“WE CAN DEFINITELY SAY YOU’VE RECOVERED FROM THE PERSONALITY DISORDER!” | AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK INSIDE MY DIAGNOSIS REVIEW

 

“It ain’t what they call you, it’s what you answer to.”

W. C. Fields

Way back in 2009, after two psychiatric hospitalisations, I had run away to a town over an hour away and upon their local Police taking me to their Station for a Mental Health Act assessment, the Psychiatrist went through all these questions. I remember feeling like I was agreeing to and saying yes to everything and afterwards, he told me that for a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), you needed at least five out of nine symptoms and that I exhibited all nine. Afterwards, I was allowed home and when I next saw the Community Psychiatric Nurse (CPN) I had, I asked her “so are we saying it’s BPD now?” And she turned around and said: “I don’t want to put that label on you yet. No services will touch you once we say you’ve got that; people don’t recover from it…”

AN INSIDE LOOK AT CREATING A MENTAL HEALTH STRATEGY FOR AN NHS TRUST | IN COLLABORATION WITH NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST | WORLD HEALTH DAY 2024

“The individual who says it is not possible should move out of the way of those doing it.”

Tricia Cunningham

Newcastle Hospitals (@newcastlehosps) • Instagram photos and videos

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Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (newcastle-hospitals.nhs.uk)

Having been a blogger for over eleven years now, there have honestly been so many instances where I’ve found myself genuinely shocked and pleasantly surprised. These have varied from reaching reader milestones to being gifted items or complimentary experiences to being asked to give speeches at events. Also, in that list of shocking things has been landing collaborations with huge organisations such as Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NUTH)! Prior to the opportunity came up to help create and develop the Trust’s new Mental Health Strategy, it had honestly always – literally since Day One of my blogging career! – been a goal of mine to work with NUTH! I was surprised again when, after hearing about I’m NOT Disordered, the Trust asked me to also write some blog posts. So, as the Strategy is finalised this month – and because of it being World Health Day and the theme this year is ‘My Health, My Right’ – it was almost natural and automatic to write a blog post with some of the feedback NUTH’s Patient Experience team asked me and my fellow members of the Strategy’s Expert Reference Group to provide…

5 THINGS I’VE LEARNT ABOUT PETS & MENTAL HEALTH | WISHING THE KITTEN A VERY HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY!!! | IN COLLABORATION WITH MAMMY’S BISCUITS

https://mammysbiscuits.com

Twitter: @MammysBiscuits

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“When you feel someone else’s pain and joy as powerfully as if it were your own; then you know you really love them.”

Ann Brashares

*This post features a Mammy’s Biscuits product: the ‘Birthday Girl’ bandana – you can browse & purchase their other designs here*

 I honestly don’t care how stereotypical this sounds; but I literally and genuinely cannot believe that I’m writing this blog post to celebrate my little maine coon/ragdoll mix kitten – Ruby – turning one year old! Now, if you’ve read, I’m NOT Disordered for even just a little while, you’ll likely know that I have pets and that I absolutely love them to pieces, and they help my mental health immensely. Because I’ve had quite a few (three who have passed and the three I have now) over the almost ten years since I’ve been in my own home, and I know I’ve written numerous blog posts at various stages of their lives, I wasn’t sure if there’d be an angle (also due to the fact I’ve actually already published a post in connection with Ruby’s Birthday, you can read it here) left to cover in writing this 1^st Birthday post for Ruby! But, fortunately, the first one I thought of – a post about the reality of life with pets and mental health – hadn’t been done before so, I decided to tackle it…

AN OPEN LETTER TO RUBY IN THE RUN-UP TO HER FIRST BIRTHDAY!!! | PLUS HER BIRTHDAY WISHLIST!!!

Lying close to you, feeling your heart beating,

And I’m wondering what you’re dreaming,

Wondering if it’s me you’re seeing,

Then I kiss your eyes,

And thank God we’re together,

And I just wanna stay with you in this moment forever.

Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing – Aerosmith

In the almost automatic decision – which didn’t feel like a decision because it felt so predictable and natural(!) – to write a blog post celebrating my kitten’s first Birthday on March 26^th, I toyed between writing it as a little letter and writing a full-on, detailed piece about pets and mental health. In the end, I decided to do both! So, here’s Ruby’s letter and on the 26^th the other post will go up…