Bipolar Research Participation

It’s been a while since I’ve been on WP, I think I lost my writing mojo. I don’t know if this will be a one of post or the start of me getting more active on here again. Watch this space…or don’t, as I might not be on here again for some time 🙂

I’m doing ok right now…sooooo you know….that’s nice.

Anywhoozles the reason for this post. I got an email recently (pasted below) from the Spectrum Centre at Lancaster University regarding Bipolar Research. I’m taking part in it & thought it’d be a good idea to put the contact details on here in case any of you would like to take part.

Just email Barbara & let her know you would like to take part. I got a response the day after, so good luck.

I don’t know if this is for UK based people only, but if you’re an overseas Bipolarian (hmmm have I just invented a new word) contact Barbara anyway, as it might be an all inclusive kinda deal.

Hope you’re all doing well…if not keep up the fight.

ps

I’m not used to this new WP layout & I can’t even see where my notification & comments section is! For anyone who has commented, I’m not ignoring you, just ummmm trying to figure out where everything is 🙂

Spectrum Centre Email

Dear Spectrum Connect Member,

I am Barbara Mezes, a PhD student at the Spectrum Centre for Mental Health Research and I would like to invite people with bipolar disorder to take part in a research exploring personal recovery experiences. We are aiming to better understand the personal recovery experiences of people with bipolar disorder– not only clinical aspects, but also other improvements such as being able to enjoy social activities, get back into employment and having more control over your life. The study is exploring the different thinking styles, behaviours, activities and environmental factors, which can influence your recovery experiences, both long-term and in everyday life.

There are three phases of this study. Some phases of the study involve taking part in interviews and completing questionnaires, whilst others involve keeping a diary.  It is up to you which phase(s) you would like to take part in, but we can discuss these in more detail before you decide to participate.

If you have diagnosis of bipolar disorder and would like to take part or find out more about the study, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Email: b.mezes1@lancaster.ac.uk

Telephone: 01524 592622 or 0789 6939879

Best wishes,

Barbara

What If?

 

I travelled up to the North East of England recently to see my wife’s parents. My wife (Laura) had travelled up a few days earlier, so I made the journey up in our car on my own. It reminded me when we were first dating & she was studying in Sunderland, whereas I was working in Liverpool. I’ve got fond memories of our long distance relationship. More so, considering most people seem to believe they don’t work.

I realised back then I hadn’t yet been diagnosed with any mental illness. So although I had suffered from, at least depression, I was blissfully unaware that was what it was. I never knew what I wanted to do, work-wise, back then, but I was confident I could turn my hand to most things. So I suppose my outlook was ‘the world is my oyster’ kind of thing. After just six months since I left Uni I had paid off my credit card debt on only £150 a week wage. I was confident I’d soon be in a job where I’d be earning at least the national average. At which point I would then start making repayments on my student loans. Meh, I never got there (there being the national average wage) in the end, but hey-ho that’s life.

It got me thinking of those ‘sliding doors’ moments in all our lives, where you think what if… My what if, is how would my life be different if I didn’t have a mental illness.

I know a lot of people say ‘I don’t believe in regrets. Everything in life has made me who I am today’. Which is fine, but come on, most of us have done something we regret & if we could change it we would. Personally I think it’s fine to have regrets, but the important thing is not to dwell & stew over them. It’s the past, you can’t change it so what’s the point.

What are your ‘What if’ moment?

 

Project O – Article #18: Bpshielsy – Liverpool, UK (Scheduled for 9-5 @ 06:00)

There is a very interesting project going on over at Harsh Reality. A series of interviews have been done, to provide an insight into how opinions are formed in different countries & cultures. There is more to it than just that, but to find out more you’ll need to go on over. My interview is up on there now. Check it out & all the other interviews on there so far.

