Many of us’s blog

We are known as many of us, we’re a multiple. Thats right, we have what is now known as dissociative identity disorder. We were officially diagnosed in 2010. But we’d been unofficially diagnosed since 2000. We also have other diagnosis, PTSD, Anxiety depression and an eating disorder to name a few. We are blind, have been since birth and we have a beautiful guide dog named Nitro. He’s 3 years old and our pride and joy. We’d like to take the pledge to blog for mental health 2014. We’ve been a mental health service user since 1997, to the present date. We’ve had many hospital admissions, suicide attempts, bad expereiences in mh services, but also, we’ve had many good experiences. We’re an abuse survivor, read our about me page to know more about that. I look forward to blogging for mental health in this coming year.

Read the post in its entirety!  Visit Blog for mental health 2014 I take the pledge, do you? | Many of us’s blog.

Sum Ego Invicte

Where does this myth come from?  Why do people believe that those with mental illness can simply snap out of it? I believe it is because they simply don’t have any comparable experience, but assume they do. When depressed I’ve heard comments such as ‘pull your socks up’, ‘you just need to look for the silver lining’ or ‘I know how you feel I’ve been feeling a little down lately’. Whilst everyone feels down from time to time what the people who said these things fail to understand is that they have only ever experienced feeling down within the realms of normal mood, never even close to the extreme experience of those with mental illness.  They can’t understand the despairing blackness that is depression because they have only ever felt sad and it’s very difficult to project and imagine beyond their own experience.  As a result they assume that feeling depressed is just like feeling down but for an extended period and it isn’t.  They assume that because when they feel ‘down’ they can get it together and carry on or still find ways to distract and enjoy themselves then someone with depression should be able to do the same and if they can’t its obviously because they don’t want to or due to some character flaw.  In reality it’s like comparing a harmless mole to skin cancer, but whilst it’s unlikely anyone would presume to think they knew what it was like to have skin cancer because they have a mole, many do presume to think they know what it is like to have a mental illness because they experience normal shifts in mood.

Read the post in its entirety!  Visit The Myths of Mental Illness: #1 | Sum Ego Invicte.

Phoenix Fights

A potted (or potty?) history for you; I am HSP and have suffered from depression as far back as I remember.  In the summer of 2014 I walked out of my job after being bullied and pressured to torturous levels as a result of sharing my condition with my line manager (I know – a regular prince, hey?), promptly melted, Wicked  Witch of the West like, into a sticky, heaving puddle of self hatred and humiliation and slept for six months, then started Phoenix Flights on the stroke of midnight New Year’s eve 2012 as a way to offload somewhere safe, work through my aims and recovery for 2013, sharing what I did and how I progressed online.

I thought I’d be done in a year and come January 2014 everything would be, if not roses, on track with regards to my recovery and being able to lead a full, normal life.

Remember that saying about making plans if you want God to chortle?!

Read the post in its entirety!  Visit BLOGGING FOR MENTAL HEALTH – LIKE MY LIFE DEPENDS ON IT | Phoenix Fights.

You Are Not Alone – Sick

I was sleepy and tired but did not want to  go home for rest. Instead, I took almost 2 hour-walk along the mountain after lunch with big appetite and went to the gym to work out for 2 hours despite tiredness and migraine. By the time I got home, it was past 10 p.m. I cooked soup with fish cake, onion, oysters, an egg, dumplings and sea weeds. Because I had late dinner, I stayed up late knowing it would not be healthy eating and sleeping right away. I stayed up until 5 a.m. job searching and sending my resume to a few Korean internet startups for a marketing position opening. I also chatted with a new acquaintance in San Francisco on Skype while he is at work. I asked him questions about Korean startups and their products for his insight. A bad cycle. I am up until 4 or 5 a.m. and get up around noon not feeling quite refreshed and rested. Because of messed up sleep cycle, there is hormone imbalance in my body system accordingly which increases my appetite. 

Read the rest of the story!  Visit Sick | You Are Not Alone.

Ocean Glass Half Full

Obviously, I come from a long line of mental illnesses and emotional disorders and yet when my daughter was diagnosed, I overwhelmed, frustrated felt very alone. Who am I kidding? I still feel all those things. It is especially difficult when something she experiences because of her PTSD ends up triggering my own PTSD. It is difficult and lonely and one of the things I am most committed to getting through.

It has been a mere three weeks since I learned about this endeavor. In that short time I have been able to find more blogs than I can possibly read and, perhaps more importantly, bloggers bravely sharing their experiences and stories with candor and creativity. I am connected to more resources and more people on the very issues I was seeking community and, dare I say, camaraderie.

Read the post in its entirety!  Visit Blog for Mental Health 2014 | Ocean Glass Half Full.