As someone who yesterday wrote this: Today I’ve struggled not to dissolve in to tears about the mess of a person I am and the mess of a year I’ve just had. Whether it was comparisons with others (the achievements and lives of my friends, people I went to school with, people I’ve been in… Continue reading Dishing out advice is so much easier than following it…
Tag: inspiration
Painful Contradictions in Mental Health Treatment
I’m having a contrary time at the moment.
On the one hand, I am feeling incredibly awful – dealing with dreadful anniversaries, and a whole host of guilt, shame, self-hatred and fear that go with them.
On the other, I had the most positive CPA I could hope for today in terms of recognition of the work I am putting in to my placement (& the intensive therapy that is part and parcel), the progress I’ve already made, and everyone’s hopes for the positive trajectory of recovery they are currently predicting.
This second point is also making me guilty that I can’t “just be positive” and focus on the blessings of the help and support I am currently receiving that led to as yet unheard of positivity from everyone at the meeting (including myself). But here I am feeling overwhelmingly sad for all I’ve put those around me through and struggling to cope with that guilt.
To try to help get through, I was searching for a positive quote to paint as a reminder for myself, and this one struck a chord…
A Wise Hedgehog with Important Messages
Today I created a range of motivational mental health related posters with a doodled ‘wise hedgehog’ and colourful mixed media design whilst at the Acute Community Unit.
I’m not sure where the combination came from, but out popped this first one with a message that I myself really need reminding of:
As well as one that sprung from a difficult conversation I had just had with the crisis team manager:
With 2 other mental health themed ones:
And one more to do with art/creativity:
After a lot of enthusiasm on Twitter and some requests, I have put these designs up for sale on Zazzle- whether you yourself would like a reminder of any of these messages or if you know someone whose day might be brightened by receiving one of these…Posters can be purchased from this link: https://www.zazzle.co.uk/thedoodlechronicles
Plus, if you buy in the next few days, you can get 20% off with the code JULYSAVINGS20.
Let me know what you think about my wise little hedgehog… 🙂
Forget All That You’re Not
These beautiful words were shared with me today and I just wanted to pass this important message on…
…I hope you can take them to heart and try to remember all that you ARE rather than what you’re not.
Letters to Myself over an Expected Tough Time
I and the professionals around me knew that the last few days were going to be tough for me. Circumstances and the state of my mental health before, combined with the pressures and triggers over the festive period, as well as past experience led us to believe that it was going to be a tricky… Continue reading Letters to Myself over an Expected Tough Time
What I Woke Up To This Morning
What I woke up to this morning, snuck up by the staff while I slept:
“Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tip toe if you must, but take the step.”
What Does an Occupational Therapist do in Mental Health? A Lot More Than You Might Think…
As someone fortunate enough to be living in a placement for complex mental health needs with an in-house occupational therapist, not only was my life genuinely saved by her last week  (she is the person that got me to reveal my location and coordinated emergency help, saving my life by a hair’s breadth), I spent… Continue reading What Does an Occupational Therapist do in Mental Health? A Lot More Than You Might Think…
Just Bee
What my Occupational Therapist is trying to convince me to do
Hold On Pain Ends
Today’s Occupational Therapy activity was stone painting. I made something I need to try to convince myself:
Hold
On
Pain
Ends
“You’re braver than you believe, you’re stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
“You’re braver than you believe, you’re stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
Never have wiser words been spoken by a bear.
I am NOT broken
“But I’m so irreversibly broken” – a constant refrain of mine. I’m so terrified that I’ve been broken so completely and for so long that there’s no coming back…and, in fact, nothing to ‘get back’ to as this all started before adolescence; I’m scared that there stopped being a ‘me’ after childhood, and the ‘me’ that could or should have developed during adolescence couldn’t and wasn’t allowed to. What if there isn’t and can never be a ‘me’? What if this is all there is?
An awesome crisis nurse has been trying to help me work through this, having heard this fear from me constantly and tried in earnest to persuade me that I’m not broken, that nothing is irreversible, and that there really is a ‘me’ that should have hope for a whole and happy future. She set me the task of producing a piece of art to try to remind myself of this and I wanted to share this with you all, as I know I’m not the only one who struggles with this.
So, this is a reminder for anyone struggling with their mental health: you are NOT broken. It can be so hard to believe this because poorly brains can be so convincing about telling us we are hopelessly beyond repair. So, so hard. But if my art helps in any way, please feel free to print off a copy for yourself and, as the aforementioned awesome crisis nurse always says to me: “Say it until you believe it”:
Insight and Wisdom from Boggle the Owl
I stumbled across Boggle the Owl again today, and my did I need to hear his insight and wisdom!
I love this little owl and the messages that the artist conveys through him – they’re a good reminder for myself and anyone else who struggles with their mental health.
Here are 3 of my favourite pieces:
Peer Support Project – ‘Fight Song’
Over on my peer support group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/DoodleChroniclesPeerSupport/), we are working on a group project around Rachel Platten’s ‘Fight Song’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo1VInw-SKc) at the moment. I’m hoping to create a video to go along with this anthem in order to tailor its already powerful message towards mental health. To do this, as well as my own drawings,… Continue reading Peer Support Project – ‘Fight Song’
thedoodlechroniclesblog 