Three years ago last month, my mind lost touch with reality in a very rapid turn of events that culminated in an acute manic episode of bipolar affective disorder. Having been diagnosed with bipolar in 2004, I had not experienced any mania or hypomania (a lesser manic state) in ten years, although I had fallen into a...
Personal stories about mental health
Mental health problems affect 1 in 4 people every year and no one should feel ashamed. By sharing our experiences, together we can end the stigma.
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May 18, 2017
I have experienced mental health problems since I was 15 and, for a while, I thought I would never be able to achieve anything. Even now there are times when I feel so alone, I sit in the dark crying whilst the voices inside my head scream at me and make me doubt everything. They even make me doubt that I have friends,...
May 17, 2017
You hear stories of how exciting, liberating and hard-working life at university is. You get told that the many parties and mingling with like-minded people will be ‘the best time of your life’. When I think back to the start of 2009, when I started a web development course at Manchester Metropolitan University, I...
May 15, 2017
I was about to take some goods (highly expensive goods!) to Scunthorpe Hospital and I just couldn't face it anymore. It's hard to describe the feeling; the saying “my minds going 100mph” is cliché, but that’s what it felt like. My thoughts were racing, going in every direction possible. It consumed me, taking over my every...