Time To Talk Day!

Hi Guys today is Time To Talk Day! so im going to do a little blog about me!

This is me! just so you don’t get confused 😉

My Name is Sarah Dale, I am 22, and I have Been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) with episodic Depression and Anxiety, and Anorexia Nervosa.

well that’s a mouth full and a half! do I let it get me down. I try my best not to!

I was fist diagnosed with anorexia when I was 16 and it has only since last year i was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, although I’ve been struggling with it for years.

At one point I was so ill I did not think I would make it to my 20th birthday. my moods were so volatile and I took my dangerous behaviours(self-harm, eating disorder ect.) to the extreme as I relentlessly punished my body.

over the last few years I have improved dramatically, and this is thanks to my medication which helps soften and regulate my emotions, Dialectal Behavioural Therapy (DBT) which aim to teach me how to deal with my emotions, although I have a long way still to go!

I have my bad days where I’m very emotions run wild, self harm and restrictive eating urges are hard to over come, and the anxiety makes me physically sick, the depression makes me want to curl up in bed and hide from life, BUT I get there! I never let my mental health define me so don’t define me by it!

NPTC Newtown Level 3 Health and Social Care students being educated by the Black Cat Project

up to date, I have won NPTC Powys Student Excellence Award, come runner up in the BTEC National Award, set up the Black Cat Project and created a radio play called Cara with Fixers UK.

With Fixers I have appeared in local and national newspapers on-line an in print, been a a part of the feel Happy Eating fix to devise recommendations for Government to improve the care of those with eating disorder, I was apart of The Feel happy Fix to divise recommendations for Government to improve the care of those with a mental helth problem, which I represented Wales when we presented the 50 Recommendations.

Presenting the Feel Happy Fix Report- 50 Recomendations for Mental health

i was apart of Generation 2015 in the run up to the elections, i was invited down to the BBC studios in London to ask a question to Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood and Conservative leader leader David Camron. I was also interviewed by BBC Radio Wales for there Focus on Wales – Self-Harm program.

So you see, I am not ‘dangerous’, a ‘Psycho’, ‘need to be chucked in the loony bin’, and no I am defiantly NOT ‘a danger to your children’ as I have been told before. Personally I don’t care what you call me, I have sadly heard it all before. HOWEVER, what you say might stop someone from reaching out for help! so please be a little bit more PC… Pretty pleeeeaaaase!!

so at the moment I am taking my time to recover, I am focusing on my therapy so hopefully it won’t impact on my life so much, so I can get on with mylife.

Time for Zumba!

right peoples I’m now off to Zumba Class it helps me with my mood and is a healthy was to get out all those emotions without reverting to unhealthy behaviours. and yes I wear a short sleeved t-shirt! its taken me moths to get the courage to do so!. Zumba in long sleeved t-shirts is not fun I assure you!

Thanks for reading, thank you to everyone who helped me get here, and remember never give up! you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it!!!

Sarah Dale >^..^<

 

 

 

Mental Health and Memory

As you know mental health problems can affect your memory many conditions such as depression anxiety. Some of the medications to treat mental health conditions can affect them too. From personal experience I have found that my memory has become very poor over the years because of this. I forget things like washing up, shopping, attending appointments to taking my medication and what I have done in the past week. So here are a few tips to combat this.

• Get yourself a white board! – Put it somewhere where you can’t miss it, like the back of the front door. List everything you need to do that day and tick them off as you complete them. It is very satisfying to see what you have done, it also insures you remember you do all those important tasks.

• Use a diary! – putting my appointments or important dates in my phone, will guarantee I will forget and miss my appointments. Having a diary I carry everywhere with me. Insures I can check what I need to do and put in things I need to remember. Especially those pesky dentist appointments which are six months ahead!

• Pill boxes are not just for old people! – are you like me, have so many meds you forget when to take them? Or leave them at home? Well there is this amazing contraption called a pill box! My bill pox is six days a week, morning, noon, evening and night. And the days are removable!! Fantastic! I just pop the box in my bag and take them wherever I go! Whoooo!

• Notebooks are useful!– I can’t tell you the about of fancy notebooks I have been given for Christmas and Birthdays. Well put them to good use, white things that you have done in the day, your thoughts and feelings, which can come in handy for therapy sessions.

• Alarms are not just for waking up! – You can set an alarm for when you need to take your medication, you can name the alarm on your phone so you can remember to take your medication.

• Get a routine! – I find that if you have a routine for waking up and going to sleep you eventually get into a habit of doing things such as taking medication, putting the laundry on, washing up dishes ect. Not only does this help memory it helps you get a good night sleep too!! Yippee!

If you have any other suggestions let me know.

