I was delighted to be featured in The Sun this week, talking about the mental health issues I have suffered in an attempt to break the stigma associated with mental illness. As part of the awareness-raising "Time To Talk Day", six of us were invited to a photoshoot and interview at The Sun for a piece that showed people with mental health conditions being open about their issues and how they manage them. 
Along with me talking about my experience of Borderline Personality Disorder and how it affected me, the five other disorders covered were PTSD, Depression, Bipolar, Bulimia, and Schizoaffective Disorder. The other participants were all lovely people, and I was so pleased to see others doing something positive to promote the idea that recovery is possible.
It was great that we were a range of people from different walks of life. I have used my experience of mental health issues to help in my work as a therapist, and two of the other ladies had become mental health campaigners and support workers. Others were studying successfully or pursuing other positive careers like writing and blogging.
The piece is in the 'Me' section of the Sun dated 4 Febrary 2014. You can get a sneak peek here. I hope by me sharing my experience, it will help to break the stigma attached to mental health issues -- and others will be prompted to ask for help.
If you’d like to do something positive to break mental health stigma, you can the connect with the people featured in the photoshoot on Twitter:
Charlotte: @BipolarBlogger
Tasha: @TashaBenji
Steven: @stevencolborne
James: @jamesldowns
Nick: @nicholasrmcanea
Me: @BethSmyls
Many thanks to Sun writer Christina Earle for such a positive piece and journalist Tina Walsh for putting me in touch with the project.
