When Black Becomes a Rainbow

Not such a good week. Just gotta get through one day at a time. Be back when I find the light switch. R Xx

Following a conversation on Twitter (my favourite place to hang out nowadays FYI) about positive coping mechanisms, I thought I would take a look at some of the ones I have used and found helpful. On the day I was admitted into hospital a few years back, I remember being ceremoniously dumped into the 'crafts' room (dare I say a room looking more like an art supply cupboard found in your local Primary School than somewhere one would find therapeutic solace). At first I felt rather daft sitting there; colouring and painting was for kids, not grown adults. The flower pot picture at the top of the 'colouring in pile' stared defiantly back at me, as if to say 'you must be ill if you are doing weird things like colouring me in'.  I mean who bloody cared whether the flowers were coloured in or not? (Cynicism much?). My Paint-by-number After a little while however, with a little bit of coaxing from my key worker, I began to warm to the idea. I picked up so...

Sadly, last night was my last session on the Mental Health First Aid course - and as they say, all good things come to an end.  For someone who has been labelled most of the mental health diagnoses known to modern day psychiatry, I didn't know how much I was going to gain in actual knowledge from the course. I was to be proven wrong; the spectacular expertise of the two facilitators meant that the material was given over in such a way that it gave a new perspective on mental health. Furthermore, the environment was so warm and understanding that everyone within the group felt comfortable to speak out about their experiences and understanding of mental illness. It was amazing how this small group of people embraced the openness, both about their own everyday struggles, but also in their attempt to understand what it actually feels like to suffer with a mental illness.  The course not only gave me more of an objective understanding of the illnesses featured, b...

Ok, I needed to catch your attention, but I also do need your help! If I am to get more people to open up about their experiences with mental illnesses, I am going to need YOU to get my message out there. My message is plain and simple:  It Is Okay To talk About Mental Illness!!! I know what you are thinking - this Rivkah hasn't stopped driving us mad - but I can't and won't stop until I have an army of people behind me helping others to open up and share their experiences. So like it or lump it; I am here to stay. The Cheesy Gremlin of Mental Health Blogging is going to be here till the bitter end. The worst part when I first got ill in my early teens was that I had no idea why I was feeling like I was.  Why could nothing make me feel happy? Why could I not see a future? Why did everything look so bleak? I didn't understand those feelings because I didn't know about the illness called Depression.  It is possible that had I known about and understoo...