Emily♡

Sunday Times Bestselling author of GIRL UNMASKED: HOW UNCOVERING MY AUTISM SAVED MY LIFE 📚 & Trustee of Autistic Girls Network. Mainly on IG.

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

Girl Unmasked is a Sunday Times bestseller. 🥹🥹🥹

There are no words to describe what an absolute privilege this is and how grateful I am. Thank YOU. #GirlUnmasked

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

How would you talk to yourself if you were talking to a friend? What would you say? Can you write yourself a letter to process what happened and to say that you forgive yourself? Can you look in the mirror and say those words aloud? These are all steps towards healing. 💖

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

We walk around carrying shame and guilt for past choices, even when we were doing our best and didn’t have the skills or ability to choose any other option, if there were even any available.

It is time to forgive yourself. You did what you had to do to survive.

#MentalHealth

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

I’m thrilled that @NDConnectionUK let me write about how @LEGO_Group saved me in the darkest moments of being sectioned. Whilst very unwell with OCD and psychosis, brick by brick, LEGO helped me through. I honestly don’t know how I’d have got through the last several months without it. ✍🏻

[Neurodiverse Connection UK @NDConnectionUK]

In our latest blog, Guest Contributor Emily Katy shares how LEGO became a steady anchor during a twelve-week hospital admission. Hyperfocusing on LEGO provided a sense of purpose and direction during some of her hardest days.

Read Emily's blog here: https://t.co/RkNMpW5S6W

[Neurodiverse Connection UK @NDConnectionUK]

In our latest blog, Guest Contributor Emily Katy shares how LEGO became a steady anchor during a twelve-week hospital admission. Hyperfocusing on LEGO provided a sense of purpose and direction during some of her hardest days.

Read Emily's blog here: https://t.co/RkNMpW5S6W

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

@Star7Gem I’m so sorry to hear that. Thank you.

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

Notes from a mental health patient #6.

‘No decision about us without us’ is something services love to throw around when it suits them…until it doesn’t. Until your voice suddenly doesn’t matter. Until suddenly the power imbalance comes into play.

I have no words to describe the situation and pain I’ve been left sitting with this week - maybe I will one-day. For now, I just want to say this.

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

@tazsaints42 Thank you

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

@Rachel_Luby Thank you x

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

Notes from a mental health patient #5. ✉️

Struggling to see the hope right now, but I know it is there somewhere. One foot in front of the other, one step at a time, and slowly we will get there.

#MentalHealth #Recovery

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

@Fionas_Story Thank you

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

‘Being restrained is not just a physical act. It is an experience of having control taken away at a moment of vulnerability. The addition of rapid tranquillisation intensifies this further, removing not only physical autonomy but also the ability to remain present and oriented. Rapid tranquillisation is often used as a way to “reduce distress”, when in reality it overrides it. It acts on the body in a way that removes control without consent, leaving the person sedated rather than supported – quietened rather than cared for.

For survivors of abuse, particularly where trauma has involved violations of bodily autonomy or control, these interventions can be deeply retraumatising. They can reproduce dynamics of powerlessness, fear, and helplessness, not because that is the intention, but because that is how they are experienced. The body does not necessarily distinguish between past and present in these moments. What is framed as “safe care” instead feels like a re-enactment of harm.’

A brilliantly written article by Sophie Lancaster for @NSUNnews.

[National Survivor User Network @NSUNnews]

"Who is seen as risky, what is seen as dangerous, and which responses are considered justified are all shaped by systems of power."

Sophie Lancaster on the politics of risk and restrictive practice in inpatient mental health care.

https://t.co/0FULfsxtNA

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

We have awareness about mental health now, which is a good thing. But there are still so many people afraid of what others would think if they heard the voices they hear or saw the thoughts inside their heads. There is still so much work to be done in reducing stigma.

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

It’s mental health awareness week and I wish there was more awareness about mental illnesses that remain highly stigmatised, like psychosis, OCD and schizophrenia. Because there are still so many people afraid to talk about their experiences due to stigma and shame.

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

When will it be okay for people to admit to hearing voices that demand you harm yourself? When will it be okay for people to admit they experience distressing intrusive thoughts of harming others? When will those people feel able to share their stories without repercussions?

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

@ofIngleside Thank you

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

Notes from a mental health patient #4. ✉️

Sometimes, what looks like illness - or even worse, ‘behaviour’ - is a nervous system that learned very quickly that ‘care’ can hurt.

#notesfromamentalhealthpatient

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

I never once thought I would need professionals to understand me again, that I’d be back in the mental health system, but I’m grateful to younger me for writing a book that hopefully can help, even if the challenges look a little different now. 💖

#MentalHealth #Autism

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

@ofIngleside Thank you

[Emily♡ @ItsEmilyKaty]

Notes from a mental health patient #3. ✉️

How do you begin to put yourself back together when life looks so completely different to the life you were leading before you became unwell? How do you begin to connect with yourself again?

#notesfromamentalhealthpatient