My experience of dissociation: derealisation and depersonalisation

Growing up I often felt like I was disconnected from myself and the world around me. If I looked at my body too intensely, it didn't feel like it was mine. It felt like a foreign entity that I was looking after, and I considered it more as a friend than as me. When I...

Struggling with self-diagnosis: the need for validation in mental health

In January I had an appointment with my GP to discuss some problems I'd been having with my mental health. I'd been struggling for some time, but never thought my problems were 'bad enough' to seek help; often I didn't see my problems as problems at all. Within the appointment I summarised my main symptoms,...

Intrusive thoughts: confronting the taboo

I can trace my OCD symptoms back to when I was four. While most children don’t want to go to bed for fear of missing out, or wanting to stay up to watch one more episode on CBeebies, I didn’t want to go to bed because I knew I’d have to stay awake for at...

Living with OCD: A day in my life

Note: This details one day in my life. Not everyone's experience of OCD is like this, as each sufferer has different obsessions and compulsions associated with them. This also describes just one day; some days are better, some are worse. Some days I have more intrusive thoughts, and other days my obsessions revolve mostly around...

Surviving lock-down: 9 tips and tricks that work for me

If you're anything like me, lock-down is your greatest fear. No matter how much time I spend trying to convince myself otherwise, I can't deny the fact that I absolutely hate my own company; and I'm getting an awful lot of that at the moment. The novelty of having no school, no exams, and excess...

Introducing RoseTintedBlue

So I’ve finally decided to get my act together and start up a blog: RoseTintedBlue. It’s been on my to-do list for a while and isolation has given me the time to stop making excuses and start writing. While I’ve been tempted to sit around all day, watch Netflix, and feel sorry for myself (which...