Welcome to the blog for Free Your Mind mental health anti-stigma campaign

This is the blog for the Free Your Mind campaign which aims to battle stigma towards mental illness through the use of music, art, film, and culture.
The blog consists of informative and, hopefully, entertaining articles/posts.
Enjoy! :-)
Showing posts with label creative. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creative. Show all posts

Wednesday, 7 March 2012

New Poetry!

Eleven new poems have been added to the Free Your Mind 'Creative Bank'

The first new entry is a submission from a writer known as 'Spizzie 69'.

Past the Expiry 
The Darkness deepens as the pointless Plot thickens And the Black Clouds Weep at the memories of the past.
They have now just become shadows that fade into the nothingness of time
The once effective have became the rejected and now put aside to become The forgotten
Like the autumn leaf that now falls to the ground with its use expired
to be absorbed back into the soil and become the muddy foot print of something that once was!
Or as easily disposed of as the discarded waste from the night before!
So as the sunsets for the long night ahead, often wondering if there will be a dawn?
No new Day? No new Hopes? No new Dreams? No Life? No existence?
Best Before!....... Sell by! ..........Use by! .........Warranty invalid!........ Sold as seen....Dispose of carefully.....and Please DO NOT RECYCLE!!!


The following (10) poems, which have also been added to the 'Creative Bank', were originally posted to my Myspace blog in May 2010 and April 2009.
~Nicola Edwards
Sonnet
Falling in love is a common affair; 
a task arranged to be an ultimate end
to the loneliness that I bear.
I want more than just a one-night stand;
 
I’m looking for someone I can depend
on, and someone who is willing to care.
I want someone who will always be there.
To never know love just doesn’t seem fair.
They talk about love in songs and losing
your heart to the one they promised would come.
But, no knight in shining armour ever comes
to rescue me from life’s knocks and bruising.
So, I remain alone, my heart intact,
 
not knowing if love is fiction or fact.


Science Fiction
What wouldn’t I give to travel with Kirk and Spock
and boldly go
where no man has gone before.
Or run with the Doctor where nothings ever slow.
 
To enter the TARDIS and claim
“It’s bigger inside” before we go.
I’d leave this life and runaway.

Perhaps, 
if it were all real,
I wouldn’t plan this to be my final day.



Lies
Deep in the darkest part of her soul
is where her lover lies.
On the other side of the river, 
as far away from home as allowed,
 
she lives a double life
which will bring her trouble and strife.
But her heart tells her it’s alright.
She has hidden her fear
that her lover will find out
she is another man’s wife.
  
Love Hurts
With all the will in the world I push him aside
until he is nothing
but a distant memory;
 
until the pain he caused is fleeting.
No more will I be needing him.
 
From here on out,
 
it’s me, myself and I.
No more heartache,
 
no more crying
with him I made a mistake.
From here on out
 
I’m alone.
How I missed this painless bliss!



Lonely Woman
Whisky in hand,
in a dark, dingy bar.
It’s late and the bar is almost empty,
but the woman is unaware of the time
and even her
surroundings.
Only the no-smoking sign is apparent.
She downs her drink and rises from her stool.
Outside in the cold
she lifts a cigarette stick to her lips;
she inhales
and wonders what happier women do.
She exhales.
Time to call a cab; these streets aren’t safe for a lonely woman.



The Lonely Pupil
Troubled teenager, crouched in the corner
Shrouded in darkness, hair all a mess
Tear-stained face, lip split open
Covered in purple bruises.

The bell rings, and the student gathers her books,
Composes herself
Thinking how to explain away the damage
As the lonely pupil heads to her next class.



Do You See Me?
Do you notice I’m here?
Do you realize how I feel?
You’re oblivious
and it’s killing me.
Do you see me?
Do you even notice I’m standing right here?
My feelings run deep
and it hurts like tiny cuts.
Do you know I exist?
Do you even know I’m there?
My feelings for you
are like a cyst on my broken heart.
Will you ever notice me?
And how I can’t resist your tempting looks?


The End
The point-of-no-return
is getting closer.
Turning back
all I see is darkness
and the people I’ve left behind
Walking forward
I pick up my pace
making my heart race.
Unsure of what I’m heading toward
but I’m resilient and know I must carry on.
As I get closer
the light becomes brighter.
I’m scared of what lies ahead,
this path is unknown to me
and anyone who walks it.
I’m almost there now.
My breathing slows,
it becomes hard to think,
and my heart beats its final beat.
This is my stop. The end of the line.


