There's Always Light at the End of the Tunnel

The word relapse is one which is often associated with medical conditions and from my experience of hearing the term being used it is often used in relation to a person suffering from cancer. While that has been my experience for many years when I was diagnosed with mental health issues I learned that such a term can be used for a mental illness as well as a physical illness. Many people may not be aware that for people suffering with a mental illness the prospect of having a relapse is just as scary as for a person suffering from a physical illness and just like having a physical illness a relapse can happen and cause devastating effects for those with mental health issues. Over the past 2-4 weeks I had begun to feel both mentally and physically ill and to be honest I didn’t really think much of it and why would i? Things had appeared to be going great for me, my med reduction was going according to plan, I was developing new relationships with family members something which I...

There’s always light at the end of the tunnel, 9 small simple words that have the power to brighten up my day, give me strength to get out of the bed on my darkest days and that give me the courage I need to keep living my life! These 9 little words describe my blog, a place where I have written about some of the hardest things in my life, a place where I have begun documenting my journey to gain the perfect bit and a place despite being virtual that I can be myself and feel comfortable. There’s always light at the end of the tunnel is more than just a blog to me, its more than just a space for me to write things down, There’s always light at the end of the tunnel is my chance to make a difference, share my story and most importantly show people that no matter how bad things are they can and do get better. I recently got told about an opportunity to take part in a therapy programme to help me deal with my borderline personality disorder, a programme which requires commitment and...

Have you ever noticed that only people with physical illnesses are seen as survivors? Have you ever noticed that if you survive a serious operation which could potentially end your life you are considered a survivor or if you are in a near fatal accident and live to tell the tale you are a survivor or if you have been diagnosed with a life threatening illness and defy all the odds and survive you are view by society as a survivor? Being viewed as a survivor symbolizes strength, courage, bravery and determination. Surviving something as life threatening as cancer or a rare heart condition gives you the title of a survivor, a courageous and brave warrior that never gave up fighting. It allows the people around you to become inspired, honor you and see you as a role model, all because society has given you the title of a survivor. It takes some strength to defy all the odds and become a survivor of a serious illness such as cancer, believe me I know the strength which ...

We are all very much aware of the recent death of the much loved actor Robin Williams. Robin Williams death as sparked much conversation in the media regarding suicide and more specifically reasons as to why people believe Robin Williams took his own life but I am not here to write about that as I know all to well from first hand experience that there are many different reasons as to why people take their own life, something which is not a choice nor is it a cowards way out. In light of his recent death my brother sent me an article which was written regarding his death stating that Robin Williams did in fact not die by suicide but he died from depression, a mental illness which has the power to control your life, invade your thoughts and make living a chore. This article (  http://www.umbrelr.com  ) is thought provoking and really do make you think about things, even I found myself changing the way I think about suicide despite myself at times in my life attempting t...

Some can view 4 months as a long time while others consider it to be a short time. You can think of 4 months in many different ways as 4 months itself, 16 weeks 121 days, 2921 hours or even 175316 minutes. For me at this moment I think of 4 months not only as 4 months but also as 4 months of taking positive steps to ensure I continue on my road to recovery. You might be wondering what I am talking about and well if you haven't already guessed it today marks 4 months since I last engaged in self-harm. That’s 121 days without harming myself, 16 weeks of battling intrusive and obsessive thoughts and 2921 hours of containing on a long road to recovery. The past 4 months have not been easy, not by any stretch of the imagination. The past 4 months have been filed with ups and downs with many more ups occurring over the past number of weeks, which may be as a result of my recent med reduction. 4 months may not seem like a long time for some people but when thinkin...

Having recently written a post about my journey to come of my medication I felt that the best way for me to ensure I continue on a positive path is to document this journey and being me and the lover of writing that I am I felt it best to document it on my blog. Having spent just about three weeks on the lower dose of 150 mg I have been feeling great. The first three-four days of the reduction had me feeling very tired and I was initially experiencing many headaches something which I expected in many ways as I would have reacted in a similar way when my meds were increased some time ago. Despite the rough start and feeling physically crap for the first couple of days it wasn't long before I was fighting fit and back to myself once I had adjusted to 150 mg. So as a result of this positive reaction to the lower dose, my appetite improves and fining I had a lot more energy at times I decided that while everything is going great and with the support of my GP I would take t...