th July 2011

Hearing voices and thought insertion

It’s not that commonly known outside psychiatry that medication designed to make you better from psychosis actually starts off by making you worse. These are known as “paradoxical symptoms or side effects” and in my case the...

Anonymous

23rd July 2011

Social inclusion and its importance to recovery

It’s rare that I have to seek permissions before writing a blog but I wanted to post today about Creative Support and Community Restart – the two organisations which have played the biggest role in helping me regain my independence and...

Anonymous

31st July 2011

My constant battle against suicide and suicidal thoughts

Lonestar - Amazed Suicidal and Paranoid Ideation I have touched upon my suicidal and paranoid thoughts in previous blogs, and a couple of weeks ago I had strong suicidal thoughts again and am still suffering mild ones this weekend and I wanted...

Anonymous

7th August 2011

Severe nightmares and vulnerability to psychosis

Research has shown that having severe nightmares is an indicator of vulnerability to potentially developing psychosis and psychotic episodes (1). In my case, I have always had vivid dreams and nightmares, but the really terrifying ones such as...

Anonymous

14th August 2011

Why 9/11 will be etched in my mind forever

My parents were due to make an international flight as I spent September 11th 2001 on a day off work as a broadcast journalist and, as I listened to BBC Radio 5 Live in my car out in the middle of the countryside, I heard the first terrible news...

Anonymous

11th September 2011

The hell that is diazepam withdrawal

If you've just received the Mental Healthy newsletter and missed my regular blog entry within it -- I'll share a secret with you. I'm in diazepam withdrawal ... AGAIN! For 8 years now psychiatrists have been...

Anonymous

30th September 2011

Why Christmas is the worst time of year to be sectioned

'Twas broad daylight in Wintertime. The sun was shining. There was snow on high ground still, and pretty it looked too. Christmas had been quite an ordeal that year -- I thought all the Santa-themed presents were sex toys and...

Anonymous

20th December 2011

When mental health services provoke complaints

The Crisis Team that wouldn't admit me or hospitalise me when compulsively suicidal ... The junior psychiatrist who asked me, in front of my mum, why I didn't want to kill myself or her ... The support worker who pulled out a knife on me and...

Anonymous

4th March 2012

Mental health related developmental delays can mirror autism

I have always known I am a little different to other people. I am a little awkward socially -- I have some close friends but not a wide circle outside of the mental health field. I have immense problems...

Anonymous

7th April 2012

The importance of early intervention in psychosis

Childhood early warning signs of mild paranoia I first suffered from very mild paranoia when I was at primary school - as a class we watched a children's TV sci-fi drama in which, towards the end, a character pointed a device with a...

Anonymous

21st May 2012