Dear everyone,

It feels like ages since I last wrote - apologies. I'm still not well, after having covid in March. Good days and bad, really. It's been a tough year, as I know it has for most of us. I think of you all often, and I also wanted to send a really warm welcome and thank you to the newer supporters. There are 389 of you now, and the book is 68% funded! Thanks for being so patient with this great endeavour.

I do have two things to share with you. The first is the first twenty-minute episode of a podcast series I recorded back in July, with an amazing grassroots mental health collective called MadCovid. I talk about the impact of this beast called 'Long Covid' on me personally and my mental health, but also share an outline of the narrative of this book that you've bought! It's leading in to a discussion of experiences of 'personality disorder' diagnosis, of which those of you who know me will know I'm rather critical. The book is a real blend of talking about my own experiences and considering more broadly the ways in which women's trauma responses are both minimalised and pathologised, especially within the 'personality disorder' construct. So this series is a bit of a 'sneak preview' of the book, but arguably better in that you get to hear from Ellie and Bethan too. I enjoy hearing Bethan say 'fuck' in a Welsh accent. 

And, in an entirely different genre, you can now read the 'thought piece' that I wrote for Health Education England on peer support in NHS perinatal mental health services. Since we launched the perinatal peer support principles in December, peer support provision in NHS perinatal services has exploded. Katy, Nisba and I talked to people working in these services - both peer supporters and clinical staff - to find out what's going well, what's not going so well, and what could be done to make things better. We believe that every mum should have access to safe and therapeutic peer support for her mental health. You can download the piece from Mind's website here.

Thank you, once again, for being here. I hope you're as OK as possible in this relentless pandemic situation. If you ever have time, I'd love to hear from you.

With love,

Laura x