Adapt_overcome_strive

07/02/2023

Monday motivation or Monday moans?

Take a moment to check in with yourself as this day draws to a close. How are you feeling? What does your body need in order to feel stronger, safer or settled?

✨End the day rehydrating, cut the caffeine and have some water.

✨Use references and tools to help you unwind. There are lots out there and in so many different formats. I personally use Maslows hierarchy of needs- one that most people will be familiar with. I check my basic needs first of course.

✨Take a seat somewhere comfortable and close your eyes take a deep breath and on inhalation stretch every muscle you can possibly connect with. If you notice any tender points, anything that feels tight, then spend some time gently stretching that area.

✨Avoid the aimless scrolling, your focus is better put elsewhere. Stop and check, what are you trying to do? Fill time because of boredom? Distract yourself from what’s going on mentally or physically? Avoiding sleep?

✨Personally not my thing but guided meditations are used by so many people and is for some a very good way to really connect and check in with your body.

✨Repetitive thoughts? Try writing, you can’t write as quick as those racing thoughts.

It can be difficult to sit with ourselves sometimes which can lead to avoiding behaviours. With time and practice it does get easier, the more you know the better you get💜

08/01/2023

✨D•I•Y scrunchie holder is up! This was my first mini craft project of 2023, after moving into my own home it’s been so great to get my own creations and own bits of artwork up to make the place feel more homely 🏡 💕

My aims for this first quarter of the year are to share some of my mental health resources with other people and find more inclusive ways of accessing mental health resources for others. • this is currently coming in the form of wellness cards and my own health and well-being scrapbook that contains information on various different tips and tricks and lots of honest words from a personal perspective as well as some of the book stuff too 📚📓📔 I can’t wait to share more tools with you all 💗 and of course a goal is to grow this account to spread reach amongst our locals and with people further afield. Im sure that linking up with and wonderful people like is going to be of huge inspiration And support in the journeys ahead!

A whole lot of love going out to all 💞💞

19/09/2022

💡So how can I help?💡

Educate yourself... (more on this down the post).

When faced with long-term health conditions it can be a really scary time. Not just for oneself but for the people around you too.

People ask me, how can I help? I see the desperation in their faces and sense the sincerity in the words. People do genuinely want to help. The issue is that people don't want to help you to carry on getting better, they hope that their help will cure you of all ills and all evils. Fellow chronic illness suffers will have heard "If I had a magic wand, I would take it all away". A sweet sentiment really.

The more you know, the better you can prepare and the more you can support.

If you haven't heard of the diagnosis, look it up on credited sites. NHS websites are usually really good at signposting to other services/websites for information. Pay attention, ask questions about the things you don't understand. Enrol on courses that are out there, ask if the person you are trying to support will look into making a support plan, or something that would help them to help you when you are unwell.

I've always told myself never stop learning.

To my friends, I ask you to research what I am living with, the side effects of the medications and the reasons why I can't "just have one drink". Be the person who asks the questions and ask them before it's too late and that person becomes too distant.

30/08/2022

"Have you ever thought about just not taking all those tablets? They can't be good for you."

Please stop with these sorts of questions and statements. You are not my doctor, nor are my specialist who has known me for years. Finally, you are not the one living with the mental and physical health conditions that I am.

I look back even just to where I was around 2 years ago when my consultant adjusted my medication in order to help keep me safe. That's exactly what it did. In combination with high levels of psychiatric intervention and support from pain management services. I got through it.

As time passed on medication was adjusted, reduced, upped and all sorts. But I never stopped taking any medication full stop.

In comes the new medication, lithium, along with a new diagnosis. This medication will be altered and adjusted accordingly. Sometimes I see the faces of the people around me and notice how shocked they look at the sheer amount of tablets. But then I remind them that these pills really help to keep me alive and keep me safe and that they should be grateful I've found something that helps.

Mental health is exhausting. The questioning about the legitimacy of the health conditions I live with and the treatment path I have chosen to take is exhausting. So please, rather than fight me, support me in my journey of recovery.

Love from someone who is struggling an awful lot to hold it together right now.

29/07/2022

I've just completed this free online training course through Zero Su***de Alliance. It is a 20 minute course that aims to provide you with skills and confidence to help someone who may be considering su***de.

There are conversation examples, such as between co-workers, between relatives and with strangers. These examples are dramatized but highlight how each and every person can help to prevent su***de.

Zero Su***de Alliance ***deAwareness

13/07/2022

I'm working on a lot of projects at the moment. I've started going back through my mental health "toolbox" to pick out bits of information, skills and techniques that I can turn into resources for people who may, like me, need that visual prompt to encourage you to use your coping skills!

23/06/2022

Tomorrow is my biggest achievement, always.

I hope that I will always look forward to tomorrow but that I never lose sight of the reasons why.

365 days, one whole year self-harm free.

I've considered what this post would look like for a long while and I considered how I could best capture how it feels to be writing this today. It is more than I ever could've imagined and actually for a girl of many words I'm quite speechless.

The people I have met, the things I've learnt and the smiles I've seen.

I hope you never need to hear this but if you do, hold on and don't let go. Reach out, start the conversation and ask for help.

26/05/2022

It's not so often that I find myself with my gym trainers on these days and it's taken me a while to accept that I'm no longer able to be as physically active as I once was.

