Children And The Black Dog

I wasn't prepared when the black dog turned up the first time, I didn't even know he existed and he certainly wasn't welcome. But, as he forced his way into my home and flopped onto my sofa, it seemed clear that he wasn't going to be leaving any time soon. I have often wondered what my life would have been like if I had been told about the black dog, if I had been told about mental illness. Would I have coped better? Would it have made a difference? Something happened this morning that made me decide that, whatever happens, my children are going to know about the black dog before he comes knocking...

Addiction: Ripping Out The Roots

When you are diagnosed as an addict it is a serious illness but if you take out the problem at the root you stand a greater chance of surviving it. This is my story...

Finding Your Creative Spark

Warning: This article contains honesty, mental illness and faith. It is an intensely personal account of recent events and I speak only for myself. What I will say is I would love to support others who wish to share their own journeys. #BreakTheSilence lets work together...

The Sound of Silence and The Stigma of Ignorance

This is the first time I have ever written this down, ever shared my whole story. There are a few reasons why but the biggest of those is the stigma. We live in a society that is full of people who think they are experts on mental illness. They are people who have never suffered, never battled the black dog. People who have never sat in a living room while their family live and felt totally and absolutely empty. Dead inside, yet still breathing. These people, these experts, are the very ones that spread the lie, give the stigma its power. Some of them don't even realise they do it, such is the insidious and creeping nature of this untruth. Yet, it is this attitude that keeps so many in chains, unable to break the strangle hold that threatens to throttle them to death. It is time that those who suffer in silence are given a voice, it is time that I tell you what I have experienced and make myself vulnerable. There is an answer, if not a cure, and there is a way you get to live again. But first you have to admit you have a problem, a serious one.