Welcome one and all!

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog. If you’re here on purpose, thank you! If you’re here by accident, I invite you to stick around for a while to see if there is anything that you like.

My name is Dawn M. Dawson, and I am an individual who lives with a Mental Health Diagnosis. I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder in 2012 and have since been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, ADHD – Inattentive and the dreaded Borderline Personality Disorder. How accurate are these? Diagnoses are like assholes and everyone has one.

I’m here to be honest with you. Does it suck? Yes. It sucks hard. I also want you to know that these are not death sentences. Because of these diagnoses I am a Recovery Support Specialist. I have been able to find my passions, which is writing, volunteering and mental health advocacy. Ultimately, I have found a much more balanced and healthy life that I may have not otherwise sought out.

Sadly, I have come up against stereotypes and stigmas that have gotten in the way of my diagnosing and recovery. I have been diagnosed with BPD in several situations, and had this diagnosis withheld from me due to the stigmas that would be associated with it. Is it truly BPD or actions based on unhealthy coping mechanisms from a lifetime of trauma? Am I really experiencing hypomania, or could it be ADHD in overdrive with hyper fixation? In some ways, the answers do matter. In other ways, they do not. The facts are what the facts are.

Basically, I want to show you that there is hope. I was in and out of hospitals and intensive therapy programs for a decade. I have lost relationships that have been dear to me; others strained. I’ve been on medication and dealt with the side effects from those. I have attempted suicide and self-harmed.  I’ve had ECT with little success. I’ve been to a point where I felt like the only thing I could possibly do was stay in bed and struggle to breathe because it hurt me, my soul, and my body to exist. It is thought that there could be no worse hell than the one we live on earth and I would personally agree with that. For years I was stuck in my own personal hell.

Despite these complications, I found recovery and I want to stress, it was on my terms. Every day is not sunshine and rainbows… far from it. I want to take you with me as I educate you on mental health, stigmas associated with it, my recovery, and the ups and downs of daily life for someone with a mental health diagnosis. My disclaimer about recovery: THERE IS NO ONE WAY THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE! Sure, there are certain methods proven to be effective, but I would be wrong to give you the impression that my way is the best way. I hope to be able to offer you some nuggets that you can take with you. Your recovery is your recovery.

I aim to be brutally honest while having a bit of humor by my side. This will be my story as well as some education along the way. I hope that my stories supply inspiration and can be a vehicle for change. Buckle up! It’s going to be a rough ride!