It’s #WorldMentalHealthDay - a day that #MentalHealth activists love to hate, because hey, it’s not all light at the end of the tunnel (yay Recovery 🙄) & it’s not just one day of the year. But sod it, here’s a pictorial compilation for you. Bonus points if u get to the end 1/25 
2/25 Meds. Love them or loathe them, they are a daily reality for many of us. Big Pharma makes a lot off us Mentals. Did you know that my most debilitating diagnosis can’t be medicated? But all the others equate to 13 tablets a day, plus any extras on PRN #WorldMentalHealthDay
3/25 I’ve never, ever, ever been able to maintain taking meds regularly. But I do now. The Hubster wakes me up with a coffee, toast and meds. But having a caring, loving person in my helps me more than any meds. Sadly not available on prescription for us all #WorldMentalHealthDay
4/25 Pets help a lot of us in terms of emotional support. Many of us can’t cope with taking care of one long term. My hubby had Daisy when I met him. I’ve never been able to connect with an animal, but Daisy showered me with love and somehow broke the ice #WorldMentalHealthDay
5/25 Any of us can have a severe relapse. I thought that time & management meant I wouldn’t, that I could manage the worst feelings with the coping strategies, age & experience. Shouldn’t have been so smug. This year, I was catapulted back 15y to the Asylum #WorldMentalHealthDay
6/25 Nothing much has changed in inpatients. I was so angry at the discrimination that had led to my admission, the same othering I felt on that ward. But one thing had changed. Last time around I didn’t have the love & support of fellow activists & friends #WorldMentalHealthDay
7/25 This time round I had really supportive people around me. Flowers arrived from friends & family. Care packages from fellow activists. Visits. It made such a difference. I never thanked you all. Thank you so much. Most ppl on that ward were alone though. #WorldMentalHealthDay
8/25 There is some good stuff that comes out of having a different way of thinking, out of trauma. Mad gifts. While I was in that acute ward, I created a this commission for @AsylumMagUK. I was so proud when I returned home, and my copy arrived in the post #WorldMentalHealthDay
9/25 Lots of us are creative and use creativity to manage symptoms we have. Lots of us are rather subversive in our creations. A dark sense of humour helps, especially in inpatients activity sessions 😈 #WorldMentalHealthDay
10/25 The subversion is particularly evident in our activism. You may be surprised that many of us are critical about mental health awareness initiatives. It’s because they often aren’t ones we lead ourselves. We have our own - #MadStudies is one of them. #WorldMentalHealthDay
11/25 Stuff like subversive socks helps when it’s one of those days where I gotta put on my big girl pants and remind organisations that if you employ us in roles that require us to use our experience of being mentals, u need to treat & pay us equally too #WorldMentalHealthDay
12/25 There are the #MadGifts too. So many of us have ways of expressing ourselves that are different. Even though the difference causes pain. For me, it means I’m more Teflon coated & give less of a shit about some people’s opinions of being different #WorldMentalHealthDay
13/25 When I worked as an artist, I could channel the crazy into the work. SuperciliousMsT was a performance art character, exaggerating an exaggerated personality & exploring the theory that some ppl with #BPD would become #Histrionic later in life. #WorldMentalHealthDay
14/25 ah I can’t quite explain the connection I feel with something inside that somehow links creativity to the darker elements which affect my mental health. Some of us experience this, others don’t. Almost like we are individual😈 #WorldMentalHealthDay
15/25 There’s nothing quite like singing out big feelings whilst dressed eclectically. Or in this case making weird and wonderful sounds in response to a Spoken Word artist whilst the audience looks on. These ppl loved us. Other times we’ve cleared the room😈#WorldMentalHealthDay
16/25 Even my home office has to be fun. It just needs to reflect my head, so I can work. I can’t quite get away with the shoes & lights decorating #NHS headquarters, although even there the pink stationary and fluffy pens stand out like a sore thumb. #WorldMentalHealthDay
17/25 You have to be Mad to drive around in this. My car, my crutch, my independence, my safe place. All taken from me, when exactly a year ago I had a seizure that cost me my license. Sometimes our pain manifests physically too. #WorldMentalHealthDay
18/25 Losing my car was a right kick in the ovaries. The seizure had been caused by the stress of trying to get workplace discrimination towards #LivedExperiencePractitioners #LXPs recognised and changed. All I got changed was receiving a #DisabledBusPass 🤬 #WorldMentalHealthDay
19/25 The sunflower 🌻 lanyards for Invisible Disabilities are helpful, ie. not having a quizzical side eye for the disability bus pass. It’s a disgrace how much easier it is to access help for physical health vs. Mental health. The bus pass for instance. #WorldMentalHealthDay
20/25 Often having mental health issues mean we experience health inequalities in other areas too. The bruises I experienced as a kid somehow manifest as an adult, in injuries from the latest seizure. Like other Mad ppl, it’s more than ‘just’ #MentalHealth #WorldMentalHealthDay
21/25 Right now my mouth hurts, from chewing my tongue and cheeks, grinding my teeth. It started when I started being really vocal about workplace discrimination towards ppl using MH within their work. It was like my body wanted me toothless, to shut up #WorldMentalHealthDay
22/25 Of course, there are the *actual* mental health symptoms. There are the excruciating lows. There is also the exhaustion, numbness and faraway sadness that follows.
23/25 There are the highs too. Often they are linked to anxiety. Highs can feel nice or can also feel excruciating, feel under an obsessive compulsion to do, buy, say etc. Still needs reassembling 😳 This FB purchase needed two round trips to Liverpool. #WorldMentalHealthDay
24/25 I thought these days were gone, that my scars had disappeared or were hidden. Sadly, the recent relapse hit me hard. The denied requests for equality hurt me so much. The hurt is now etched there forever. I don’t think these will ever become invisible😞#WorldMentalHealthDay
25/25 The diagnosis I have means my life expectancy is 18y less than ‘normals’. Despite an MSc, post grads, a degree and 30y working experience, I earn the same as my first job as a 16y old cleaner. Isn’t it time everyone really supported us being equal? #WorldMentalHealthDay
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