Yesterday we celebrated our first wedding anniversary. Our wedding was a magical day but, in the two years since we got engaged, life has taken some unexpected turns. My mental and physical health has taken quite a bashing. I’m not fully recovered – and I’m working hard to challenge and change thought patterns and reactions that…
Tag: Mental Health
We need to talk about mental health and trying to conceive #takeoffthetape
Mind has been asking people to #TakeOffTheTape and share something that makes them anxious. Something they haven’t spoken about before. I thought I would use the opportunity to write about something that’s hardly spoken about at all. I’m finding it incredibly hard to balance trying to conceive with managing my mental health. We don’t talk about…
Standing up to stigma – why I blog about work, projects & my mental health in one place
Pressing pause Every time I go to press ‘publish’ on a tricky post exploring my mental health I pause for a moment. The way my blog has developed means that my personal struggles and successes sit alongside blogs about my work and details of my skills, training and experience. Should I keep them separate? Will employers reject…
The Regret Tape and the I’m Not Good Enough Mix – new metaphors and thinking tools for managing anxiety and depression
I’ve recently come off Sertraline after 15 years on various SSRIs. It’s been a long and tricky journey but I think I might be almost there. I’ve written a bit more about that here. Using metaphors to identify, share and understand my mental health During this period I’ve found two metaphors very helpful. I love…
Coming off anti depressants – withdrawing from Citalopram and Sertraline
Day six in Foster’s brain and all is reasonably calm… As I write I’m on the sixth day without any form of SSRI at all. This is new territory for me. I’ve taken them every day for 15 years (with terrible healthcare making it much trickier). Three months ago I moved to Sertraline. Two months…
APP’s online peer support services: vital and life changing
“I’ll always remember the first time I met a ‘PP lady’. It was a very special day.” “I had lots of friends who were mums but none of them understood what I was going through. I felt weird, lonely and isolated. When I found the forum I was like ‘Oh my god. People understand.” Last Saturday…
PMT, hormones and withdrawal – treading on mood eggshells
It’s fair to say I’m not compleeetely on top of things today. The doctor moved me from Citalopram to Sertraline last month (slightly better for any potential pregnancies) and suggested I try and reduce the dose a little (again in preparation for the same). I wasn’t sure whether this was a good idea considering I’ve…
Exercise addiction and eating problems – good days, bad days and thought gremlins
It’s been a few months since I last wrote about the tangle of eating, exercise and emotions I have found myself in this year. I’m tired. More than anything I’m tired of thinking about food, eating, exercise and what I ‘should’ be doing. It’s just so tedious. Meditation, interesting work, DIY, time spent with friends and…
Engagement, co-design and community moderation on the Elefriends community at Mind
I’ve just finished 9 months working on the mental health peer support community Elefriends. The role was a maternity cover post and focused on community engagement as well as moderation training and support. So what did I get up to? Six co-design workshops with community members I organised and co-facilitated six co-design workshops with community…
Exercise addiction – managing the tangle of anxiety, eating and exercise.
Last Sunday I spent all day exercising It started when I pressed snooze at 6am and cancelled my spinning class. I’d been in the gym at 6.30 all the previous week and had just returned from a busy couple of days running and walking in Cornwall. I was exhausted. But I didn’t get back to sleep. Anxiety…
Running for Sane – Christie’s story
Exercise for mental health I’ve been thinking a lot about sport, and running for mental health recently. This is partly due to work – I’m involved in the development of Mind’s Get Set To Go programme through the Elefriends community. I’ve also written a number of posts for New Level on the benefits of exercise for…
The mindfulness of dogs – a #mentalhealthselfie for Mind
Mind asked me to created a #mentalhealthselfie, a video blog about my mental health, for Mental Health Awareness Week 2015. The theme was mindfulness. “He reminds me to be curious” – how Watson helps me practice mindfulness As I blogged for Mind about my Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy course in 2012, I decided to do something…
Take 5 to blog for Time to Change
Time to Talk for Time to Change Today is Time to Talk day. Once again the Time to Change campaign is encouraging people to take some time to break the silence that so often surrounds mental health problems and have a conversation with friends, family or colleagues. Or, in this case, the internet. #Take5toBlog So…
Overcoming barriers to accessing therapy – a post for the RSCPP
RSCPP connects people with local registered therapists. It also contains articles and resources about issues you might face and the types of therapy available. Of course, these are private therapists. And therapy isn’t cheap (although if you get the right help, it can be immensely valuable). Much of the work I have done in the past…