Public Transport 
A curse on public transport

which bears the stench

of greasy takeaways;
and a curse on their sticky floor,
which invokes a sound like Velcro as you cross it to your seat.
A curse on public transport

for being unreliable, 

leaving me the commuter, 
to stand out in the drizzle.
A curse on public transport

for being a stifling oven 

in the summer,
and then below freezing in the winter.
But a final blessing on public transport

for without you I could not travel.....

On a bus
Looking out of a window
scenes rush by
- a woman drops her shopping –
on the bus a baby cries. 

Monday, 26 September 2011

Creative Expression on Tumblr

This is another short blog post featuring external links - similar to this blog's previous post.

The following links are to my personal Tumblr, which I often use as a host for both personal and creative expression.

Hopefully, this may give you a chance to get to know a little about the "face" behind Free Your Mind (one of the faces anyway), and also why this blog has been lacking in posts of late.

Thank you for supporting Free Your Mind!
Nicola Edwards (Founder of FYM)


Watching 'Get Him to the Greek' and triggers... (Posted to Tumblr 26/09/2011)

Drew this to encapsulate how I've been feeling recently (Posted to Tumblr 30/08/2011)

Feeling disconnected (Posted to Tumblr 30/08/2011)

A poem written by myself in 2008 (Posted to Tumblr 12/07/2011)

Honesty through creativity (creative-personal Tumblog)

Take care!

Tuesday, 16 August 2011

Free Your Mind with these links! (FYM making it up to you for the lack of posts!)

Due to an extremely hectic schedule, I have been, and I still am, unable to blog as much as I usually would. Hopefully, the links bellow will make up for the shortage of blog posts. :)

At the top of my agenda, however, has been the expansion of Free Your Mind from more than a blog into a recognisable campaign that can make a difference and open people's minds to mental illness, and raise awareness of the issues, and debates, surrounding mental illness.

But, before that, this... Thank You!
Since this mental health anti-stigma campaign (and blog) launched in July 2010, the support FYM has received has been immense. Without your support, I'm certain there would have been times when I probably would have felt there was no longer any point, and I may have given up; but(!) this didn't happen because I had your support, and I am so grateful for that. Thank you all for all of your support and thank you for continuing to support Free Your Mind.


Links:
The following link is to the blog of Michael 'Frost' Williamson, a great friend and supporter of FYM since it's very beginnings. Michael is a professional stylist and designer working within the fashion industry. His portfolio of work includes working for All-Walks a campaign aimed at promoting a healthy body image in the fashion industry. Michael has long blogged about his exciting career in fashion, and he now has a vlog where he shares his invaluable fashion advice and styling tricks (available to watch on his safety-pin-charm blog, hosted on YouTube).


This next link is for the emotional, touching and inspirational vlog by Lucy a.k.a LoopzCreate (on YouTube). She speaks from the heart, so please watch her videos, and show my girl some love! :)


My next link is for Voices for Awareness which is blog written my a male in his twenties, writing about his experience with manic depression, self- harm, and the issues that come with having a mental health disorder. Voices for Awareness is also on Tumblr.

Another fantastic and honest blogger on Tumblr is 'Skylar'; a female in her twenties, blogging about mental illness, addiction, and her road to recovery.

Personal recommendations:
Caroline C. Kimberley is a fantastic artist from Yorkshire, loves rock music and is a huge The League of Gentlemen fan. Check out her artwork here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.  <--All links here are to separate pages/blogs.

Free Your Mind can also be found online at Facebook and on Twitter.

Also:
Some great people to follow on Twitter:
Michael 'Frost' Williamson - @mwfrost
Lucy (LoopzCreate) - @loopysos
Caroline C. Kimberley- @CCKimberley
Me(!)Nicola Edwards - @TitchBNikkiE (changed Twitter username Feb. 2012)

Friday, 8 July 2011

Suicide and its Associated Stigma

I struggle with suicidal thoughts on a regular basis.

However, the factors stopping me from successfully killing myself are; firstly, I'm scared of messing it up - damaging my brain as one example, immobility as another -. or, I might at least (as has happened before) make myself extremely ill (vomiting, diarrhea, etc. ...not good..). And; secondly, with all the ongoing goals and projects I have personally set up for myself to complete in this lifetime - the thought of not completing these always pulls me back from the edge.

