Self Medicating. (John)

Well this is nice. We've ended up with a transatlantic conversation here on the idea of Self Medicating. Bipolar Barb  has just blogged regarding this, on her own site, in response to Elle's last post Self Medicating (Elle) on here. Much thanks for your input Barb and now I'll add mine to the mix. I definitely see my…

Self Medicating (Elle)

As my consultant said recently, medication has its role, but it's not the be all and end all. I really respect her for this view - it's close to my own opinion. So this had me wondering how else I 'medicate' myself aside from the meds I take. My first risky run in with self-medication…

Bipolar Mixed Episodes (Elle)

Basically I'm for anything that gets you through the night – be it prayer, tranquillizers or a bottle of Jack Daniels. (Frank Sinatra) I feel like my brain is full of crushed salt and vinegar crisps and red hot needles. I say this with some sort of satisfaction because I believe it's a better description…

Onset psychosis (iii) John.

so I decided to go to bed and prepare for my mission tomorrow. I had no idea what this mission was, but it was definitely important and I was quite looking forward to it… A few weeks back I did a couple of posts about my first dalliance with psychosis. I finished the second part…

Hurdles. (John)

When I first met Elle I was struck by her ability to analyse some of the ways I go about explaining/coping with things. She spotted something that one of my favourite psychiatrists noticed when I was under her care. I use diminishing language to cope with major events, especially events relating to my own mental…

IRL (Elle)

(=In Real Life) Starting this blog has changed the shape of my world. I used to be an unconnected island of one. I've never had a facebook page or twitter account. My mobile phone is dumb. Then all of a sudden I launched into co-writing this blog, and became connected to the whole world. The…

Sick Government = Sick Society.

I'm delighted to have become friends with Elle, both via this blog and getting to know her in the real world. It can be hard knowing that she's not having the best of times regarding her health. One thing I find most frustrating is that we are currently under the cosh of an inhumane government…

A Rucksack Full of Stones (Elle)

I've tried a few times in this blog to really describe what it feels like to be in my head/body. I thought that was my purpose in writing here, so that other people could  experience and understand it.  But I have a growing disquieting feeling now that it's actually impossible to let another human being share…

Romanticising Bad Mental health (John)

Dear readers I'm currently rehearsing (plus doing a bucket of other stuff) to do my show on Mental Health Delusions at my university this week. So I'm not going to have time to make new content until after that. So I've dug up this older blog from another site to fill the gap. Please don't take…

The Energy Equation (Elle)

I feel that the experience of mental illness can be a journey. That's how I see it anyhow, though I totally understand those who feel that it's a static unending affliction they'd rather shake free of…. For me it's a journey, and can be a learning and growing experience. (Though perhaps it's just so painful…