Any ideas for a blog post! what would you like to see? get in touch

Black Cat Project

Borderline Personality Disorder

I thought it was time to take a look at Borderline Personality Disorder, or as it is also called Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder. Having being diagnose with the condition myself the ‘Diagnostic names’ don’t sound to promising. Infect, they sound extremely intimidating. This is one of the reasons diagnosis of this condition is not taken lightly. I have heard that other people have found that mental health services did not want to engage with them because of the diagnosis. Luckily this has not happened to me so far. My therapist and psychiatrist are very understanding. I found I was discriminated against more without a diagnosis. So enough about me! Let’s look at the ‘personality’ and personality disorders in general first.

What is a personality disorder[i]?

The term ‘personality’ refers to patterns of thoughts, feeling and behaviour, which is individual to all of us. We don’t always think, feel and behave in the same way, it depends on the situation we are in, the people we are around and many others. However we tend to behave in particular patterns. From these behaviour patterns we can be described as shy, selfish, lively etc. These make up our personality.

As we grow are personality changes and matures, as we go thought difficulty times in life and our circumstances change. Our thinking, feeling and behaviour changes, to cope with life more efficiently with life.

Those with a personality disorder find this more difficult. Patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving are more difficult to change. Also, people with a personality disorder have a more limited range of emotions, attitudes and behaviours, making it more difficult to cope with everyday life, making things difficult for the person with the personality disorder and those around them.

People with Personality Disorders often have different beliefs and attitudes from most people. This can make it difficult to spend time with people as your behaviour can be unexpected and unusual, which can lead you insecure and lonely.

The different types of personality disorder[ii]

In all there are 10 different types of personality disorder and these are grouped into three categories

To find out more about theses personality disorders take a look at Mind.org.uk

Borderline personality Disorder

Those with Borderline Personality Disorder generally have five or more of the following symptoms[iii]:

• Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
• A pattern of unstable and intense relationships characterised by alternating between idealisation and devaluation.
• Identity disturbance – unstable sense of self-image or sense of self
• Impulsive behaviours that are potentially self-damaging(not including suicidal or self-harming behaviours)
• Recurrent suicidal or self-harming behaviours
• Insatiability due to reactivity of mood – e.g intense episodic dysphonia, irritability or anxiety lasting a few hours, really more than a few days.
• Chronic feeling of emptiness
• Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger
• Stress related paranoia ideation or sever dissociative symptoms

Each person’s experience of Borderline Personality disorder is different and should be treated as such.

For me I find it difficult to regulate my emotions or find a middle between the intense feeling. These feelings can be overwhelming and difficult to deal with. I dealt with this by engaging in self- harming behaviours, eating disorders, and if things got too much, attempting suicide. The feeling of emptiness makes it difficult to be on my own, or ‘be with myself’. I attach onto others, behave as that do to feel the ‘gap’. I feel that I don’t know who I am, which is the scariest thought, that I might be really nothing. I experience dissociative symptoms which can skew my perception, sometimes the world doesn’t feel real or that I am not real. Sometime I feel as if I am floating watching myself carry out everyday tasks. I have a difficulty to make and maintain friends, mainly because my reaction to small event can be extreme and un called for. I push people away if I feel like they will leave me, sometimes I cling on to them for dear life. Basically it is a very crippling disorder and effects my life and those around me. BUT!!! There is HOPE!!!

 

Recovery

‘Recovery’ is possible. To get to a point where the behaviours, thoughts and feeling don’t impact you as much.

That statistics say that those diagnose with the condition improve in the long term(10-15 years), with 50 to 75 per cent no longer showing enough symptoms to meet the criteria for the diagnosis.

There are a variety of treatments available some you may wish to look at in more detail[iv]:

• Dialect Behavioural Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• Problem-Solving Therapy
• Manual-Assisted Cognitive Therapy
• Interpersonal Psychotherapy
• Cognitive Analytic Therapy
• Psychodynamic Psychotherapy adapted for Borderline Personality Disorder
• Metallisation- based Therapy

Take a look at mind for more information on these therapies.

Although Borderline Personality Disorder is considered lifelong with the right treatment and therapy you can recover. Never give up! There is always hope!

Each person’s recovery is a journey, it may not be strait forward, there may be bumps in to road. Recovery is more about learning about yourself and reducing the impact it has on you, rather than eliminating the condition all together.

Rethink

Mind

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance

Self Harm UK

Life Signs

Beat

[i] Mind booklet – Understanding Personality Disorders

[ii] Mind booklet – Understanding Personality Disorders

[iii]  Understanding personality disorders, an introduction. Duane L. Dobbert -Page 65

[iv] http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/borderline-personality-disorder-bpd/bpd-treatments-and-recovery/#.Vi4FONLhBko

Suicide! No Laughing matter!

Suicide is a difficult topic for all of us. Suicide affects all of us. And the effects of someone completing suicide, doesn’t just stop with close family and friends. It affects the whole community. Wither you believe it or not, a few words can give someone who is contemplating suicide, a glimmer of hope, a reason to live. So let’s talk about suicide now! Let’s educate ourselves!

