editors blog! sept 2012
Now the websites kicking off a bit i've decided to create a monthly blog.
My names Steph, I'm 18 and I have nightmare disorder which means my sleeping patterns are a bit erratic at times. I'll start off by telling you the worst nightmare i've ever had - just so you can understand why I don't really sleep much. I was eight and we'd just started learning about nazi prison camps at school, the deputy head spent the lesson telling us about all the horrific things the nazis would do to people. I don't know why but the thing that stayed with me was the fact the nazis would make their prisoners take a cold shower. Maybe it was the fact that I sleepwalk and have been caught on occasion standing in a freezing cold shower wearing all my clothes.
Getting back to the dream I was in a camp, all these horrific things were happening to me, people were going missing, it smelt like death, and I was so hungry in the dream I could physically feel the hunger. I was worked to the point of exhaustion and whipped when I started to flack, then at the end of the night they forced me to have a cold shower. I kept myself awake for almost two days after that, the first night i stayed awake and watched bad tv, the second night i tried again but fell asleep in the early hours of the morning.
I've had worse ones since then, my dad eating my mum, porcelain dolls following me, vampires taking over the world, scorpions eating people as they walked through doorways, sinking on a boat that resembled Titanic and the most recent one involved Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw. I was on an abandoned boat. Leatherface was now a zombie and he spent the entire dream chasing me with this chainsaw. The one time he caught up with me the chainsaw was so close I could feel the heat of the blade, I woke up swearing and covered in sweat.
So there you have it, a small insight into my messed up mind. But messed up is good. I know i'm alright if I have a nightmare. If I go a stretch of time either not remembering my dreams or having boring uneventful ones I know somethings wrong. The last time that happened was when I was last taken ill, I dreamt about a fish tank for a week. The message i'm trying to get across is that my nightmares mean I have a mental illness, but in actual fact things are wrong when I don't dream. I wouldn't be without my mental illness, i'm not a freak, and I refuse to let people treat me like one.
- see you next month!
Steph
My names Steph, I'm 18 and I have nightmare disorder which means my sleeping patterns are a bit erratic at times. I'll start off by telling you the worst nightmare i've ever had - just so you can understand why I don't really sleep much. I was eight and we'd just started learning about nazi prison camps at school, the deputy head spent the lesson telling us about all the horrific things the nazis would do to people. I don't know why but the thing that stayed with me was the fact the nazis would make their prisoners take a cold shower. Maybe it was the fact that I sleepwalk and have been caught on occasion standing in a freezing cold shower wearing all my clothes.
Getting back to the dream I was in a camp, all these horrific things were happening to me, people were going missing, it smelt like death, and I was so hungry in the dream I could physically feel the hunger. I was worked to the point of exhaustion and whipped when I started to flack, then at the end of the night they forced me to have a cold shower. I kept myself awake for almost two days after that, the first night i stayed awake and watched bad tv, the second night i tried again but fell asleep in the early hours of the morning.
I've had worse ones since then, my dad eating my mum, porcelain dolls following me, vampires taking over the world, scorpions eating people as they walked through doorways, sinking on a boat that resembled Titanic and the most recent one involved Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw. I was on an abandoned boat. Leatherface was now a zombie and he spent the entire dream chasing me with this chainsaw. The one time he caught up with me the chainsaw was so close I could feel the heat of the blade, I woke up swearing and covered in sweat.
So there you have it, a small insight into my messed up mind. But messed up is good. I know i'm alright if I have a nightmare. If I go a stretch of time either not remembering my dreams or having boring uneventful ones I know somethings wrong. The last time that happened was when I was last taken ill, I dreamt about a fish tank for a week. The message i'm trying to get across is that my nightmares mean I have a mental illness, but in actual fact things are wrong when I don't dream. I wouldn't be without my mental illness, i'm not a freak, and I refuse to let people treat me like one.
- see you next month!
Steph
0ct 2012
This month i've been thinking about an article a mate sent me, he's just accepted that he has OCD. He found an article online that told him to...
1 - Research his condition! (I'd never have guessed this)
2 - Don't listen to his negative thoughts
3 - Realise that the changes in him won't just happen overnight, it'll take a while to get back to normal
4 - Only try to change things he has control over (the article told him not to worry about the economy or global warming)
5 - Tell his family and friends so they can support him
6 - Don't feel embarrassed about his illness
7 - Share his experiences and opinions with others so that he can help others through their own problems and fears
8 - Take care of his body - (keep good physical health) this is not an excuse to drink! - by eating healthy and exercising regularly, this releases endorphins and endorphins make you happy
9 - Don't dramatise his illness, there are others sharing his problems. Don't think the worlds going to end just because he is ill
10 - Don't forget to be happy, at the end of the day he is still himself, so he can still enjoy life
Can't say I found this article useful, neither did my mate. I'm posting it in the hope it helps one of my readers. So if it does - yay!
