#RFForum | PRE EVENT PROMO VLOG | RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP'S NATIONAL WORKING TOGETHER FORUM | #RFForum | Ad

Hi guys!

So, tomorrow (22^nd September 2017) I’ve been asked to co-chair, and give a presentation at the National Working Together Forum in partnership with my community service provider Richmond Fellowship.

I realise that I haven’t vlogged for quite a while but noticed that I’ve had a good fifteen thousand viewers (not bad considering I’m most definitely no YouTuber!) so I thought I’d use this opportunity to start producing content for everyone!

There’ll be three vlogs for this event; the first one is from Wednesday night when I began packing and I talk more about what exactly the event is about and more about what my role will be there. The  Tsecond vlog will be from today (Thursday 21^st September 2017) and the train ride down to London! And the third (and final!) will be of the actual day at the event!

I hope you enjoy them all and to keep up with what’s going on at the event just follow the event hashtag on Twitter:  

#RFForum

www.richmondfellowship.org.uk

@RFmentalhealth

@RF_Tyneside

@aimes_wilson

HOW I GET MY MOJO BACK:

MOJO (məʊdʒəʊ)

Word forms: plural mojos, plural mojoes

countable noun

Your mojo is your personal power or influence over other people

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/mojo

A quality that attracts people to you and makes you successful and full of energy

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/mojo

I think that ‘mojo’ is one of those awesomely funny words that can naturally pop up in a sentence but if you stop and think about it… it’s a bit of a peculiar word. I think it’s one that people can have their own definitions for but hopefully, this post will embody all these possibilities…

NOTE: These are the things that affect my mojo and the ways and inspirations I use to improve them; they may not be the same as yours and you may need to use/discover different ways to improve your own.

WHEN I’M LOW ON CONFIDENCE…

I read something positive about my work and/or I’m NOT Disordered (my blogging).

I’m one of those people who can’t blow their own trumpet but I’ve learnt over time that acknowledging your strengths can be an essential part in having a good mental health. So there are times when I publish a post and mention that I’m quite proud if I’ve put lots of time or effort into it. That can be difficult if you’ve had previous experience (as I have) of bullying and are reluctant to say such a thing at risk of making yourself vulnerable and having others use your strength, and turn it into a negative thing. For example, when someone is happy with their body and weight, they become ‘full of’ themselves; or even if someone is expressing a positive feeling or moment in their life they can be labelled as ‘rubbing it’ in the faces of those who are experiencing difficulties. A bully will find something negative from the most wonderful thing but that is about them and not you. It can be easy to focus on negative comments and criticism – especially on your social media, but it affects your happiness so it’s something that you have to learn not to do. It’s good to be aware of those who are trying to help you to improve your work but it’s important to remember that you can’t please everyone. There are over a quarter of a million people reading I’m NOT Disordered now and there’ll be some who don’t like what they read. So, I read the comments of those who do like it. And I remember them. And I write for those people.

WHEN I’M DOUBTING MYSELF…

FROM CELLS TO CONFERENCES | MY MENTAL HEALTH RECOVERY WITH NORTHUMBRIA POLICE

'It is vital for the police to engage with representatives from all our communities. Working with Aimee has given me a clear insight into the needs and wishes of service users and how the police can best provide them with a quality of service which is both necessary and appropriate. This knowledge will then be shared with all front line officers to ensure that there is an improved understanding of how to help those who are in crisis cope with their individual circumstances and issues.

Aimee’s collaboration has been instrumental in helping to drive forward this important area of work.'

Inspector Steve Baker, Mental Health Lead, Northumbria Police

The very first time I met a Police officer, was when they sectioned me.

(s136 Mental Health Act ((MHA)) 1983)

Two of them found me in a nearby town, after having ran away from A&E to avoid life saving treatment for an overdose - my very first suicide attempt.
I heard a nurse saying 'we haven't got the staff to sit with her!' and one officer (the other was in the examination room with me) said 'don't worry, there's two Acts we can detain her under.' Then he left his colleague to stay with me, telling him 'just found out she's 18 so if she runs, it's a 136.'
Ironically, it was my policeman's first experience with section 136 too (he actually had to ask his colleague how to fill out the paperwork), I didn't know if I felt comforted knowing that I wasn't alone in this scary situation, or distressed at the thought that even a professional didn't know what was going on.
(This incidence ended with me being sectioned under section 2 of the MHA 1983)

Things have changed since then.

( I realise that's a strong statement to make and I acknowledge that some Service Users may disagree or have experienced otherwise, so I want to stress that this is based on the specific work I'm about to talk about and specifically, with Northumbria Police.)


                                                                                                     

And I've worked to help them to do so.

AD | PRESS RELEASE: GARY JAMES MCQUEEN RELEASES MENTAL HEALTH CARDS - "ARE YOU OK?" | AD

After studying Textiles as a GCSE student, I’ve had a passion for fashion; and as I grew older I became addicted to reading Vogue and Elle for style inspiration and the amazing photography of runway shows that I knew I’d never get to see in real life. Then, in my twenties, I moved onto makeup and beauty products (still with a jam-packed wardrobe!) and developed a keen eye for designer bargains (because there’s no money on the trees in my garden) in T K Maxx – particularly Valentino bags!

As I moved into blogging and the online mental health world in 2009, it became clear that most blogs were about fashion and beauty. It was a good thing at the time because it provided a gap in the market for I’m NOT Disordered to fill and at the time there were only four popular mental health blogs (and none of them were written by a current inpatient).

Like I said, the fashion and beauty bloggers took over the internet and seemed to be the ones who collaborated and were approached by organisations who wanted to use the blog as an advertising opportunity with the belief that when readers saw the blogger wearing a particular shoe, or talking about a new mascara; their followers would want to buy the same thing.

'A YEAR SINCE PUBLISHING' WITH MARTIN BAKER (CO-AUTHOR) | GUEST POST | Ad

Among many opportunities I’ve been offered – and have accepted – recently; is to work personally with an Author whose book is about to be released VERY soon; (that’s all I can say until the official press release on September 7^th!) and it made me think about Marty and Fran. They have both featured many times on I’m NOT Disordered and Marty recently supported me at an ITV event (post to come soon) so I wanted to check back in with them and see how they felt about their own book, (High Tide, Low Tide: The Caring Friend’s Guide to Bipolar Disorder) almost one year since publishing.

Could you remind readers what your book is about?

My best friend Fran Houston and I wrote High Tide, Low Tide: The Caring Friend’s Guide to Bipolar Disorder to share what we have learned about building a caring, mutually supportive, friendship between a “well one” and an “ill one.” We hope our book will inspire and inform others who—like me—want to help support a friend who happens to live with mental illness. Fran lives in the US, with three invisible and episodic conditions: bipolar disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS/ME), and fibromyalgia. Despite living 3,000 miles away in the UK, I am Fran’s primary support and carer. “High Tide, Low Tide” was published by Nordland Publishing, in September 2016.