Don't get me wrong, I have so much love for all my close friends and family - and I genuinely couldn't live without them (And these people always pass through my mind both before and during an attempt!) - but the pain caused by suicidal feelings can often override any other thoughts, feelings, or emotions.

However; I wouldn't be writing this if I hadn't always come back from the edge.

Suicide causes pain for many people; whether you are the one with suicidal feelings or you are bereaved from the loss of a loved one due to suicide.

Losing someone close to you is always hard and will affect people in different ways. Losing someone through suicide is the same. And, it is important to remember, that even if a person kills themselves, this does not mean they didn't love or care about anyone.

But when people add stigma to an already painful event such as suicide, it only causes more pain. The stigma of suicide is dangerous and destructive, and, because people are afraid to speak their true feelings when stigma is attached to suicide, lives are ruined by stigma.

The pain caused by suicidal thoughts and feelings is literally unbearable, which is why people go to such extreme lengths to end that pain. And the stigma associated with suicide only adds to that pain and it stops people from speaking up about their feelings.

Suicide is not a cowardly escape route, it is not a "cry for attention" (sorry to be blunt, but what is the logic in thinking that someone would kill themselves as a way of being "noticed" -  surely, if someone wants to be noticed, then they would also want to be around to receive any attention and adulation due to their attention seeking act).

Neither, do I believe it is a lazy or selfish  act. Suicide is not lazy or selfish.

For all the people who say 'Suicide is selfish;' I'd say to them, that I am of the opinion that it is selfish to force a person to live everyday in the pain and agony caused by suicidal thoughts and feelings (because it truly is pain and agony).

I'm not an expert with  a degree, or anything like that - but, I do have a lot of personal experience with suicide, suicidal thoughts, mental illness and the issues surrounding mental health. So, I can only offer 'suicide prevention' advice based on my own personal experiences.

Personally, I find expressing myself creatively, in whichever way that may be - creative writing, art, music, dance, drama -, is the best way to not only "get it out of me," as they say, and calm my suicidal thoughts, but it also provides a way (should I wish to use it)  for me to communicate my feelings to myself and others.

It's true, we don't always have someone to talk to, although there are services set up to help us deal with these feelings (listed below). However, it is important to remember that feelings of suicide and/or of hurting yourself are absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, and I hope you don't feel you have to be silenced by how you feel and unable to talk to anyone about your feelings.

Suicide prevention help:
Samaritans (Open 24 hrs. a day, 7 days a week): UK: 08457 90 90 90 
ROI: 1850 60 90 90   
Email: jo@samaritans.org
Health NHS direct (mental health/suicide):
0845 46 47 (local rate) 
Website: http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/ > NHS Direct Mental Health FAQ


Worried someone is having thoughts of Suicide - Call PAPYRUS HOPEline:
0870 1704000

Suicidal thoughts by themselves cause extreme pain in the individual with these feelings and can also be painful for the people who love and care for that person. But these are not the sort of feelings that can just disappear over-night, even if a person seems perfectly happy, this may not be the reality. It is highly possible they could feel silenced by the stigma directed at suicide.

The way people add stigma to suicide is destructive. Stigma does not save lives - in fact, attaching stigma to suicide does quite the opposite - it ruins lives.

Friday, 20 May 2011

Song of a Psychiatric Survivor (poem)

Recently I was sectioned for the fifth time in the past five years. I wrote the following poem during that period. ~ Nicola Edwards.


Song of a Psychiatric Survivor
They want to have control.
They want to always maintain the power. 
From the moment I was born,
Right up until my final hour. 
I've been beaten, I've raped;
At times I feel as though I'm lucky to be alive. 
But in the words of Gloria Gaynor
I know 'I will survive.'

The above poem will be added to the Creative Bank.

Wednesday, 18 May 2011

The FYM campaign took part in it's first public event in April this year...

Last month the Free Your Mind mental health campaign, aimed at helping to battle stigma towards mental illness by being creative, took part in it's first public event, which was an art exhibition called 'Broken Paths' at Croydon's Fairfield Halls.

