Overcoming Mental Illness

There’s a new blog on the block, as there are most minutes of most days of most weeks - but unlike some this one is unquestionably worth the read. A joy from start to finish. As the mysterious streetwalkingcheetah points out in their first post:

I didn’t have clue how to start, so I took some of the best opening lines in music history and used those instead. Thanks, Iggy.

It’s a bit misleading, though. Streetwalking Cheetah? Hardly. More like Panda-in-Captivity, except not as cute. Most of my ’streetwalking’ is done between this desk and the coffeeshop, which I don’t really think counts. The rest of the time I sit in my cage (read: 20th floor reception area), doing the corporate equivalent of lazing round, chewing bamboo and refusing to have sex with other Pandas (read: folding things, looking at the internet and refusing to photocopy).

I’m going to pretend I didn’t just descend into the use of office humour or tenuous metaphors; otherwise I’ll have to throw this whole adventure in before I’ve even begun.

Read the rest of this post on Heart Full Of Napalm…

This is a blog which is unbelievably well written, so much so that it puts the majority of my wittering to shame, and in all honesty makes him feel quite unskilled in the realm of the written world…but thems the breaks! So don’t even wait to get the chance, hop on over to this blog and check it out.

My own personal favourite post so far…well, that would be Quiet Up There People, I’m Trying to Work. Not merely because it touches on themes which have been present throughout this blog, but because it is a beautifully crafted piece which deserves far wider acclaim than merely the blogosphere.

Yep, another one of the darned days where I feel like I’m a grouchy neighbour who keeps banging threateningly on his roof with a broom shouting “Heavens to Betsy, would y’all KEEP IT DOWN!” while my fabulous co-tenants party/have sex/fight above me. Except that the noisy co-tenants are my anything-but-fabulous thoughts and the grouchy neighbour is the rest of me and I don’t have the benefit of a dividing roof, or indeed a broom, and we’re all stuck in the one terrifying space together, otherwise known as my body.

That metaphor was so strained I think I might have pulled something.

So while the metaphor-composing part of my brain is off on the sidelines having a rub-down, the rest of me will continue with this increasingly nonsensical post. Those of you who have seen Post Numero Uno (I’m assuming fairly confidently that this blog has an audience of one, and that person is currently inexplicably imagining themselves to be a grouchy old American man with a broom circa 1958, so this is probably unnecessary, but I’ll humour myself) will know that on of the raisons d’etre for this blog is to try and shut up my noisy, overcrowded head. So here we go.

Read the rest of this post on Heart Full Of Napalm

So away ye go now and enjoy, and we can only hope streetwalkingcheetah returns often and soon with more delightful writings.

Visit Heart Full Of Napalm here

Whilst on my travels around cyberspace I often come across some wonderful blogs which have escaped my attention, and recently three have been drawn to my attention. So, due to their glorious wonderfulness I have decided to spotlight them here as places you really should drop by and visit often.

Alicia Sparks is the brains behind Mental Health Notes which has been running since early 2007 - and I’ve only just come across it! It’s a wonderful blog packed full of enlightening, incredibly well written articles on mental health. Alicia describes her blog as: 

“My mission with MHN has been to attack mental health from a consumer’s point of view. I aim to keep readers up to date with the latest news in mental health, provide my solicited - and very often unsolicited - opinions on mental health issues and offer readers a place to ante up their own thoughts and opinions. It’s time more people stepped up and faced these issues rather than hiding them in the darkest corners of their minds. Sure, your behavior at times may seem questionable, but having a mental health condition doesn’t make you crazy.”

And she’s right, it’s time we stopped hiding in those dimly lit darkened corners, and this blog is definitely worth dropping by.

VISIT MENTAL HEALTH NOTES HERE: www.mentalhealthnotes.com

Meanwhile, I doth think hell has frozen over, because I have found a blog about MEN and mental health. Sound the trumpets! Adam Field writes Men-tal Health which is all about mental health from a man’s point of view. It’ so refreshing to find other blogs on this subject written by and for men, which is why this blog is worth visiting. On his blog Adam explains the reason why he set it up:

“Last year, I underwent some fairly traumatic events in my life that led me to seek the help of a mental health professional. What I found was that the provision of mental health services for men was somewhat lacking. I paid the going rate and got the best help available but not everyone has this luxury. As such, I wanted to create a site with resources and discussion, as well as a blog (this one) where I can share my own experiences and journey to improve my mental health.”

Which is simply awesome, because resources and help for men with mental health problems are severely lacking, so head on over and join the discussion.

VISIT MEN-TAL HEALTH HERE: http://blog.men-talhealth.org.uk/

Whilst in another corner of cyberspace Lisa Emrich writes Brass and Ivory which is described in her blog in a much more succinct quote than my current medication-addled mind can come up with:

“Lisa is very passionate about the topics she writes about and is not afraid to voice her opinion. This is one tough lady I am telling you…and Lisa has a kick butt list of all the MS blogs you never knew existed until now. Her site is full of information and support. So do go visit. You will be glad you did.”

I’ve become a keen reader of this blog since I discovered it a few short weeks ago, Lisa’s writing is beautiful, dripping with inspiration, insights and passion. A blog well worth a visit, and then several revisits.

VISIT BRASS AND IVORY HERE: http://brassandivory.blogspot.com/

So there we have it. Three fantastic blogs which you may not be familiar with to visit, subscribe to, and enjoy. Also, a quick wee note whilst we’re on the subject of blogs, the oft-mentioned Pole to Polar: The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive has recently moved to it’s own domain - www.mentallyinteresting.org -  so as we’re adding new blog to our bookmarks today, remember to update this one as well.