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.

Overcoming thoughts of self harm

THE following story comes from an anonymous contributor who wants to help break taboos and speak up about her thoughts of self harm, writes Linda Jones.

She says she isn't ready to be named as people aren't aware of how low she got. As her story also involves her husband, this is another reason for her name to be withheld.

Reading this account of how ill she was and how she sought help for the sake of her children will strike a chord with other parents. I'd like to say thank you to our contributor for speaking up and I hope your recovery continues to a point where you feel completely at ease. I also hope that confirming you are not alone, through comments left on this blog post will help you draw comfort from the fact so many others have been where you have and come out the other side too.

Our contributor writes:

THIS time last year I was not in a good place.

As we embarked upon the school holidays my partner was in the process of being made redundant and was on gardening leave.

For him it was a period of limbo, uncertainty, anger, rejection and a whole host of other unpleasant emotions. But I don’t think anything could have prepared us for the dramatic effect this single event would have on us as a family.

Photo by mischiru on flickr.

'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?

A survivor shares her story of living in fear

THIS post has been reproduced with permission from the writer after being first published on Sleep is for the Weak.

THE terrible unfolding events of a gun massacre in Cumbria have made some very unsettling feelings resurface for me, and I feel the need to get something down in writing – some sort of catharsis is needed. 

It doesn’t matter if you think you know who I am, or can work out my identity at the end of this piece.  That matters little to me, because I know that my ex-husband will never read this and that makes it safe to write without fear of retribution. It also means I can talk about a part of my past that I was ashamed of, and have tried to push to the back of my mind but every so often – especially at times like this – it resurfaces.

Someone once told me: 'You'll be on these indefinitely'

I SPOKE up about depression for the Someone Once Told Me website around two years ago now.

My audio interview can be found in an earlier post.

Now I've found this video from a young woman who's talking frankly about accepting she has clinical depression and that this is a major illness needing treatment.

Thanks to her for sharing her story and thanks to Mario for helping tell it.

Jessie Close -- and her sister Glenn -- speaking up about bipolar disorder

I FOUND this video at Coming out of the dark, a blog highlighted by Frances at Brighter Futures Counselling.

The hidden costs of bulimia

By Lyn Jenkins

OFTEN, those who haven't had bulimia, or cared for someone who has, (and frankly some who have) think that this disease is all about appearance.

A view of the election - and an appeal for contact - from inside a psychiatric ward

Patients resident in mental hospitals may now register to vote, unless they have been detained under certain sections of the Mental Health Act 1983 or are convicted offenders.

(Source: Electoral Commission guidelines)

DID you know that? No, nor me.

I never imagined for a minute people weren't previously allowed to vote because of a mental health condition. Shows what I know.

'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.