Holding On – thoughts on suicide
I heard the news of Robin Williams’ death late on Monday and felt the familiar, hypocritical shock when I learned it was suicide...
Where Have You Been?
I’ve mentally written and re-written the start of this post a thousand times over but when it came to putting it on the page I always lost my nerve. It never sounded right...
Review of ‘An Inconvenient Posting – an expat wife’s memoir of lost identity’
Describing an encounter with depression during her family’s expatriation to Houston, USA, Laura J Stephens' memoir will strike a chord with displaced souls everywhere.
Battling BPD
It doesn’t matter how many times BPD engulfs my mind, I can never recognize it for what it is at the outset.
“Dear borderline me…”
I recently completed a piece of mindfulness homework that had an unexpected effect on me. It seems the wonderful people who run the blog at Mind thought it was pretty special too. They asked me nicely to remove the swear-words, and then... they published it.
Mindfulness in Depression Relapse Prevention – Thoughts are not facts
Problems occur when we attach too much importance to mental commentary. We treat a stream of ideas as fact, and they crystallize into negative thoughts that become difficult to step back from. This session looks at ways of having a different relationship with our thoughts – how we can observe them from a distance and learn from them...
Understanding Suicide
Written in the days following the death of film director Tony Scott, this is the most "human" piece on suicide I've come across...
Mindfulness in Depression Relapse Prevention – Exploring the landscape of depression
Over the past few weeks I’ve developed a foundation of mindfulness. I’m ready to extend this skill to the thoughts and feelings I experience when depression is lurking. I’ve built up my mindfulness muscle – now it’s time to flex it and see what it can do.
Goodbye Martin…
Today, K & I heard that a friend back in England had taken his life. Still in shock, we met at lunchtime to hug each other and fail miserably at answering all the silent questions behind each others eyes.