View Full Version : Just launched a blog
Afternoon everyone,
After a considerable amount of time deliberating whether I wanted to, I have finally decided to register a blog and think about what it was that helped me get out of my HA hole.
https://healthanxietyrecovery.wordpress.com/
At the moment I have detailed my story only, but would like to include stories from anyone who suffers or has suffered from HA. You don't need to be recovered, just committed to recovery or have made some progress that you think would benefit others. There is an email address on the site, and so if you would like to contribute then please email me or DM on here.
Admins - I trust this is ok - thought it fell broadly in line with Skippy's book posts - I should stress though that this is free :)
So if you want to add something that would be amazing as at the moment it feels a bit like an ego trip which I don't want it to be. I want it to be an exercise in showing no matter how deep in a hole you are there is a way out, that way can be varied and differ from person to person, but if you cobble together things that have worked for others then you might just find something that works for you.
Good Stuff Chris.....
Now... the real question is... Will anyone really take the dragon by the horns and do something?...
I truly hope so!
Positive thoughts
Yorkshire born
14-03-15, 13:17
Inspirational stuff. I just hope I can find a good GP like you did. My last GP just shrugged his sholders and said "your fine what do you want me to about it" even after I had explained my anexiety to him.
MyNameIsTerry
15-03-15, 08:06
Good luck with the blog. It will make a good companion to the FB recovery group and hopefully some of the people in there will have some stories for you.
Something I find is missing from this place is ongoing articles which I see on the charity websites so are you planning on adding something like that eventually? For instance, an article on perhaps the steps you see as key or the issues but in an expanded manner?
Something that I struggle with is the fact this forum is a bit of a free-for-all and there are other mental health conditions that overlap into HA and I'm wondering whether we see them on here. For instance, I know of a good OCD website and I can see on the HA page where it mentions fear of becoming schizophrenic as being more OCD than HA and I've seen that on here. So, I wonder whether we are saying the right things at times because I can also see some professionals discussing whether HA is a subtype of OCD and I think there are a lot of similiarities plus there is a known definition to seperate OCD from HA and I wonder how many people may have a comorbid condition. . Maybe something about that could help people understand more about what they are going though?
I just like throwing ideas out there, please don't feel any obligation because its not the intention, I just think after being on here a year that there is a lot of missed opportunity. I completely understand that everyone is busy and volunteers their time but I see this issue about a lower ratio of those in recovery vs. those in the spiral and think that it needs something to steer it back into the direction that some of you have expressed feelings over losing. Now I see a fresh blog, and I wonder whether its more appropriate there and for some level of partnership/handoff via advertising this new one?
I can't see Nic or the admins having an issue as you have no affiliate links on there and you are not promoting anything for financial gain. The more information out there the better and other than some of the charities who show user stories and Rethink's Time For Change campaign, how many places can people with HA go to see something good from people who have got further? Only the 'gurus' really and some of them are highly questionable. When I attended the charity walk-ins, I found it really helped to identify with a few people who had similiar backgrounds to mine and what really helped was hearing where they had been and seeing how far they had come as it gave me hope...which your blog will do too. :yesyes:
Inspirational stuff. I just hope I can find a good GP like you did. My last GP just shrugged his sholders and said "your fine what do you want me to about it" even after I had explained my anexiety to him.
I had a few like this but eventually found a great one. I hope you will too :hugs:
Good luck with the blog. It will make a good companion to the FB recovery group and hopefully some of the people in there will have some stories for you.
Something I find is missing from this place is ongoing articles which I see on the charity websites so are you planning on adding something like that eventually? For instance, an article on perhaps the steps you see as key or the issues but in an expanded manner?
Something that I struggle with is the fact this forum is a bit of a free-for-all and there are other mental health conditions that overlap into HA and I'm wondering whether we see them on here. For instance, I know of a good OCD website and I can see on the HA page where it mentions fear of becoming schizophrenic as being more OCD than HA and I've seen that on here. So, I wonder whether we are saying the right things at times because I can also see some professionals discussing whether HA is a subtype of OCD and I think there are a lot of similiarities plus there is a known definition to seperate OCD from HA and I wonder how many people may have a comorbid condition. . Maybe something about that could help people understand more about what they are going though?
I just like throwing ideas out there, please don't feel any obligation because its not the intention, I just think after being on here a year that there is a lot of missed opportunity. I completely understand that everyone is busy and volunteers their time but I see this issue about a lower ratio of those in recovery vs. those in the spiral and think that it needs something to steer it back into the direction that some of you have expressed feelings over losing. Now I see a fresh blog, and I wonder whether its more appropriate there and for some level of partnership/handoff via advertising this new one?
