I Had a Black Dog: His Name Was Depression by Matthew Johnstone

Rating: 

Winston Churchill’s black dog euphemism for depression is given form by author and illustrator Matthew Johnstone. He skillfully reveals his personal navigation through the seven hells of depression to the light at the end of the very long tunnel. As Churchill once said, “if you’re going through hell, keep going.” Johnstone sought treatment, told his family and friends and learned how to control the dreaded beast so he could finally enjoy life again.

I PASSED! Thank god, I’ve finally passed!

I haven’t been online much lately because I’ve been incredibly busy these past few weeks. If I wasn’t in London visiting my sister and the British Museum, I was taking driving lessons for three hours per week, and then my mother had her other shoulder replaced the day before Thanksgiving – which was successful, and she’s fine, just suffering with a burning desire to build her shibari-like arm sling’s funeral pyre. Cue lots of physio, wound checks and help doing certain activities that require two hands.

Sociopathy, Entitlement and Delusion #HaleNo

This is what you get when you type ‘sociopath’ and ‘entitlement’ into Google.

Kathleen Hale: Why Research Her Background? #HaleNo

“I think in my humble opinion that this is getting a little out of control. Why look through all of her articles for more ammo to call her crazy? The stalking is more than enough to hang her out to dry with. If these pieces had been written by someone else, I don’t think they’d be getting the same reaction.”

I’ve come across this sort of comment a few times.

Authors Stalking Reviewers: From intimidatory Kathleen Hale to violent Richard Brittain #HaleNo

Until now authors stalking reviewers had largely remained in cyber space rather than face-to-face. Kathleen Hale spent money finding the address a writer of a one-star review of Hale’s book, hired a car and landed on the doorstep of an understandably shocked and flabbergasted victim, who was then further victimised by Hale’s disturbingly vivid account of her obsessive and criminal actions in the Guardian which failed to remove identifying information.

Richard Brittain took this one giant leap further.

It’s World Mental Health Day! #WMHD

This year’s theme is ‘Living with Schizophrenia’.

In a taxi the other day, I heard on the radio a DJ suggesting that cancer treatment be prioritized over mental health services. That was a jaw-dropper. Mental illness can be just as deadly as cancer. ‘People with severe mental illness die 10-25 years earlier than the general population.’