This blog used to be known as Our Own Minds, and lived at a different address on wordpress.com. But after running it for a few moths, I was dissatisfied with what I was doing and became convinced that it needed a new focus.
My original intent on starting Our Own Minds had been to talk about mental illness, but it started to feel like a chore, and I suspected the reason for that was that I was writing, not the kinds of things I had originally planned to write, but stuff that that seemed didactic and stiff to me.
So I stopped.
The mistake I made the first time around
I sorry I stopped, and yet, I’m grateful. Grateful because, at some point during my hiatus, some things came clear. The reason for my losing steam hit me: I had not been focusing on the things I really cared about.
- The misconceptions and myths surrounding mental illness
- The stigma and prejudice we hold towards those affected by it and the untold harm that comes from that.
- The most underemphasised fact of mental illness: that recovery is real. That there is hope, and the hope is solid and well-founded.
- And most of all, practical advice on rising above mental illness, for ourselves and for those we love.
Instead of talking about all that, I’d gotten caught up in saying things about mental illness that might be easily obtained online. But no more.
Rise Above It! is a uniquely Nigerian (and African) perspective on a global reality.
Rise Above It! is about all the things I originally had in mind when I started blogging about mental illness. No more stuff that’s easily available elsewhere on the web. Here, you’ll get a unique perspective on something that concerns us all. And here’s some of what else you’ll get:
- An insider look at what mental illness really is and what it’s not, and what you can do to rise above it—or help those you love to.
- Answers to the most frequently asked questions I get about mental illness.
- An in-depth exploration of the biggest question of all: where do you draw the line, if at all, between mental illness and spirituality?
- Rants—from time to time, when the moon is full, I raise my head to the sky and let out a long howling rant! (Just kidding. At least about the moon part.) 🙂
- News about what’s happening in the world of mental health science around the world (and especially here in Africa) and why you should care.y take on
- My take on portrayals of mental illness in movies, music and books: which ones are real, which ones aren’t, and why.
- Real stories of real people, and how they’re rising above illness.
You won’t find stuff quite like this anywhere else.
I’ll be posting weekly, every Monday. Sign up for email updates every time I post, and to get my free ebook when it comes out. (It’ll be for subscribers only.)
And before you go, drop a line in the comments below, to say hello and let me know: what’s your biggest question about mental illness?