What We Do

When we set up our project in October 2021, it came from our hearts. Having been diagnosed with personality disorders, we found that whilst it was fairly straightforward to find information about our conditions, what we didn’t have were lived experiences we could relate to.

 

Nobody was talking about what it was like to live with the most stigmatised and misunderstood mental health disorders- especially in real life- and we wondered if what we were experiencing was ‘normal’. There seemed to be a real lack of safe spaces on the internet for people to share their stories about what it was like to live with these conditions. So we decided to make one.

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The aim of our project has always been to show the ‘other side’ of the mental health conversation. Often we never hear about things like personality disorders, psychotic conditions and dissociative disorders when the media talk about mental illness.

 

The problem with not having open conversations around these disorders is that it allows for misconceptions and distortions to take hold, which then leads to suspicion, prejudice and discrimination.

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Because of these frequently inaccurate perceptions, people with the most stigmatised disorders are often shamed into silence around their conditions.

 

They are painfully aware that some conditions have become synonymous with abuse, violence and/or manipulation, and even if they are not abusive themselves, they fear being judged or stereotyped based on what society tells them they ‘must be like’.

 

Yes, there are some people with mental illnesses who are those things- which we discuss in more depth in the What We Stand For section- but many are not, and tarring everyone with the same brush is harming these communities. The more stigma that exists, the less likely people are to seek help.

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Since we are aware that negativity towards certain disorders is rife, we do not allow commenting on our stories to protect our contributors (who we keep anonymous).

 

We hope that in giving people a space to share their experiences, it will help to encourage more open discourse around these disorders and create more understanding of what they actually are.

 

We also encourage submissions from the LGBTQIA+ community, POC, those with additional disabilities and those with co-morbid conditions. We receive submissions from all over the world and have a readership that spans the globe. We truly hope that no matter who you are, or where you are, you can find stories that you can relate to.