Welcome!
Learning to be comfortable with the label “Mad” has been a long journey for me, and I inhabit it now with a sense of acceptance, affection and a little irony.
It's several decades since I found myself unable to function due to mental health crisis and back then the word, like the experience, terrified me. "Taking it back” has been empowering and liberating.
Today the meaning of "Mad" for me, in the contexts of my life and work, is threefold:
1 The way I think, process, respond, and sometimes behave, can be divergent from the norm. Decades into recovery, and living a rich and fulfilling life, I still experience life as a combination of simultaneous realities, with an awareness of the infinite consciousness beyond my physical restraints. I often struggle with anxiety, confusion and intrusive thoughts that I have learned to live with, but may never go away. There exists within my psyche a community of sub-personalities, some of which once manifested as tormenting voices and still shout me down in times of stress. These can become unruly if I don’t consciously manage them.
If an onlooker could see inside my mind, the terrain might well look like madness. To me it is now a home in which I can mostly live quite comfortably, even peacefully, and where I generally find less dysfunction than in the world outside.
2 I am angry – about many things, including (in the context of this site) the way I see people in distress being pathologised, dismissed and unsupported by those in power, just as I was for many years. I am angered by the numerous injustices that exist, locally and globally. I believe this is a natural response to an increasingly crazy world, but have learned that it's imperative to temper my anger with compassion, transform it into action, and to let it go.
3 I feel compelled to Make A Difference, because of all of the above, and everything that's broken, within the mental health system and wider world. This sometimes feels like a kind of madness in itself, and I have to ,moderate it. But MakingA Difference fulfills me, impacts others, and gives meaning to my life and experiences, past and present. Encouraging others to recognise that they can also Make A Difference in the areas that matter to them, and witnessing how this can enhance their wellbeing and recovery as well as helping to change the world, is one of my greatest joys.
Connecting and Services
Would you like to know more about my story and lived experience and/or discuss the workshops, training and other events I offer?
I am always happy to talk about the understanding, insights and unique expertise that have evolved over a lifetime of mental health divergence, exploration and recovery, grounded by professional training, collaboration and co-production work. Services draw upon many elements of that combination.
Please watch the short illustrated poems and videos below (and more here),
read these blog posts:
Psychological Crisis: Dismantling the Walls
The Eternal Gift of Not Choosing Suicide
have a look at the services page
and contact me if you'd like to!
It's several decades since I found myself unable to function due to mental health crisis and back then the word, like the experience, terrified me. "Taking it back” has been empowering and liberating.
Today the meaning of "Mad" for me, in the contexts of my life and work, is threefold:
1 The way I think, process, respond, and sometimes behave, can be divergent from the norm. Decades into recovery, and living a rich and fulfilling life, I still experience life as a combination of simultaneous realities, with an awareness of the infinite consciousness beyond my physical restraints. I often struggle with anxiety, confusion and intrusive thoughts that I have learned to live with, but may never go away. There exists within my psyche a community of sub-personalities, some of which once manifested as tormenting voices and still shout me down in times of stress. These can become unruly if I don’t consciously manage them.
If an onlooker could see inside my mind, the terrain might well look like madness. To me it is now a home in which I can mostly live quite comfortably, even peacefully, and where I generally find less dysfunction than in the world outside.
2 I am angry – about many things, including (in the context of this site) the way I see people in distress being pathologised, dismissed and unsupported by those in power, just as I was for many years. I am angered by the numerous injustices that exist, locally and globally. I believe this is a natural response to an increasingly crazy world, but have learned that it's imperative to temper my anger with compassion, transform it into action, and to let it go.
3 I feel compelled to Make A Difference, because of all of the above, and everything that's broken, within the mental health system and wider world. This sometimes feels like a kind of madness in itself, and I have to ,moderate it. But MakingA Difference fulfills me, impacts others, and gives meaning to my life and experiences, past and present. Encouraging others to recognise that they can also Make A Difference in the areas that matter to them, and witnessing how this can enhance their wellbeing and recovery as well as helping to change the world, is one of my greatest joys.
Connecting and Services
Would you like to know more about my story and lived experience and/or discuss the workshops, training and other events I offer?
I am always happy to talk about the understanding, insights and unique expertise that have evolved over a lifetime of mental health divergence, exploration and recovery, grounded by professional training, collaboration and co-production work. Services draw upon many elements of that combination.
Please watch the short illustrated poems and videos below (and more here),
read these blog posts:
Psychological Crisis: Dismantling the Walls
The Eternal Gift of Not Choosing Suicide
have a look at the services page
and contact me if you'd like to!