MH Related Blogs in the Media

Society Guardian ran this article today. Trust's , Government Quangos and greedy MH charities have received hundreds of millions of pounds to get the voices of people with MH issues and carers heard whereas what is making the news here is the voices of ordinary people who want to raise awareness of the problems they face - including the uselessness , greed and corruption of much of the MH poverty industry - for free.

Check out these blogs and bookmark them . Better still start blogging yourself and exchange links.

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The view from the
blogosphere

Bloggers detailing their experiences with either mental illness or drug and alcohol addiction are well-established in the US, perhaps because of the country's confessional culture.

Over in the UK, users of mental health services are starting to come forward and blog about their
lives, but there are very few dealing with substance misuse. Here is a pick of blogs from users of mental health and addiction services in the UK

Phil Hoad
Wednesday October 18, 2006
SocietyGuardian.co.uk

Recovery Road is written by an anonymous blogger based in London and currently receiving alcohol treatment. He writes about his perspective on his former lifestyle, eyesight problems, Celtic FC, rock music, mountain-biking and his efforts to stay sober: "I'm amazed when talking to opinionated non-alcoholics. Some of them believe because the program requires the alcoholic to believe and trust in something greater than himself, that's a bad thing. They suggest that it discredits Alcoholics Anonymous. Incredible."

"I am always questioning my motives for things I do, and this journal is making me address issues as they come up, and sort out feelings as I go along." Blogging is proving a means of self-exploration for Don, a 50-year-old writer and recovering alcoholic. He began his blog in April this year with reflections on philosophy and politics, but quickly moved onto his arduous
life of sobriety: "When we decide to give up our habits which hurt us, our addictions which drive us mad, it's absolutely the hardest thing even to get out of bed, let alone make a life decision to keep with a programme of recovery."

Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health User Watch is an independent monitor on services provided by the local NHS health trust, writing about issues from the perspective of patients, and a forum for comment on national government policy regarding mental health treatment. Recent posts include petitions to 10 Downing Street, the therapy supply pool in Birmingham and class divisions in mental health treatments: "An article by a journalist in 2005 wrote about therapy services in Birmingham and highlighted the disparity of a type of family therapy treatment resource between the more middle class areas of nearby Olton and others areas of Birmingham which the Birmingham & Solihull mental health trust has included within its
entire service province."

"I was told that another person under the care of the local psychiatric services has died... I knew the lady. We had been in the acute unit and in a respite care centre together. She suffered terrible depressions." Blogger Mandy Lifeboats Ahoy is shocked by standards of psychiatric care in the UK, something she has first-hand knowledge of. She writes about the issue along with
indie music, poetry, her daughter and her studies.

Mental Nurse is a blog written by a middle-aged nurse who "has enjoyed it, am currently enjoying and fully expect to enjoy it for many years to come". He and his co-bloggers reflect on first-hand experiences working in the mental-health field, and blow off steam on other topics too. "At the discharge planning meetings, staff had warned how if she was crossed she would shout and push staff. Some ward staff were clearly frightened of her, and their whispered
advice was to leave her to her own devices, while braver ones stated that Sue needed to have very clear boundaries set for her to 'help her to learn to manage her behaviour'. Boundaries of course mean saying no when she wanted anything."

The Wife Of A Schizophrenic blogs about caring for her husband, "Mr Man", who struggles to cope veering anxiety levels and the best treatment for his condition. It's hardly easy for her, as she relates in one entry in which her husband shows unexpected lucidity dealing with his psychiatrist: "Part of me knew it had to be an act, but I didn't understand why he was doing
it. I was angry and upset because it was making me look stupid and overprotective. I was struggling to cope with his illness at home but he was acting like everything was fine."

Dominocat has suffered from agoraphobia and severe panic attack disorder for the last six years. She sometimes feels that people don't want to hear about her discomfort, but she wants to let the world know what panic is like: "I think I screamed, I can't really remember. I remember yelling over and over for him to stop the car, I needed - no I HAD TO get out. It seemed like a million years before I could open the door." Lately, she's been posting about how she's getting on with cognitive behavioural therapy, as advocated by J, her new
counsellor.