What is it like to attend BIGSPD as a personality disorder activist?

This is the second blog in our series about the British and Irish Group for the Study of Personality Disorder (BIGSPD) conference. While the first was a perspective from the outside, this will tell the view from the inside. In 2017, the survivor activist group Personality Disorder in the Bin (PD in the Bin) was

Actions speak louder than words: what are BIGSPD’s values?

Content note: suicide, child abuse, iatrogenic trauma The British and Irish Group for the Study of Personality Disorder (BIGSPD) are an organisation formed in 1999 to provide a forum for networking in the field of personality disorder. They run a popular conference annually that aims to feature new research, service developments and user involvement. The

Therapy in the ‘New Normal’

Content note: childhood abuse By Katy Evans As we approach the ‘new normal’ following Covid, it concerns me that many therapists plan to continue working online and claim it’s no different to working in-person. Whilst some people find online therapy easier, for me as a survivor and disabled person, this could not be further from the truth. When Covid began I

Thorn In The Flesh: Absolutely A Diagnosis of Exclusion

Mad Covid College will be presenting an exciting new course on personality disorders this summer. Relying heavily on bigotry and contempt, the course will take an uncompromising approach to guide psychiatrists on managing these difficult, manipulative and demanding patients. The thorn in your flesh* no longer has to be the bane of your professional life!

Sometimes I want to be unreasonable

I’m writing an email to my care-coordinator. I’ve spent the last hour on it. I am writing and rewriting, going over every word as carefully as I can. I question whether I am coming off as too demanding and try to be careful to get the tone just right: considered, measured and unemotional. I am

Derren Brown vs the Coronavirus #7 – Omicron is Coming

I lie in bed listening to a seagull shriek outside, a short shrill scream that tears across the still dark morning. I woke up agitated, turning over gently so as not to put pressure on my tender arm, still aching from yesterday’s vaccination injection. Two bus trips from my house, I sat in a cold

A Christmas comic: Santa visits the mental elf service!

I am not your continuing professional development

I love the community that exists on #MadTwitter. I follow both service users and mental health professionals, several who follow me back. I enjoy our conversations and am genuinely heartened by these mental health professionals allyship when it comes to divisive issues in the mental health system, particularly around how those of us with a

Homeless in the UK

Trigger warning: mentions of abuse, rape, miscarriage and medical mistreatment Yesterday I was made homeless. I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this. Four months ago, when our landlord told us he was selling the house, I had been sure we’d find somewhere to live. I spent months registering with letting agents and refreshing RightMove

Derren Brown is Making Me Fit.

By @miserysquid Content warning: references to self-injury and sexual abuse. Delusions and non-epileptic seizures.  Derren Brown is making me fit. Tic, tic, tic, my head twitches, there’s a woozy feeling, a quickening pulse in my neck. Mostly I fall slowly, more of a crumpling, landing softly on my thighs and the tops of my arms, easing into it. If there’s

Who Cares for the Carers?

I’ve been a carer since I was 14. This was 30 years ago. Firstly, I was caring for my mother until she passed away in 2009. Back in those days as a young carer there was no support offered to me and as I didn’t have siblings, I just got on with it and took

Why We Don’t Disclose

TW rape – strong and frequent references throughout I woke up from the party on the floor. The man was gone. My tights were ripped, my underwear pulled down. Bruises on my inner thighs. My whole body felt numb. I could feel pain but I couldn’t tell where it came from. There was blood from

“I never want to stop being angry, because knowing I deserved better isn’t a feeling I’ve often felt. I treasure it. My anger is my self-respect.”

By Rosie Smith, @rosiefolksongs  Looking back in Anger When I was diagnosed with bipolar, I was shocked by the fact I didn’t feel angry. I was confused at finally being able to call myself that, to describe my own experiences for what they were. But I wasn’t angry. I figured it would come with time.

“Is mad activism a queer issue?”

By Rosie Smith, @rosiefolksongs  STRONG Trigger Warnings: Sexual abuse, transphobia Wheesht Its strange seeing Scots (a language in its own right) being used outwith its normal bounds; namely a few eccentric academics and working class grannies. I doubt the promoters of the latest transphobic hashtag would appreciate much if I gave them a stirring rendition

We are not all left standing

Rachel Rowan Olive CW: suicide, iatrogenic abuse and neglect There is a poem by Clint Smith which opens: When people say “we have made it through worse before” / all I hear is the wind slapping against the gravestones / of those who did not make it. I think about it a lot. Sometimes the

Brave New World? #31

Tony’s Photographic #MadCovidDiaries 14.5.2021 Tony adds his 31st instalment of photos to the collection ‘Brave New World?’. He takes photos on his trips under lockdown in the UK. You can read more about his work here. Tony has an exhibition opening on May 17th to June the 27th at the Peak District Museum, Matlock, Bath

“Criminalising people has somehow become acceptable mental health care. This approach strikes me as the latest evolution of the deserving/undeserving narrative… that is culturally embedded in mainstream services.”

An Anonymous #MadCovidDiaries 21.02.2021 TW: Police, self-harm, suicide As a mental health charity worker I frequently cross paths with other organisations who support people coming out of prison. The messages are clear – prison often has a devastating effect on people’s physical and mental health and future prospects. Adapting back to life in the community

#StopSIM Coalition Preliminary Consensus Statement (21.04.21) and Statement of Concern about the ‘EVIDENCE BASE’ relating to the High Intensity Network (HIN) and Serenity Integrated Mentoring (SIM) (22.04.21)

“The DWP’s human rights abuses we are experiencing will be written into history along with our protests and descent. From one person on benefits to another, you are valuable.”

TW: DWP Darren’s #MadCovidDiaries 31.03.2021 Had me PIP benefits stopped this week. Which also took away part of my ESA. An act of violence by the DWP, and the government which dictates. I’ve said for a long time that survival is the best you can do on benefits, because survival for me is about managing

No room at the inn: it’s not as simple as just asking for help

@Outdoorperscrip #MadCovidDiaries – 11th of April 2021 TW: Eating disorders, suicide, suicide methods It’s taken me around 4 months since I left hospital to feel able to write this. Part of me was desperate for the involved services that treated me to acknowledge how their treatment wasn’t helpful and put me at risk. I made