Breaking the silence

Breaking the Silence carnival of mental illness blog posts, August 19

HELLO and thank you so much for reading our blog. Thank you for all the messages you have sent in the last few days saying how much you appreciate the chance to speak up about mental illness and thank you for sharing links to your posts 'behind the scenes.'

We thought it would be a good idea to have a monthly carnival of blog posts about mental illness and now seemed as good a time as any to start.

So, this is how it will work.

1. If you would like to enter a post you have already written into the carnival, please leave a comment here on this post before Tuesday, August 17 which includes a link to your post and a reason why you would like to flag it up.

'Talking really does help' by Suzi Shaw from Dealing with Depression

A COUPLE of years ago when I first started to try and make sense of having depression and also felt bewildered and scared by facing up to others' mental illness, I discovered the forum Dealing with Depression. I will be eternally grateful for the help and support it gave me.

So how wonderful it is to welcome founding member (and now owner) Suzi Shaw as a guest blogger on Breaking the Silence.

She writes:

My name is Suzi from Dealing with Depression, known as DWD, a forum for people with mental health illness, specifically depression, their friends and family. Although none of us are professionals, we all have experience of depression.

Is mental illness funny?

A THOUGHT-provoking video - do you think it makes a valid point?

Breaking the Silence blog update

LYN and I met before half term to talk about the future of this blog with an aim of planning upcoming content.

That plan will soon be under way.

In the coming weeks we'll start to make some tweaks to ensure it's serving the purpose we hope it can and continuing to provide a platform for people to speak up about their experiences of mental illness.

Thank you to everyone who has posted on, commented on or read our blog so far. It's hard to describe how it feels when someone tells you that something you have written or published has helped them.

But this is happening regularly with this blog and we are very touched by the feedback.

That's why we want to continue.

'How my friends and family react to mental illness' in video

HAVING written about how I felt mental illness has affected my friendships over the years, I was very interested in this lady's story.

It brings a lump to my throat and is well worth a look.

Understanding schizophrenia: YouTube video explains symptoms

WHEN I started this blog, I never realised where it could take me. One aspect I didn't anticipate was how much I would learn and how my own preconceptions would be challenged.

Thanks to our contributors I now have a greater understanding of various conditions. Most of all, I feel I have learned about schizophrenia and moved on from wrong assumptions previously forged by a media intent on sensationalising its effects.

With this is mind, I wanted to find a video on YouTube to share here which explains clearly and compassionately what schizophrenia is and what it means for its sufferers.

The above video has been helpful in this respect. I hope it may answer questions from readers too.

Debt and mental health: 'Ignoring things will make it worse'

By Linda Jones

DO you have an unopened bill or six hidden away in a drawer?

Don't we all.

But please do all you can to stop things escalating. It's easier said than done of course, but there is help available.

I recently contributed a feature on bankruptcy to Able magazine and wanted to include the experience of someone whose mental health had suffered because of the debt they were in.

I'm reproducing this article here in case it is of any interest.

Essentials magazine: Health insight - 'the secret we need to talk about'

THIS month in Essentials magazine four women tell their stories of experiences of mental distress and explain why they feel we should all be more open.

I'm one of them.

My headline reads: "At last it made sense, I wasn't mad or weak - I was ill."

I'm featured discussing past episodes of depression alongside Sasha talking about post-natal depression, Barbara who details her OCD and Siobhan who explains how she has been affected by bipolar disorder.

The photo shoot was hilarious and full of fun. It's not a day I will forget in a hurry thanks to the warmth of the Essentials team and the laughs I shared with the inspirational women featured, not least Barbara who had me in stitches. I'm also delighted that the piece, the brainchild of journalist Alison Palmer, includes a plug for  this blog.

If you get chance, I hope you can check the feature out.

Wanted: Mental health blogs

IN the far right column of this blog, scroll down a bit and you will see a pretty sparse list of mental health blogs.

Here are some blogs, however recently I discovered them, that have drawn me back:

Pole to Polar: Secret Life of a Manic Depressive

Cage without a key

Reluctant Memsahib

Schizophrenia, a carer's journal

Mental Nurse

But I want to update the list in the hope of helping find more.

Please leave the name of your blog, if you would like to be included, or any others that you would like to recommend in the comments on this post.

Thank you.

'Don't shun us, we are just like everyone else' Comic Relief mental health video

MORE than a year on, this video still packs a punch.