Hi Beyond Blue Community,
My name is Marnie and I thought I would write a few lines to introduce myself as I have just registered with B.B, applied for my first volunteering role and filled in a form for Blue Voices.
I was first diagnosed with PTSD in 1997, which came with psychosis, anxiety, agrophobia, OCD tendencies and was in and out of psych wards with several suicide attempts until 2011. I was diagnosed with Bi Polar 2 on top of the PTSD in 2011 and had a very long hospital stay and put on very heavy medication doses.
I am pleased to say that over a 2 year period, I stepped down from my medication and have now been medication free since October 2018. My recovery process was long, I still worked and studied, often not telling employers about my diagnosis due to stigma and not wanting to be told I am incompetent, or being treated differently to the rest of the staff. I started meditation and sound healing therapy, which I still use today and recently have taken up Tai Chi, which even after only 2 weeks of practising, is making a huge improvement on memory and concentration. I practice gratitude affirmations and AM extremely grateful for my life and the people around me who I know love me, even when they have had to step away for their own sense of mental health when supporting me. It can be tough to see, hear and feel someone you love so distressed, and often others don't know how to deal with it.
I find active meditation in growing my own veggies helpful for mind, body and spirit and sense of healing and independence from that. Nurturing plants and knowing you have grown your own food free of any chemicals and pesticides gives an immense sense of accomplishment and self soothing in knowing I can sustain myself and offer food to family or people in need. My pets are a constant source of joy and gratitude and entertainment. I have an 11 week old English Staffordshire Bull Terrier and 2 8 year old cats who are brothers from the same litter.
I am really looking forward to becoming involved with BB, becoming a public speaker and getting involved with some activism stuff.
Thanks for reading.
Have a great day,
Marnie
