Thanks
to a poll on my Twitter back in November, my wonderful followers decided that I
should publish a blog post and film a vlog every day for the entirety of
December!
So
welcome to December 9th…
Today is all about my collaboration with one very
special brand on Etsy, in this post I’ll be reviewing the products they sent to
me and on December 23rd you can enter a competition to win these products and
the remaining six that I’ll be reviewing every other day this month!
The fourth product in the collaboration are the
fantastically cute and useful Nudge Cards by the appropriately named company; Nudge
Cards(!) who are based in Hull, England.
I thought these Nudge Cards were perfect for me because
I find that when my mental health is poorly, I struggle to remember the healthy
and safe coping skills I’ve been taught. It’s something that – I think – isn’t
unique to me though, so in choosing these cards I hoped they would help others
who are also trying to cope with this.
When I was first sectioned to the long term,
specialist psychiatric hospital over 100 miles away from home, I was completely
at a loss because it felt as though all of the coping strategies – albeit unsafe
ones – I had, were taken away from me. I now know that it was for the best
because I had come so close to succeeding with my suicide attempts that if I were
left to my own devices for any longer… So obviously I know that it was essential
for me to be sectioned and hospitalized but at the time, I couldn’t see it that
way at all. Instead, I resented the mental health professionals for stopping me
from coping in the ways I was used to; the ways that – I believed – seemed to work
and leaving me with nothing in return.
What I know now is that it takes time to learn new
coping strategies so it wasn’t as though they could just be thrown at me and they’d
immediately sink in and be utilized. It was easy enough for mental health professionals
to widely accept that Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is the recommended
treatment for those with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) but that doesn’t
mean it will be effective for everyone. Nor that the same aspects of DBT will
be helpful to different people. And this is why it takes so long to replace the
unsafe coping mechanisms.
Occasionally, I was (and sometimes still am) a bit
embarrassed that DBT skills such as ‘distract’ and ‘self-soothe’ are so basic
and straightforward that I can’t believe I didn’t ever think of trying them
myself! But I try to look back at it as proof that I was so unwell and so
desperate to escape thoughts, feelings, and memories that I skipped ‘simple’
and ‘easy’ steps and went straight to the unsafe ones of self-harm and making attempts
to take my own life.
When I relapsed about five or six months ago my mum
came up with a genius idea that has worked so well – she thought of me putting
a ‘rescue list’ at the front and back door and in the medicine cupboard so that
if I was about to overdose or run away then I’d be reminded of this list of
healthy and safe coping skills that usually work but which I forget to try in a
mental health crisis. I mean; to make it relatable to more people, it’s kind of
like when you watch an action movie and you’re like ‘eeeee if that happened to
me, I’d be doing this instead’ but if it actually happened to you, you might
just end up doing whatever they did in the movie!
Point is, it’s ok to say what you’ll do when you’re
not actually in that moment, but when you’re in the moment, it’s equally ok to
need reminders of what you could do!
The Etsy description reads: ‘Nudge Cards are 20 beautifully
crafted, individual cards, that give you a gentle Nudge of inspiration and
motivation to look after your mental and physical well-being.
Feeling bogged
down with life? Have you forgotten who you are, and what you enjoy? Nudge Cards
are a perfect way to get back in touch with your inner self and realize your
true potential.
Each card has a simple inspirational task written on the back to give you an idea on how to add a little self-care to your day. It could be as simple as “Take 5″ and sitting to drink a hot cup of tea. “Read” could inspire you to go and pick up a book you have been meaning to check out. Every Nudge Card therefore gives you a simple, and easy way of reconnecting, giving you some time for yourself.
Each card has a simple inspirational task written on the back to give you an idea on how to add a little self-care to your day. It could be as simple as “Take 5″ and sitting to drink a hot cup of tea. “Read” could inspire you to go and pick up a book you have been meaning to check out. Every Nudge Card therefore gives you a simple, and easy way of reconnecting, giving you some time for yourself.
The cards
are small enough to be carried in a purse or wallet, but big enough to grab
your attention. They are designed to inspire you to add some well needed self-care
to your life. You can use each card as long as you feel necessary, either by
shuffling the deck and selecting a new card each day, or by focusing on a new
card each week or month. The choice is yours.
Sometimes you just need a Nudge in the right direction.’
Sometimes you just need a Nudge in the right direction.’
You can buy this particular product here for £9.99:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/596251598/mindfulness-inspirational-wellbeing