Voices of Mental Illness: Breaking the Silence of Stigma

I had to reblog this…for a few reasons. Firstly, it’s a great blog so get over there & start following. Secondly, my last post was about doing a post on Wednesday, so here it is. (Yeah yeah, a reblog is cheating, but it’s my blog so hush). Thirdly this reblog is all about meeeeeeee 🙂

Bipolar For Life

Graham Shiels is the author of The Bipolar Place, and a partner in the stigma-fighting campaign, Faces of Mental Illness.  He is a husband, a mail carrier, lives in Livepool, England, and he is a Voice of Mental Illness.

BSS: How long have you known that you are living with a mental illness?

GS:  For me it’s not a simple, x amount of years, answer. I was first diagnosed with a mental illness when I was 22. That would be 13 years ago. However, I think I have had a mental illness as early as the age of 12 or 13. I remember crying myself to sleep nearly every night for what seemed like a year, but I didn’t know what I was crying about. I wasn’t aware back then I had a mental illness, but I also had the feeling that not everyone felt this way.

BSS:…

View original post 1,415 more words

I Need A Stat Hit

OK so I haven’t blogged much this last week or so & my stats have all but dried up. What can I say I like my stats to be breaking new records 🙂

So take a poll if you want to see more of me. Not literally mind, I’m not a piece of meat…

Project O

One thing I love, is learning about new cultures. So I think this should provide some intriguing results.

Mental Health Stigma – Does it add up?

This is an excerpt from my guest post on Where I Stand. Please pop over & check it out along with all the other great stuff on there.

“It doesn’t make sense to me that an illness of the brain has so much negative stigma around to it. Whereas an illness to the body is well, for lack of a better word, ‘normal’ and accepted. For me, it can only be explained through fear of the unknown.”

A Call For Support

I’ve been pretty busy lately with one thing or another, but something I really wanted to get a post out about is Faces of Mental Illness.

I’ve been working with Laura SQ from Mrs Bipolarity & Laura P. Schulman from  Bipolar For Life, on creating the real faces of mental illness. Initially it was in reaction to Brian Williams’ stigmatising negative comments on mental illness. He stated of Ariel Castro, who held three Cleveland women captive for a decade was the face of mental illness. So, here we have an NBC Anchorman claiming this repugnant man is the face for people who suffer from all manner of mental illnesses. Such comments from a public figure can only do harm to any organisations out there trying to educate people & reduce the stigma around mental health.

As mentioned, this was originally what prompted the two Laura’s & I to start Faces Of Mental Illness. However, I’d like it to continue & evolve to show how people who have mental illness are more than the illness itself.

We have created YouTube, Facebook & Twitter pages, all entitled The Face Of Mental Health.

Youtube – Faces of Mental Illness

Facebook – Faces of Mental Illness

Twitter – Faces of Mental Illness

Please show your support by doing any of the following…send us a vlog to mentalfaces1@gmail.com. We’ll upload it to the Youtube page & share it to Facebook & Twitter. Don’t worry if you’re unable to do this. I know I wouldn’t have felt comfortable doing this a year or so ago. But please visit the pages & have a look at what we’re doing. If you like what you see please comment or like the respective pages. If you do want to show support, please share the pages on your own Facebook, Twitter & Youtube pages

Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Support for Amanda Bynes

A really well written piece, detailing Amanda Bynes’ struggle with mental illness. I hope she can get the help she needs.

Go Mo Go!

You may remember, at last year’s London Olympics, I posted all the gold winning medallists of the British team. Well it’s currently the Athletics World Championships in Moscow & I’m going to do the same. I absolutely love watching athletics, probably more so than I do football. Now I’m from Liverpool, a two football club mad city, so if you’re not a red or a blue, well you’re viewed with deep suspicion. Much like witches were in the time of Medievalness! So for me to come out & say I prefer watching Athletics to football, is controversial to say the least.

Yesterday in Moscow our very own, two time gold winning Olympian from London, Mo Farah won the 10,000m. He was desperate to win, as it was the only global gold missing from his collection. He was predicted to win comfortably, but he didn’t have it all his own way, as the guy who pipped him to gold two years ago, was nipping at his heels all the way down the home straight.

Mo, I & hopefully all of Britain are very proud of you!