The hard facts

• In 2013, 6,233 suicides were registered in the UK. This corresponds to a rate of 11.9 per 100,000 (19.0 per 100,000 for men and 5.1 per 100,000 for women).[i]
• The male suicide rate is the highest since 2001. The suicide rate among men aged 45-59, 25.1 per 100,000, is the highest for this group since 1981.[ii]
• Male suicides in Wales rose by 23 per cent between 2012 and 2013. The rate for males (26.1 per 100,000) is at its highest since 1981.[iii]

As the graph below shows that Wales has the second highest rates of suicide.[iv]

This is particularly worrying. But why do people feel like it is the only option.

Why?

From personal experience. Sarah, 22

“For me it got to the point where I felt trapped. Each day I was just dragging myself through it. The pain of each day was extreme. I didn’t see and end.my eating disorder had completely took control over me, there was nothing of the ‘old me’ left. I could visible see the pain my mental health was causing my family. And that hurt most. I was considered not ill enough to be taken in as an in-patient. So I felt the only way to end this pain, and the hurt that I was causing my family. Was to end my life, I felt useless, worthless and pathetic. And felt the world could do better off without me.”

However

“With the constant support of my family, friends, and psychiatric team. I have the correct medication and talking therapy. I have the right support to get through the dark times and see that I can get through this and that suicide is only a permanent fix to a temporary problem”

What are the warning signs?[v]

Sometimes the warning signs are obvious that someone is at risk of attempting suicide. This however, is not always the case.

If someone is threatening to hurt or kill themselves, talk or write about death, dying or suicide or are actively looking for ways to kill themselves. If they have one, you could contact there care coordinator at their local Community Mental Health Team(CMHT) or Child and Adulterant Mental Health service (CAMHs). If you are unsure its best to contact your doctor, (or out of hours doctor) or your nearest accident and emergency department.

Other warning signs that a person may be at risk of suicide:

• Complain of feeling of hopelessness
• Have episodes of sudden rage and anger
• Act recklessly and engage in risky activates with an apparent lacl of concern about consequences
• Talk about feeling trapped, such as saying they can’t see a way out of their current situation
• Self-harm- including misusing drugs or alcohol(or increased use)
• Noticeably gain or lose weight due to a change in appetite
• Become increasingly withdrawn from friends, family and society in general
• Appear anxious and agitated
• Are unable to sleep or sleep all the time
• Have sudden mood swings-a student lift in mood after a period of depression could indicate they have made their decision to attempt suicide
• Talk and act in a way that suggests that they have no sense of purpose
• Lose interest in most things , including their appearance
• Put their affairs in order, such as sorting out possessions or making a will

If you notice any of these warning signs in a friend, relative or loved one, encourage them to talk about their feelings. Share your concerns with your GP or a member of their care team.

 

Offering Support[vi]

The best thing to do is to encourage them to talk about their feelings and listen to what they say. From personal experience, if you don’t know how to respond, say nothing! Just give them the time to express themselves, and love and support they need. Trust me this can go a long way, and make them feel loved and wanted. If there is any immediate danger, DO NOT LEAVE THEM ON THEIR OWN!!!!

Do Not Judge

It’s important to not make judgements about how a person is thinking or behaving. You may think their behaviour is making them worse. For example, they may be drinking too much. However pointing this out with not be helpful. Reassurance, respect and support can help someone during these difficult periods

Asking Questions

Asking questions can help extract information, and give you a better understand how the person is feeling. Open ended questions such as “where did that happen?” and “how did that feel?” will encourage them to talk. Its best to avoid statements that could end the conversation such as “I know how you feel” and “try not to worry about it”

Getting Professional Help

Talking to someone about their feeling can make them feel safe and secure, these feeling may not last. It will probably require long term support to help someone.This will be easier will professional help. If you are feeling suicidal or know someone who is feeling suicidal it is important to speak to your care coordinator or GP as a matter of urgency.

IMPORTANT INFO!!

If you are supporting someone who is having suiciadal thoughts it is important to look after yourself. If the person is deemed a danger to themselves or you feel unable to support them. Do Not hesitate to contact emergency services. It could save a life.

For more info, take a look at the NHS website, mind website or pop in to your local mental health resource centre.

take a look at our Where Can I Get Help page

[i]Samaritans – Suicide Statistics Report 2015 Including data for 2011-2013 12/10/2015

[ii] Samaritans – Suicide Statistics Report 2015 Including data for 2011-2013 12/10/2015

[iii] Samaritans – Suicide Statistics Report 2015 Including data for 2011-2013 12/10/2015

[iv] Samaritans – Suicide Statistics Report 2015 Including data for 2011-2013 12/10/2015

[v] http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/suicide/pages/warning-signs.aspx

[vi] http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/suicide/pages/helping-others.aspx