Izzy

Hi, I’m Izzy. I play the drums, I go mountain-biking and I live by the seaside. I have 3 tattoos, 10 piercings and 8 pet gerbils. I love music, books, comedy and cups of tea. Also, I have a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder...

I have suffered from mental distress in various forms since I was 17, and recently, following a breakdown aged 22 I was given a diagnosis of emotionally unstable/borderline personality disorder. I was pretty miffed at being given the borderline label because I felt like it was an attack on me, saying there’s something wrong with my personality, which wasn’t a nice thing to hear! But I have come to understand the condition and what it means for me – I have certain character traits which make it really difficult for me to function normally or cope with everyday life. It’s a highly stigmatised and greatly misunderstood condition, but its one that affects a lot of people like me which is why I am blogging here, to speak out about it, to show that it’s nothing to be ashamed of, and to try and help others who are struggling with the same things.

Posts by Izzy

Izzy's blog: Meds

25 January 2010 | Posted by Izzy | 2 comments

Topics: Young people

I thought it might be helpful to share some of my experiences with medication, since I’ve been on several now and I am currently in the process of starting on a new one. Different antidepressants will work for different people, and will bring out different reactions and different side effects, so my experiences are by no means representative of how anyone else’s will be. But whenever one of these drugs has had a weird effect on me I have found it comforting to read other peoples experiences and find out that I’m not alone.

On your bike

25 November 2009 | Posted by Izzy | 2 comments

Topics: Young people

I went mountain the other night and it was fantastic, the first thing to cheer me up in ages!
I struggle quite a lot with bouts of depression and one of the worst things about it is that it stops me doing the things I enjoy; everything seems like a colossal effort and instead of getting out and about seeing people and being active I just find myself withdrawing from the world and spending days slumped on the sofa feeling like life is passing me by but not having the motivation to do anything about it.

Izzy's blog: I walk alone

09 November 2009 | Posted by Izzy | 4 comments

Topics: Young people

“I walk this empty road, the only road that I have ever known, don’t know where it goes, but it’s only me and I walk alone”. Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Green Day.

This song speaks to me; the words seem to empathise with the way I feel, the way my life feels and has felt for as long as I can remember. It captures the sense of unrelenting isolation that haunts me; the loneliness of mental illness. “My shadow is the only one that walks beside me”.

Harmless

14 September 2009 | Posted by Izzy | 12 comments

Topics: Young people

I’m trying to stop self-harming, and it’s a surprisingly difficult thing to do. Once it’s become a habit and a coping mechanism it’s not an easy thing to give up. But it is something that I really do need to stop doing because it just reinforces my feelings of negativity towards myself, and the scars drive my self-esteem even lower.