Mental Health Patient: archives

The following is an interim description which may change when detailed cataloguing takes place in future:

A mixture of handwritten and printed work, along with paintings, sketches, drawings, relevant newspaper articles and ephemera. The diaries detail the patient's journey through the mental health system and her close relationship with her therapist. Much of her therapy was informed by Jungian thinking, and includes material on the interpretation of dreams.

These diaries, covering the period 1979-2011, detail a psychological journey of self discovery. They record the patient's personal journey of individuation, including extensive study and interpretation of the many dreams, imagery (especially active imagination), symbols, evolution and the processes involved in psychological development and inner healing. The journey through the mental health system, therapeutic community and the relationship with her therapists are all documented; many of the diary entries take the form of letters to them.

The patient was in a psychiatric hospital at the end of the 1970s when her doctor suggested writing her feelings down as means of release. She has been keeping a diary ever since. This has been her primary form of therapy as she has refused to accept any medication throughout her illness. In the early 1990s she was also diagnosed with ME (Myalgic Encephalopathy) and the diaries include her experiences of this.

A keen artist, she has also used her artistic talents as a means of therapeutic expression. The archive includes artworks interleaved within diaries. Larger artworks and pottery sculptures have been photographed. Heavily influenced by Jungian thinking, many of the artworks have a dreamlike quality.

The patient has always been an active campaigner on behalf of people with psychiatric difficulties, and this is reflected throughout the diaries. She worked with MIND campaigning for a mental health hospital and later formed an ME support group.