“I DIDN’T PRESCRIBE THEM; YOU DID!” | A DISCUSSION ABOUT PSYCHIATRIC MEDICATION

I remember being discharged from the Psychiatric Hospital after my first admission in 2009 and it felt like everyone thought I was better now, and I would never try to kill myself again. Of course, I knew that wasn’t the case; because I could feel that darkness inside of me and I knew it wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. So, when I attempted suicide again and refused the medical treatment for it, I wasn’t really surprised. What did surprise me, though, was when the entire Mental Health Act assessment team came to my Mum’s house to section me!

My Mum had tried to convince me to go to A&E for the antidote to the paracetamol overdose, but I’d refused, and she’d called the Crisis Team. I just remember professionals sat around the living room asking me questions and then I went to my bedroom and the next thing I knew the Psychiatrist from my first admission was there and telling me that he was going to sign the section papers. I remember him sitting in my very pink bedroom and saying; “I think it’s time we start some medication for you at my Hospital.” I joked that it wasn’t ‘his’ Hospital and he led the way downstairs for me to watch the papers be signed and eight Police officers filed in to take me to their van to go to A&E for the medical treatment first. When we got there, there were four support workers from the local Psychiatric Hospital ready to make sure I had the treatment (a drip that takes over twenty hours to administer) and right from the offset I was medicated! I tried to run from A&E and was given a sedative injection and as soon as I’d woken up after it, I was trying to tear the drip out and was given another. I think it took about five injections for me to complete the treatment and be transferred to the Psychiatric Hospital to begin an anti-psychotic medication.

MY THOUGHTS ON DISCUSSING DISCHARGE IN MENTAL HEALTH

“Are we talking about discharge right now?!”

“Well it has to happen eventually!”

After my recent mental health crisis, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust’s Crisis Resolution Home Treatment Team carried out an assessment at my home and I was admitted to their caseload. From the offset, the plan was that I’d be with them until Tuesday (today!) when my Community Psychiatric Nurse (CPN) returned to work and they would have a discussion to review whether I still needed to be on caseload and it’s made me think about the subject of discharge in mental health…



CLARITY

I’ll be honest, that first year of me being poorly is a bit of a blur; but I do remember that my first admission to a psychiatric hospital was the epitome of confusing and scary. I hadn’t long turned 18 so I was admitted straight into an adult ward and having had no contact with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), I had no understanding of anything mental health - including the Act of law that I was being detained under (Section 2 of the Mental Health Act 1983)! To be fair, I think that everyone was so busy being worried about me that they didn’t have the time to explain anything and inevitably, after two weeks, no one explained the discharge process either. I didn’t know that after being sectioned you have to be allocated a CPN in a Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) and I didn’t know what that even meant - what it would entail.

DAY SEVEN MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK | BODY IMAGE Q&A WITH... MENTAL HEALTH STAFF, ANGELA SLATER

Name: Angela Slater

Age: 43

Location: Durham

Why did you agree to take part in this Q&A?

I like to support efforts to raise awareness on mental health and different parts of life that can impact on mental wellbeing. Body image is something that has a wide ranging impact in modern society and on people’s mental health so it is an important topic to discuss.

At what age do you think you first began to take notice of your body image?

I think I was quite young (maybe 7 or 8) but I don’t think I was excessively bothered with this until about 12 or 13 years old.

What made you take notice?

I think it was a combination of my age, body changes, social pressure, and wanting to ‘fit in’ that made me take notice.

DAY SIX MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK | BODY IMAGE Q&A WITH... AMPUTEE, ANONYMOUS

Name: Anonymous

Age:

Location:

Why did you agree to take part in this Q&A?

Because Aimee asked me

At what age do you think you first began to take notice of your body image?

12

What made you take notice?

My body was changing, maturing and developing

Would you say that your thoughts on your body image began as positive or negative?

Positive

DAY FIVE MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK | BODY IMAGE Q&A WITH... MENTAL HEALTH ACTIVIST, MARTIN BAKER

Name: Martin Baker 

Age: 58

Location: Newcastle upon Tyne 

Why did you agree to take part in this Q&A?

Because you asked me! Also, it's a subject I've never been asked about before. 

At what age do you think you first began to take notice of your body image?

I guess when I was in junior school, maybe eight or nine. 

What made you take notice?