1 - Research his condition! (I'd never have guessed this)
2 - Don't listen to his negative thoughts
3 - Realise that the changes in him won't just happen overnight, it'll take a while to get back to normal
4 - Only try to change things he has control over (the article told him not to worry about the economy or global warming)
5 - Tell his family and friends so they can support him
6 - Don't feel embarrassed about his illness
7 - Share his experiences and opinions with others so that he can help others through their own problems and fears
8 - Take care of his body - (keep good physical health) this is not an excuse to drink! - by eating healthy and exercising regularly, this releases endorphins and endorphins make you happy
9 - Don't dramatise his illness, there are others sharing his problems. Don't think the worlds going to end just because he is ill
10 - Don't forget to be happy, at the end of the day he is still himself, so he can still enjoy life
Can't say I found this article useful, neither did my mate. I'm posting it in the hope it helps one of my readers. So if it does - yay!
nov 2012
I was talking about my nightmares to a colleague at work today, she may be a great friend but when I told her that there's a medical name for my nightmares she simply said 'no there isn't'. I went on to explain about nightmare disorder and it's implications and was met with this (not word perfect) :
'Nightmare disorder cannot hurt you, if you have a nightmare you wake up from it, have a cry and go back to sleep. A mental illness is something you cannot escape during the day, you can't go back to sleep and forget about it. It's a 24/7 thing and it's unfair to class yourself in the same bracket as someone with a mental illness.
Eating disorders can kill you, Memory conditions ruins lives, what's the worst nightmare disorder can do? Make you wake up a few hours earlier than planned. There's no way you can compare it to a majority of the other major issues.'
Although I accept what she's saying I have to disagree. An illness is an illness, you wouldn't laugh at someone with a broken arm because it's not as severe as cancer. I know that I am lucky to have nightmare disorder and not something life threatening like anorexia, but at the end of the day I still have something mentally that makes me unique to the majority of others. I'm not disputing the fact that it's fairly minor in the grand scheme of things but I wish people wouldn't look at me in disgust when I tell them about my disorder. The message this month I guess is not to discriminate. A mental illness is a mental illness, and if it impairs someones life in anyway, then it is serious enough to be treated with respect.
Anyone else feel similar? Are you told that your mental illness isn't serious enough? Let me know!
Next month, what with it being christmas, i'm looking to talk about something festive!
'Nightmare disorder cannot hurt you, if you have a nightmare you wake up from it, have a cry and go back to sleep. A mental illness is something you cannot escape during the day, you can't go back to sleep and forget about it. It's a 24/7 thing and it's unfair to class yourself in the same bracket as someone with a mental illness.
Eating disorders can kill you, Memory conditions ruins lives, what's the worst nightmare disorder can do? Make you wake up a few hours earlier than planned. There's no way you can compare it to a majority of the other major issues.'
Although I accept what she's saying I have to disagree. An illness is an illness, you wouldn't laugh at someone with a broken arm because it's not as severe as cancer. I know that I am lucky to have nightmare disorder and not something life threatening like anorexia, but at the end of the day I still have something mentally that makes me unique to the majority of others. I'm not disputing the fact that it's fairly minor in the grand scheme of things but I wish people wouldn't look at me in disgust when I tell them about my disorder. The message this month I guess is not to discriminate. A mental illness is a mental illness, and if it impairs someones life in anyway, then it is serious enough to be treated with respect.
Anyone else feel similar? Are you told that your mental illness isn't serious enough? Let me know!
Next month, what with it being christmas, i'm looking to talk about something festive!
dec 2012
Look what I found! It's xmas, I'm Steph and I don't know what to think about this. On the one hand I'm amused, on the other i'm disgusted. Let me know what your views are, short blog this month as there is way too much Christmas shopping to be done. See you next year!
Jan 2013
Hi guys Steph here, this month I've been searching youtube for the publics opinions of teens with mental disorders. I came across a fan made video to one of the songs in the small screen media list (i'm not a vampire) - I can't say I was very impressed. To spare you, I've edited the best of the worst into a small video and narrated over the top to explain what I think is bad and why.
Any comments let me know,
Any comments let me know,
FEB 2013
It's valentines day tomorrow so distract myself from what will be a lonely day I am investigating the program 'The Undateable's' on channel 4.
I rather like this program, it does portray people with mental illnesses in a positive picture. Take Brent (bottom left) for example, 21 years old and good looking, we don't know much about his education but his personality seems pleasant, so why is he undeatable? He has tourettes. He goes on to meet a girlfriend and the two really get on well, their relationship functions like a normal one. Then watch Kate (top left), she has downs syndrome but lives independently and works just like the majority of people her age. The pair of them are so seemingly normal it makes you question things. After watching you start to think is it being classed as mentally ill that makes you abnormal? Or is it the illness itself?
Are you mentally ill and experience problems dating, or would you date an 'undeatable' after watching this? Let me know!
watch it here ---> http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-undateables
I rather like this program, it does portray people with mental illnesses in a positive picture. Take Brent (bottom left) for example, 21 years old and good looking, we don't know much about his education but his personality seems pleasant, so why is he undeatable? He has tourettes. He goes on to meet a girlfriend and the two really get on well, their relationship functions like a normal one. Then watch Kate (top left), she has downs syndrome but lives independently and works just like the majority of people her age. The pair of them are so seemingly normal it makes you question things. After watching you start to think is it being classed as mentally ill that makes you abnormal? Or is it the illness itself?
Are you mentally ill and experience problems dating, or would you date an 'undeatable' after watching this? Let me know!
watch it here ---> http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-undateables