Beginning note: I have not mentioned light therapy. I haven’t tried it. It seems expensive to me (both for utility bills and initial pay out for equipment). It is proven to work though, and tackles the depression feelings of SAD, which is immensely useful. I think that coupled with the things below it would be […]
Read more "MHM:S.A.D/S.A.D-like-feelings & Self Care"Today is the final 2015 Reading Challenge. It’s been one heck of a journey. Next week I’ll be writing a retrospective of my reading year and how I felt the challenge went, and also talking about where I’ll be going next with all this. For now, on to my last book. Drag Hunt by Pat […]
Read more "2015 Reading Challenge, book 45: Drag Hunt by Pat Kelleher"This week, the last week of my Shirley Jackson marathon, we’re going to be looking at The Bird’s Nest. This is my all time favourite Jackson book, it’s the scariest, both in terms of psychology and bone chilling horror. Let me explain, as there are those who heartily disagree with that statement. Elizabeth is having […]
Read more "Shirley Jackson Marathon – Final Week: The Bird’s Nest"Natalie Waites goes to the college her father chooses for her and gradually comes unravelled. This novel was based on the true story of a college student who disappeared in the town where Shirley Jackson lived, but it is her entirely dark, psychologically chilling take on the situation. This is a very complicated novel to […]
Read more "Shirley Jackson Marathon Week 3 – Hangsaman"This time around I’m tackling the difficult subject of people as safe zones. When you’re ill it might benefit you to have someone who can go places with you so you don’t feel scared/anxious/exposed. If you’re lucky enough to have the sort of person who understands and is compassionate enough to do that for you, […]
Read more "MHM Recovery 14"Week two of this Shirley Jackson marathon is all about what some people consider to be her masterpiece (others think it’s THOHH) and that is ‘We Have Always Lived In The Castle’. This book is about the surviving members of the Blackwood family: Merricat, Constance and Uncle Julian. What did they survive you ask? Mass […]
Read more "2015 Reading Challenge: Shirley Jackson Marathon: Week 2"Today I’m tackling the issue of self harm. I went through a period of self harming that had something to do with being given the wrong medication, something to do with a feeling I needed to externalize my illness to see it legitamized and a long-standing Mexican stand-off with the idea of self harming in […]
Read more "MHM Recovery – 11 – Self Harm"Today I’m talking about the art of disappearing, either into yourself or something else. It can be a powerful tool against trauma, is in fact one of the most powerful ways the mind combats it. It’s also a body defense against stress, the actual nervous system behind that shutting down of all but the most […]
Read more "MHM Recovery 8 – Dissociation and Distraction"Talking today about how it is your MH problem can become your comfort zone, making it hard for you to move beyond it into wellness and the larger world even as you recover. When you’re ill and can become anxious even about familiar places, you might end up stuck in a very small environment with […]
Read more "MHM Recovery 7: Illness As A Comfort Zone"Rather excited this week as my book deal was FINALLY announced on Publisher’s Marketplace. WOOT!! It’s a two book deal with Titan Books. The first book, ESCAPOLOGY, will be out in Autumn 2016 and VIROLOGY, the second, will be out in 2017! I’ll be popping up a blog about the whole thing next Monday or […]
Read more "2015 Reading Challenge, Book 21: Uprooted by Naomi Novik"
Word Bullets 