Latest Blog Posts for Madness, trauma and recovery

• Creating a new voice
  on Mar 12, 2016 in Memoir posts Mental health Mental health practice Recovery Trauma Compulsory treatment Hearing Voices hope hospital Trauma Informed Care and Practice
  One morning in 2009 I was sitting in the psych ward, working out ways to kill myself, when something unexpected and creative happened to reawaken my lost hope. I was being plagued by a terrifying voice in my head. I thought I was evil and had to...
• The seeds of my recovery: A new community and a little Scotswoman
  on Nov 5, 2015 in Memoir posts Mental health practice Recovery Community Dreams Groups hope recovery
    I am not sure when it happened. But at some time between naming the dream, and starting to work towards it, in a myriad of tiny little ways, the dream began to take hold of my heart. It transformed from a joke into a deep motivation. I wanted...
• Speaking unspeakable shame
  on Oct 4, 2015 in Mental Health Madness memoir sexual abuse shame Trauma Writing
  How I healed from shame by putting myself on trial for my ‘sins’. Beginning with an unapologetic apology. This part of my story is confronting. A part of me wants to apologise profusely for giving you such awful things to read. Another pa...
• The things I want don’t change when I’m unwell.
  on Sep 29, 2015 in Mental Health Advocacy Compulsory treatment hospital
  Photo: Justin McManus The service that was supposed to be there to help me was recreating my worse horrors. It breaks my heart. [New mental health advocacy to support compulsory patients] [Miki Perkins, The Age]   There’s a story in The Ag...
• I am the person of whom you speak
  on Sep 22, 2015 in Mental Health Advocacy consumer movement recovery
  One of the most difficult challenges I’ve had as a mental health consumer advocate is when people deny our lived experience. It drives me nuts. So-called recovered consumers. Last year I came across a person who used the term ‘so-called recovered...
• Living with trauma stories from the royal commissions
  on Sep 2, 2015 in Mental Health Mental health reform Royal Commission Trauma
  It’s hard to avoid stories about trauma and abuse in the Australian media right now. Between the royal commission into institutional child sexual abuse and the royal commission into family violence, a stream of stories are being reported every...
• Join a research project & help improve our knowledge about trauma and mental health
  on Aug 23, 2015 in Mental Health Hearing Voices research Trauma Informed Care and Practice
  A Melbourne research project is looking at how mental health services ask about and respond to trauma for people who hear voices. Hopefully research like this will help our mental health services become better at responding to trauma.   Are you...
• Just a cry for help.
  on Aug 20, 2015 in Mental Health Attention Crisis hospital Mental health
  How often have you heard the phrases just a cry for help and just attention-seeking? This is what many people, including many mental health professionals, say about those who seek their assistance. I find it a strangely dispassionate response to anot...
• Writing about me without me.
  on Aug 2, 2015 in Mental Health memoir Mental health Records Writing
  I recently watched Madness Made Me, the short online film about Mary O’Hagan’s story. It got me thinking about the power of words and those who use them.   I have long been inspired by Mary O’Hagan. I still remember the first time I saw he...
• Living with the magnetism of madness
  on Jul 13, 2015 in Mental Health Madness memoir recovery
  I am on intimate terms with my madness. Together we have been seducers and lovers, escapees and bad asses, competitors, companions and mortal enemies. These days we are more like constructive collaborators. Well, that’s a bit of a fib. It’s like...

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