Don’t Pity Me: Psychosis Gave Me Mad Skills
As everyone who watched BBC Horizon’s documentary ‘Why Did I Go Mad?’ can attest, I’ve struggled with some pretty intense things: hearing voices, seeing visions, paranoia and the legacy of childhood trauma. Despite spending much of my early twenties in hospital, doped up to the eyeballs with strong medication, pity really is the last thing […]
Mad Tunes: My New Podcast on Music & Mental Health
Music has, in so many ways, been a lifeline for me. As a teenager I wrote songs to survive. As an adult I have playlist upon playlist that I can cling to when life gets a bit much. So many musicians – myself included – have stories that weave in and around the songs we […]
Working with Self-Harm: A Relational Approach
This online workshop runs over 2 x 0.5 days, from 1pm – 5pm on Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 September 2021. Whilst there is a growing awareness of the prevalence of self-harm, it remains a challenging area for many who are trying to support those who use it as a survival strategy and/or means of […]
Talking about life, living & madness
A few weeks ago, I spent an evening chatting with Beth and Tom from ‘Notes on the Mind’ – a new podcast that aims to demystify experiences that are often seen as ‘mad’ or hard to talk about. I went in to the interview really questioning whether I had anything of interest or use to […]
Our Family Was Forged In Fire: Living Through Postnatal Psychosis
Today, Thea Mae – my little warrior child – is three years old. I can barely believe how much time has passed since I first held in her my arms. Yet, it also feels like she’s been with us forever. These past three years have been eventful, to say the least. In addition to the […]
Some of the things that excite me about Open Dialogue
Time is limited, and these days I try to orient myself around the people and initiatives that I connect with. My family and friends remain top of my list. Music, the Hearing Voices Movement and creative approaches to being with people in distress are a close second. On this site I’ve spent plenty of time […]
It’s there in the crunch of the autumn leaves: living with my friend’s suicide
Today marks the 18-year anniversary of the suicide of one of my closest friends – Susan. As I type these words my eyes sting and my heart feels heavy. I was walking my dog earlier and found my heart beating in two times. In the first I am walking in 2020, noticing the crunch of the autumn leaves beneath my feet. In the second it is 2002. The leaves are different – they crunch underneath my feet as I’m walking to her flat.
Walking with ghosts and finding a way forward
My first walk in preparation for my fundraising challenge was a biggie – it was an emotional challenge as much as a physical one, and definitely left its mark. If you’d like to sponsor me, please see: Walking 874 miles for HVN: My first steps
Walking 874 miles for HVN and me
As those of you who follow me on social media might already know, I’ve taken the mad/courageous decision to walk 874 miles (the equivalent of trekking the iconic route from Lands End to John O’Groats) in 80 days to raise funds for the National Hearing Voices Network. This might not sound much, but if you […]
55 Steps: a battle cry against forced ‘treatment’ for us all
A response to 55 Steps – a film featuring Helena Bonham Carter and Hilary Swank that tells the story of Eleanor Reise (a lady repeatedly drugged against her will) and Collette (her lawyer). The film was effectively buried. Here’s why we need to work together to resurrect it.
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