I've not really spoken much about the Coronavirus other than at the beginning of the first UK lockdown when I tried to shed light on the psychological impacts of reduced face to face therapy and long term isolation. However in January 2022 I myself caught coronavirus and I am thankful that I was not severely ill. Despite that I cannot deny that since, my chronic fatigue symptoms have worsened significantly.

The last few months have been less of a psychological struggle but much more of a physical one. Which in turn takes it's toll on my mental health too. There's so much to say about the connection between such chronic illnesses and mental health but that's a post for another day.

I see my friends less than I used too, I sleep A LOT, I eat a lot and take a lot of medication. I have my qualms about so many of these things but I try to maintain a rational outlook on it all. I actively allow myself to feel empathy towards myself, I sit with the uncomfortable feelings of guilt and then I let them pass. I cry sometimes and I get really mad.

Some days when I can gather enough strength I walk into the gym and I picture me a year ago deadlifting, squatting and bicep curling weights I now struggle to lift off the racks. I've made it to the car park and then turned away and gone straight back home.

You really can't underestimate how overwhelming those feelings can be, when your mind wants something so bad but your body just won't respond the way you feel that it should.

5 months post-covid and I'm just starting to get out and about more, finding enjoyment in pushing myself and starting to accept my current state of health.

If you see me wobbling at the gym, physically or mentally take a moment to check in with me and also with yourself. How could you get the most out of your gym session? Maybe it's to drink more water, to stop for a chat or ask for a spot if you're feeling like you want to push it a bit further...

29/04/2022

Going through secondary school I was a frequent visitor to healthcare providers because I kept getting these inexplicable pains. They were never able to find anything wrong (and that makes sense now given the fibromyalgia diagnosis). "It's probably just general aches and pains you're fine". I felt lost and alone for a long time. Confused and desperate for an explanation.

For anyone who has jumped through hoops (or perhaps a better way to explain it would be faceplanting repeatedly in front of various professionals) in order to find an answer to their pain and other symptoms... I sincerely hope that your veins were more forgiving than mine, as I'm sure I had nurses questioning their medical training after several attempts at taking blood samples.

I can't remember the last day I was ever pain free, at this point I wonder if I ever have been. I am a 22 year old woman who divides her days into chunks of 4 in order to get anything done. I keep my crutches in my car and a number of support bandages too, because you never know.

I use my mobility aids proudly, and I welcome the conversations that start as a result. My crutches have given me the freedom to still get out and about on days where I used to be so restricted because my mind to muscle memory decided to go to Narnia for a while and nothing works as it should.

I love my crutches,
I love how they help me to walk in a straight line when my balance is off.
I like the click click sounds when I'm moving at a snails pace around the shops and I love that I can leave the house with less anxiety.

23/04/2022

I find myself saying this regularly, to friends, family, within online support groups and in the workplace. I truly believe that for a huge majority of people the harshest critic of oneself is in-fact themselves.

So why are so many of us so self-critical about such particular skills and attributes?

Why are we abusing our minds and bodies? Why do we keep punishing them and belittling our self-worth when there is no reward for having the highest IQ in the room, the most qualifications, the best car or best clothes?

We would never use the same words or behaviours towards the people we care about, nor would we shun someone who is simply trying their best to achieve their own personal goals. We support them, we encourage them and we are kind above all else.

I implore you to take time in this moment to think about the last time you praised yourself. Consider whether you have downplayed something good that you have done because you still believe it could have been done better. Switch your internal narrative up, practice self-kindness and retrain your brain.

06/04/2022

I came across an article about a new mental health service within CAMHS and wanted to share. I had no idea that this existed, albeit being a relatively new service...

Before I quote some of the article. The most general info for those unfamiliar with CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service), they are the NHS service that provide mental health assessments and support to young people up to the age of 18.

"CAMHS Gateway gives 16-17 year olds the option to self-refer themselves online, without going through their GP."

The purpose of the gateway service is to act as a "front door" to CAMHS, reducing the waiting periods for assessments and access to treatments. There is a self-referral form available on the Dorset healthcare website.

I personally feel like this is a great step forward in making mental health treatment available to all. By-passing the need for an adults referral will hopefully enable and encourage some of our most vulnerable young people to access mental health support.

Copy and paste (or click) the following link to access the Dorset CAMHS gateway application form:

When we provide services, we want to make them easy, useful and reliable. Where services are delivered on the internet, this sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on your device, for example, computer or mobile phone. These include small files known as cookies. They cannot be used....

26/03/2022

I took this photo without a second thought earlier today. Upon reflection I realise it could be anyone.

As an adolescent under the care of mental health services, there were many potential diagnoses thrown around and labels that weren't every really explained to me. I would go to a psych eval and later receive a letter with so much medical jargon that I didn't understand. Diagnoses labelled as un-confirmed or queried left me feeling completely unsure of the person I was. The phrase "it's just a phase" was so damaging to my identity I felt like a mirror of other people's traits and attributes as opposed to an individual of my own.

Turning 18 and having my care handed to adult services meant diagnoses could be confirmed and made official. Whatever your own personal experiences and opinions of being given a diagnosis (or several), for me it was the most liberating part of my life so far. I finally felt as though I was "me". No one seemed to be waiting for me to snap out of it and people tried to be more mindful about the words they used. Most of all, I gave myself the chance and the freedom to be myself, to work hard on the things I loved and express myself without fear of judgement.

Once a shadow of my potential, now a
proud young person who will never apologise for being herself, ever again.

-adapt_overcome_strive