Essentially Samantha

  Whenever I go to Portswood, it never fails to stop me in my tracks by how much litter is just everywhere. The bins are always overflowing. Portswood is neither inferior nor superior; it just is. Residents are more than a little ticked off with the protests from the far right and far left, and the police presence that goes with that. The traffic is always hectic when these protests take place, hard to navigate when all you want to do is pop to the shops for a quick bite.  Portswood has a high number of muslims in the area and as such most eateries are halal. Problematic for many people, especially Christians. There are some churches within Portswood, but I have never stepped foot into a charismatic flavour known as Victory church. I hear they are popular, but I am more of the contemplative type.  There are some good businesses on Portswood High Street. They have a large Sainsbury's, with an Argos inside. Shame they never have anything in stock. A popular Waitrose serves ...

 I see that a little round plaster sums up my mental illness picture. Its what they stick on my bum every other Wednesday at the top of my bottom to keep the antipsychotic from running out of my skin. You see I am battling 3 mental illnesses. Have been all my life although I only found out about them just after i gave birth when I had my first ever proper manic episode. Before I gave birth I used to think I had severe PMT. However looking back now I see that it was the Bipolar all along. I have Bipolar 1, PTSD and Borderline Personality Disorder. I am a DBT graduate and have tried most medications apart from having surgery to re set my Vagus nerve, you name the medication and I have had it. The side effects keep me on a strict regime of Lithium and Quetiapine. It holds the mania back incredibly so I can function like a normal human being. To know me you would never know there was anything wrong except sometimes I am not around for long periods. I tend to stop indoors when I am unwe...