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© Charlotte Walker and purplepersuasion, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Charlotte Walker and purplepersuasion with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.Archives
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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Scream if you want to go higher
It is often said that people with severe mental health problems exhibit poor compliance with drug regimens. I loathe that word, compliance. The only time I ever felt really annoyed at my CMHT consultant in London was when he said … Continue reading
Have you tried mindfulness?
I was sitting at my dining table with Tom and two members of the Crisis Team. They were there because I was experiencing overwhelming intrusive thoughts of running away and killing myself. My mind was totally out of control; I … Continue reading
Running up that hill
Trigger warning: this post contains descriptions of suicidal thoughts, including methods. Please don’t read on if you are feeling at all vulnerable. I want to run. I am desperate to run. When I wrote my last post my idea was … Continue reading
Hospital at home
Trigger warning: suicidal thoughts and planning A depressing side effect of being a seasoned blogger with a fluctuating condition is that the archive makes it very clear that I go around and around, having better times, then having groundhog day … Continue reading
Posted in Bipolar, Crisis care, GP, Hospital, Inpatient care, Mental health, Mental health services, Mixed mood, Mood disorder, NHS services, Rapid cycling, Suicidal thought, Suicide, Uncategorized
Tagged Absconding, Care in the Community, Crisis, Crisis care, Crisis Resolution Team, Crisis Team, Home Treatment Team, Hospital care, Mixed mood, Psychiatric hospital, Psychiatric ward, Rapid cycling, Suicidal ideation, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide
On having a “carer”
By now I am a veteran at completing application/review forms for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP). ESA is for people who are too sick to work, while PIP is to cover extra expenses associated with … Continue reading
Posted in Anxiety, Bipolar, Crisis care, Depression, Employment and benefits, GP, Medication, Mental health, Mental health services, Mood disorder, NHS services, Rapid cycling, Suicidal thought, Treatment planning, Uncategorized
Tagged Anxiety, Benefits, Benzodiazepines, Bipolar, Carer, Community Psychiatric Nurse, Crisis Team, Depression, ESA, GPs, PIP, Suicidal thoughts
These are not the little things: unsanitary conditions on mental health wards
Today I got angry after reading a tweet. Just a regular day then, you might think, except this one made me so angry I have had to blog for the first time in months. I was reading a thread about … Continue reading
Christmas approaches
It’s been a long time since I posted. I just don’t feel the urge as much these days; I’ve become habituated to things like hospitalisation and crisis care, therapy and medication changes, so although these things continue to play a … Continue reading
Posted in Bipolar, Christmas, Crisis care, Depression, Employment and benefits, exercise, Hospital, Hypomania, Inpatient care, Medication, Mental health, Mental health services, Mixed mood, Mood disorder, NHS services, psychology, Self-management, Therapy, Uncategorized
Tagged Antidepressants, Care and treatment planning, Care co-ordination, Care co-ordinator, Cats, Christmas, Crisis Team, Depression, Duloxetine, Employment, Festive season, Holiday season, Mood monitoring, Mood tracking, New Year, Psychological therapies, Therapy, Treatment planning, Work
The pam fam: the demonisation of benzodiazepines
“Diazepam.” A single word tweet. Regular readers or Twitter followers will know what that meant: I had hit an intolerable level of anxiety which I was managing with a prescribed benzodiazepine. One which I am not only authorised but encouraged … Continue reading
Posted in Bipolar, CBT, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Depression, Hypomania, Mental health, Mental health services, Mixed mood, Mood disorder, NHS services, Pillshaming, Primary care, Psychiatry, Rapid cycling, Self-management, Social media, Stigma and discrimination, Suicide, Treatment planning, Uncategorized
Tagged Benzodiazepines, Benzos, Bipolar, Bipolar affective disorder, Bipolar disorder, Crisis, Diazepam, GPs, Lorazepam, Mixed affective state, Mixed episode, Mixed mood, Mixed state, Prescribing, Prescribing practice, Primary care, Social media, Temazepam, Twitter, Xanax
Roll with it
This morning I managed to shave my legs. It’s the closest to achieving anything that I have reached in days. Because here am I, depressed again. I’m kind of waiting for my CPN (Community Psychiatric Nurse) to say “I told … Continue reading
So long, lithium
I can tell you pretty accurately when I started taking lithium, because I blogged about it (wow, I have been blogging for a long time). In fact, that post tells me that it’s very nearly seven years to the day. … Continue reading
Posted in Bipolar, Medication, Mood disorder, Side effects, Uncategorized
Tagged Drugs, Lithium, Medication, Mood stabiliser, Mood stabilisers, Prescribing