Broken Paths organised by Imagine mental health charity's Croydon branch, and was also aimed at helping prevent stigma, prejudice and discrimination towards mental illnesses

The exhibition was held in the 'Sun Lounge' gallery at Fairfield Halls in Croydon and consisted of art, poetry, creative writing, and photography, all of which were works from some of the artists within South London's mental health community. Free Your Mind had six poems, displayed as graphic art, featured within the exhibit - all six of the featured poems were written by FYM's Nicola Edwards and can be found in the 'Creative Bank'.















The feedback received from the 'Broken Paths' art exhibition has been, and I know will be, very beneficial to the future plans and development of the Free Your Mind campaign. Over the next coming months our most immediate plans are to see the FYM team grow and develop.

We also hope that Broken Paths is the first of many public events which will include the involvement of the Free Your Mind mental health anti-stigma campaign.

Previous Blog Post: Upcoming 'Broken Paths' art exhibition at Croydon's Fairfield Halls.

Sunday, 13 March 2011

Upcoming 'Broken Paths' Art Exhibition at Croydon's Fairfield Halls

Click above image to see enlarged  version
of the official flyer for the 'Broken Paths'
art exhibit at Fairfield Halls in Croydon in
the South of London.
Between Monday 4th April - Saturday 16th April an art exhibition called "Broken Paths" will be open at the Sun Lounge at Fairfield Halls in Croydon (South London). A 'Main Event' will also be held during the exhibit on Friday 8th April between 2-5pm which will be a 'meet and greet' with all of the artists involved.

The Broken Paths art exhibition is being organised by Imagine mental health charity's Croydon branch and will be showcasing a selection of some of the creative talents of the mental health community in Croydon.

The artists featured in the exhibit are all at varying stages of recovery. And I am honoured to be among those having their work on display during Broken Paths.

Imagine mental health charity want to help those with mental illnesses live independently and improve our social inclusion. Imagine in Croydon has unique service user groups ("service user" being the phrase attributed to those of us who use the community's mental health services) which are service user led.

Broken Paths has been organised as part of the battle against stigma towards mental illness. Which meant Free Your Mind had to get involved with this art exhibition. As I've stated before, I genuinely do believe creativity and mental health effectively go hand-in-hand with one another.

The 'meet and greet' will be the "official" time to meet all of the artists, but I will be available during most of the exhibition promoting FYM. So be sure to come and find me! ((I'll be the short one dressed all in black - pretty much..))


Should you express an interest in buying any of the art on display at the exhibition, please contact Kato, from Imagine, by email: kwalmsley@imaginementalhealth.org.uk.

Join Free Your Mind and Imagine at Broken Paths for great art, to show your support and help us fight stigma and discrimination towards mental illnesses!

We hope to see you there!
(Nicola from FYM)

Directions to Fairfield Halls in Croydon:

Address:
Fairfield Halls is situated next to Croydon College on Park Lane in Croydon's town centre.
Park Lane, 
Croydon, 
Surrey 
CR9 1DG

Trains:
Fairfield is approximately 20 minutes by train from London’s Victoria and London Bridge stations. There are also fast regular services from Charing Cross and Waterloo.
East Croydon station is a 3 minute walk away and West Croydon station is about a 12 minute walk.

Bus Routes:
50 (from Stockwell), 60 (towards Old Coulsdon/Streatham), 75 (from Lewisham), 109 (from Brixton), 119 (towards Bromley North/Purley Way), 154 (from Morden), 166 (towards Banstead/Epsom), 197 (from Peckham), 250 (from Brixton), 264 (from Tooting), 312 (towards Norwood Junction/South Croydon), 403 (from Warlingham), 405 (from Redhill), 407 (towards Caterham/Sutton), 412 (from Purley), 455 (towards Old Lodge Lane/Wallington), 466 (towards Addington Village/Caterham-on-the-Hill), 468 (towards Elephant & Castle/South Croydon).

Trams:
The Tramlink which runs through the centre of Croydon stops at East
Croydon, George Street and Wellesley Road which are all 3 minutes walk
away.


Imagine mental health charity -- http://www.imaginementalhealth.org.uk/
Croydon Imagine -- http://www.imaginementalhealth.org.uk/Croydon.php
Fairfield Halls -- http://www.fairfield.co.uk/

Event Information on Facebook --
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=170194913031578

'Broken Paths' art exhibit Twitter hash-tag: #BrokenPaths

Imagine would like to apologise to both Free Your Mind and you
for allowing incorrect information to be printed in their promotional material.
((Corrections have been made by FYM to this blog post to ammend Imagine's
mistake.))