Recently, during my relapse,
I’ve found that a lot of professionals and those who care about me (mainly my
Mum) have talked to me about how much I take on in life.
They have helped me to realize
that before the relapse, I was doing a lot of different things at once; from
courses with Future Learn, to the problems of others, to projects with
different organizations.
EDUCATION
There’re so many courses on
Future Learn that I’d like to do at the moment, but I’ve learnt to do one at a
time and to add the rest to my ‘Wishlist’ on the site. Now, I’m doing ‘Beyond Diagnosis:Is Psychiatric Diagnosis Helpful?’ which is a module facilitated by the
University of Liverpool so it’s degree level learning. Considering the highest level,
I’ve ever done was my A Levels in 2009…
it’s safe to say that I’ve found this course particularly challenging. Nevertheless, I’m more than half way through. I’ve found the discount codes Future Learn have provided extremely helpful in allowing me to do one course at a time because without paying to upgrade (the case for most courses) the course you must complete within the specific time. Having the discount means I can easily upgrade the courses I do and allow myself the ability to complete the course at my own speed and in my own time. I feel less pressure knowing that I can afford to miss a day or two when I really don’t feel like doing my coursework or where I need to prioritize other projects. If you’re thinking/wanting to take on a few Future Learn courses; don’t forget I have my exclusive 15% discount code: Aimee_Wilson_15
it’s safe to say that I’ve found this course particularly challenging. Nevertheless, I’m more than half way through. I’ve found the discount codes Future Learn have provided extremely helpful in allowing me to do one course at a time because without paying to upgrade (the case for most courses) the course you must complete within the specific time. Having the discount means I can easily upgrade the courses I do and allow myself the ability to complete the course at my own speed and in my own time. I feel less pressure knowing that I can afford to miss a day or two when I really don’t feel like doing my coursework or where I need to prioritize other projects. If you’re thinking/wanting to take on a few Future Learn courses; don’t forget I have my exclusive 15% discount code: Aimee_Wilson_15
PROBLEMS OF OTHERS
Recently I’ve had a lot of
people get in touch through I’m NOT Disordered and its links to my social media
and whilst I love the idea that people feel like they can talk to me… I’m also
not a professional. And I don’t mean this as in they’re more knowledgeable and better
qualified – in fact, a lot of people who do get in touch with me are contacting
me because they feel let down by professionals and Services as a whole. I also
believe that we, the Service Users, have more knowledge and are more qualified
than any professional because we understand. We know. The issue comes that
professionals are better equipped at helping many people at once. I won’t say
they don’t get overwhelmed because I know their caseloads, but they’re better
placed to not take on too much. They may have a huge caseload, but they are in
the right mental health frame of mind to take it on. Whereas, I, am not. I don’t
want people who have contacted me to read this and feel bad for getting in touch
and I don’t want anyone to apologize for doing so because it’s an absolute
honour that you feel able to talk to me and share as much about you and your
journey as so many of you do. And perhaps if I wasn’t currently in a relapse, I’d
be better placed to manage all of the messages (and I do get a lot of messages)
… For right now, I can’t. And if you feel like others are telling you all of
their difficulties and it’s getting overwhelming then it’s important to not
only recognize this, but also to speak up about it.
PROJECTS
I’m not sure if
readers/followers are really aware of just how much I do at once… I think that’s
fair to say because you only ever see when the projects are published/go live/are
publicized/released etc. No one knows that many of these are actually being
worked on simultaneously and sometimes – annoyingly – this is because I
actually can’t talk about them whilst they are underway. For example, even at
the moment – in this relapse – I have 10 projects in the works! And three of
them are similar – which is a good thing because it means I have the same
amount of work (which isn’t a great deal) to do on each of them. This is a
tricky one to manage because I’m so passionate about everything I do – all of
the pieces of work and projects that I take on – so it’s hard for me, to say ‘no.’
And after all that I’ve been through, my attitude towards life in general is
mostly ‘it’s too short.’ So, whilst I’m alive, and able to, I want to take all
of the opportunities I can. Even in this relapse because I know that once my
medication is back to a therapeutic level in my system, I’ll be ok. I’ll have a
future. And I bloody want that future. I want the future that all of these projects
are working towards, so I think that the most sensible thing to do if you’re
finding yourself taking on too much work is to priorities and ensure that the
work you are agreeing to is important to your future.