Gum on My Shoe

By Roiben I can talk for a long time about my various conditions and disabilities and how they affect me. For the sake of those who do not know, I have Congenital Rubella Syndrome. This has led to a nice complicated list of conditions and disabilities including Type 1 Diabetes and mental illness. In this article I am discussing the fact that I class myself as Deaf with a severe hearing loss, and the fact that I have a visual impairment. As a result of congenital cataracts I am completely blind in my left eye. My right eye does all of the work so is prone to getting tired quickly. I have diabetic retinopathy and astigmatism in my right eye as well. I want to talk about five things that help me cope with these disabilities and get the best I can out of any given situation. Some are things I can do and some are things others can do to assist me. It is worth bearing in mind that disabilities are very individual and needs change from person to person. Some of these things are genera...

Fran and I are delighted and proud to announce that we have signed to Eliezer Tristan Publishing for an exciting new project. Watch this space for further details! Co-founded by Stigma Fighters CEO Sarah Fader and Vice President Sarah Comerford, Eliezer Tristan Publishing publishes nonfiction and fiction largely focusing on survival in its many iterations. We encourage you to follow the ETP team on their website , Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram . Our first book High Tide, Low Tide: The Caring Friend’s Guide to Bipolar Disorder is published by Nordland Publishing.  

I bumped into an old friend and former colleague this morning as I was having coffee at Regular Jo’s at Tynemouth Market. The last time I saw Paul was in similar circumstances. He saw me one Sunday afternoon as I was sitting outside Starbucks near where I live. That was maybe eighteen months ago. I know our book High Tide, Low Tide was out, so it must have been after September 2016. It was great to see him again today and we had a good catch up, sharing what each of us is doing these days, and checking in on folk we know or knew. Paul left to follow his dream of working for himself at something he loves, and it is clear it’s worked out well for him. That was great to see! On paper at least I’m doing much the same work as I was doing the last time we met. (As a matter of fact I have been doing much the same work since Paul left, which might be ten years ago now.) But I am not the same person I was then, and I can honestly say I am much happier since I started help shape the ment...

By Amy Leigh McCorkle Dear Daniel Craig. This journey to wellness started long before that. But this leg of the journey started with a blog I used to tell my story and share an everyday look at what life with bipolar disorder looks like. So, Dear Daniel Craig was a confessional for me. I let it all hang out. The good, the bad, and the downright ugly. I should note here I have not met Daniel Craig. And that, as far as I know, he has no idea I even exist. Still, the simple act of using my favorite actor as silent audience seemed to be final piece in a multi-pronged treatment plan. There was medication, group and individual therapy (still is), and the support of amazing caregivers. This blog, Letters to Daniel, soon took on a life of its own, and it made me actively advocate. People responded in a big way. They reached out to me saying I was telling their story. Or that I was telling their loved one’s story. It didn’t stop there. I gathered the letters up and turned it into a...

I am grateful to Vikki Beat for our recent conversation at Caffe Nero which led to me writing this up. It’s no secret that Fran and I spend a lot of time talking together but it took a while for me to recognise that not all conversations are the same. Different people have different ways of talking, of course, but aside from that there are distinct types of conversation depending on what the people involved need at the time. Here are three distinct types we have found useful. I’d love to know if they resonate for you – or if they don’t! Let’s talk! “My Turn, Your Turn.” This is the type of conversation that comes most naturally to me, whether face-to-face (in person or on a video call), on the telephone, or in online chat. It consists of short alternating exchanges, one person speaking for a moment or two then letting the other take a turn. It works well (at least for me) where you are “shooting the breeze”, making plans, or sharing things on a fairly surface-y level. What I had ...

Check out our top posts for the past month. Posts are listed by number of page views they attracted during the month, most popular first. Bipolar and Saying No: Why I Can’t Always Do Fun Things with You Not to Punish but to Understand Even the Good Things: A Lesson in Letting Go Mental vs Physical Illness: Stigma and Disability Twenty-Plus Years of Misdiagnosis and Incorrect Treatment Poem for Marty Who Are You, Really? What a Week That Was! Exploring Bipolar Disorder and the Sister Diagnosis of Schizoaffective Disorder. Is My Friend or Sibling Underdiagnosed? Our Mexican Adventure, Part One: “I Got My Crew” Our most visited pages were: Resources Contact Us Our book: High Tide Low Tide News and Appearances About Us Testimonials  

Dear Mum. It’s been a while since I wrote you. Six months. What was the last thing I sent you? A postcard, probably. Someone — one of your sisters, my aunts — told me a while back that my letters to you went unopened. Hence the postcards: nothing for you to open (or not open), a pretty picture for you to look at, and less aching white space for me to fill each week. It made it easier — for me at least. Nothing too heavy. News from up here in the north. Family. Friends. Work. Then best wishes for your wellbeing and family down there. Phone calls from me ceased when you could no longer take them. When you could no longer remain awake at the phone or even, perhaps, know who I was. You used to love texting, before illness took its final hold, but the special large screen phone we got you so you could take and make calls from your room languished unused and uncharged. I cherish the times I came to visit with you, on my own or with Pam. The time I took you to Washington Wildfowl Tr...