I was skinny and "geeky" as a kid. I was also pretty rubbish at school sports, which at that age was mainly football and P. E. (In secondary school it included rugby, gym, and athletics and cross country running in the summer - I was rubbish at all those too!) I guess I wanted to be "sporty" and athletic, to fit in with my friends. There's a photo of me when I was maybe eight or nine, in the garden outside our house. I'm wearing the Liverpool football (soccer) kit, and football boots I can still remember having to clean and polish. I look really awkward, looking back at it now. 

Would you say that your thoughts on your body image began as positive or negative?

Pretty much negative.

DAY FOUR MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK | BODY IMAGE Q&A WITH... ANXIETY SUFFERER, BECKY WELCH

Name: Becky Welch

Age: 29

Location: Blyth

Why did you agree to take part in this Q&A?

To help my lovely friend Aimee out

At what age do you think you first began to take notice of your body image?

Possibly between 9 and 10

What made you take notice?

I would probably say getting changed in PE. Well I would say that made me self-conscious but I can’t really pin point what made me initially take notice in the first place.

DAY THREE MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK | BODY IMAGE Q&A WITH... EATING DISORDER SURVIVOR, GEORGIE

Name: Georgie
Age: 26
Location: Newcastle

Why did you agree to take part in this
Q&A?
Special request by my favourite blogger and of course because it’s important to talk
mental health!

At what age do you think you first began
to take notice of your body image?
Probably about 11/12

What made you take notice?
Being a competitive gymnast it was always encouraged to be
the ‘perfect’ body type to be successful.

Would you say that your thoughts on your
body image began as positive or negative?
Negative, I remember thinking I didn’t ‘fit’

DAY TWO MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK | BODY IMAGE Q&A WITH... MUM OF THREE, ELLIE MCWADE

Name: Ellen                  

Age: 29

Location: North East 

Why did you agree to take part in this Q&A?

I’m interested in the results and happy to share my experience

At what age do you think you first began to take notice of your body image?

Probably as early as 6 or 7!

What made you take notice?

Other children in school comparing themselves and each other

Would you say that your thoughts on your body image began as positive or negative?

Definitely negative

MY THOUGHTS ON PERSONALITY | IN COLLABORATION WITH FUTURE LEARN & MONASH UNIVERSITY | AD

I recently started a new course with Monash University via futurelearn.com – Introduction to Psychology: The Psychology of Personality and it, inevitably, got me thinking a lot about personality, what it means to me, how it is developed and how it can become ‘disordered.’ 


A while ago now, the powers that be, renamed the diagnosis Borderline Personality Disorder to Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder. I laughed when I was told – it was just further evidence that the ultimate people to make such huge decisions don’t actually know all that much about the things they make decisions about. If they did, they’d know that, for the majority of service users, the biggest problem with the phrasing of BPD was the ‘Personality’ part and not the ‘Borderline’ bit. Yes, people unfamiliar to the diagnosis will wonder what is meant by ‘borderline’ but that can be answered. I know there are varied rationale behind the use of the word in the diagnosis; with the most common one being that it means borderline between sanity and insanity but if someone were to ask what is meant by ‘personality’ then it’s a different story – personality is subjective. Everyone has their own definition of it and their own belief on what shapes it. I mean, William Sheldon (1940) believed that personality was determined by your body shape and size (somatology)! He held the assumption that larger people (endomorphs) are more likely to be bold and assertive whereas smaller people (ectomorphs) are more likely to be intellectual and introverted. Once upon a time, I’m sure this theory was regarded very highly and agreed upon by many but these days? I know I can’t speak for anyone else, but I felt like laughing when I heard that this was a serious theory!

WHY THERE IS NO PLACE FOR EXCUSES IN MENTAL HEALTH

ex·cuse

[excuse]

VERB

·         attempt to lessen the blame attaching to (a fault or offense); seek to defend or justify.

synonyms:

justify · defend · make excuses for · make a case for · explain (away) · rationalize · condone · vindicate · warrant · mitigate · palliate · apologize for · forgive · overlook · disregard · ignore · pass over · turn a blind eye to

·         forgive (someone) for a fault or offense.

"you must excuse my sister" · "he could be excused for feeling that he was born at the wrong time"

·         overlook or forgive (a fault or offense)

So, I was watching Pretty Little Liars on Netflix and one of the characters said, “don’t make excuses for her; it’s demeaning.” And it led me to thinking a lot about instances where excuses have come up in mental health – in my mental health. I think that people in general are pretty much notorious for forever providing excuses for their behaviours, attitudes, thoughts, and feelings; no matter what they are. Positive or negative. ‘Right’ or ‘wrong.’ No matter what the situation.