I can't see Nic or the admins having an issue as you have no affiliate links on there and you are not promoting anything for financial gain. The more information out there the better and other than some of the charities who show user stories and Rethink's Time For Change campaign, how many places can people with HA go to see something good from people who have got further? Only the 'gurus' really and some of them are highly questionable. When I attended the charity walk-ins, I found it really helped to identify with a few people who had similiar backgrounds to mine and what really helped was hearing where they had been and seeing how far they had come as it gave me hope...which your blog will do too. :yesyes:
Hi MNIT
Yes that is absolutely the intention. I don't want it to become just my thoughts on things. The FB group at the moment has about 160 members which is good and touch wood for the most part it has remained focused on how it was initially intended - a question of critical mass I guess. It may change but we have a couple of admins who are working hard to keep it on track. The blog is designed to recognise the flaws of FB and build a set of useful resource coming from the the principles of peer support.
I need to recognise that I am not a mental health specialist and so peer support and perhaps referencing good resources is where we are heading. I think there will be three dimensions.
1) People's stories, especially their journey to feeling better - showing it can be done.
2) People's thoughts, observations and tips in article form - can be short, long or medium sized but aimed at trying to work through the mechanisms behind anxiety and build up a weaponary that people can choose from to slay the metaphorical dragon.
3) Useful resources, for example Yogi pointed me in the direction of a great article about anxiety in children and I know this is something some people worry about.
I agree about the cross over between mental health conditions and I think it is something I have often wondered about, especially the link between HA and OCD. I have never been diagnosed with OCD but I imagine that if I analysed the traits that I would probably have some of them backing up and reinforcing my HA. I have always viewed HA as an outlet for anxiety rather than a specific condition in its own right.
Good luck with your blog. I hope you can help plenty of people the way you helped me. I know I wouldn't be where I am today without the likes of you and fishmanpa :)
This is amazing! Good luck :)
Seconding roxy and giving this a bump at the same time!
Good luck with your blog. I hope you can help plenty of people the way you helped me. I know I wouldn't be where I am today without the likes of you and fishmanpa :)
Hey Roxy great to hear from you - I often wonder how you are getting on.
MyNameIsTerry
19-03-15, 10:56
Hi MNIT
Yes that is absolutely the intention. I don't want it to become just my thoughts on things. The FB group at the moment has about 160 members which is good and touch wood for the most part it has remained focused on how it was initially intended - a question of critical mass I guess. It may change but we have a couple of admins who are working hard to keep it on track. The blog is designed to recognise the flaws of FB and build a set of useful resource coming from the the principles of peer support.
I need to recognise that I am not a mental health specialist and so peer support and perhaps referencing good resources is where we are heading. I think there will be three dimensions.
1) People's stories, especially their journey to feeling better - showing it can be done.
2) People's thoughts, observations and tips in article form - can be short, long or medium sized but aimed at trying to work through the mechanisms behind anxiety and build up a weaponary that people can choose from to slay the metaphorical dragon.
3) Useful resources, for example Yogi pointed me in the direction of a great article about anxiety in children and I know this is something some people worry about.
I agree about the cross over between mental health conditions and I think it is something I have often wondered about, especially the link between HA and OCD. I have never been diagnosed with OCD but I imagine that if I analysed the traits that I would probably have some of them backing up and reinforcing my HA. I have always viewed HA as an outlet for anxiety rather than a specific condition in its own right.
Thats good to hear. Its looking good so far!
I think having a resource including links to other useful articles is going to be very useful for people. There are so many out there that it can be daunting and I remember that was very hard for me as it reflected areas of my work hence why I tend to source things and post them to save people the time.
Thats interesting that you believe its more an outlet as opposed to a distinct condition. I was reading the 2 criteria's for it after posting my initial thoughts and found that BDD has to be ruled out (and I noticed how you had issues in this area in your story), that there has to be no existing disorder or one that can be catagorised to capture it, and then there are delusional forms. So, it does seem its very much about ruling issues out as opposed to how other forms are diagnosed.
I think OCD traits can be found in many of us as some seem to extend across all the anxiety disorders e.g. intrusive thoughts which can be linked or just come out of the blue for anyone, regardless of an anxiety disorder. I remember reading about this once and it stated that OCD is diagnosed when the traits are causing anxiety or having a noticeable impact on their life in their own right (according to OCD Action). BDD is also discussed on the same webpage so there is some link there although I always thought BDD was separate to OCD. Mental checking is another one which a lot of people are doing that is found more commonly in the Pure O conditions.
I've been reading a little bit about a couple of forms of Pure O and by chance found 2 areas discussed on here as HA that are known to be OCD. So, whilst excellent advice is being given out, I wonder whether its sufficient (although I can see that several of the HA steps are in their behaviours).
This is why I asked because I find NMP is a bit general in terms of GAD and then there is this "is HA like OCD?" issue that keeps cropping up and maybe there is an opportunity to make this easier for people to understand through a fresh resource?
Excellent blog Chris, well done.
MyNameIsTerry
08-05-15, 07:33
Bump...seems a good time.
MyNameIsTerry
10-05-15, 06:30
Bump
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