Tess Munster

So I recently started following a woman called Tess Munster on instagram. She is a plus size model and I think she is incredibly beautiful. How brave of her for challenging the ideals of what our bodies are supposed to look like! Size has no matter as long as your healthy. I mean just look at some of the thinner people that are really unhealthy. No matter what size you are you can still have illnesses such as anorexia or bulimia so do not tarnish all 'skinny' people with the same brush.

Everyone's body is different. We are all different shapes and sizes and some of us can't change no matter how we try.

If Tess is comfortable with her body then good for her. She is not "glorifying obesity", she is celebrating her body and is comfortable in her own skin.

Picture from http://tessmunster.tumblr.com/

She is beautiful in her own right just as we all are.

She should not be made to feel terrible because of her size.

I find it so refreshing to see gorgeous pictures of a stunning plus size model!

All the best for Tess Muster. To some I have no doubt that she is an inspiration.

Tess' website

& blog

What do you think?

Stay Safe.

Paige

xo

Mental Health

Hi guys,

Sorry I know I haven't posted in a while, I've been really busy with college, placements, work, uni interviews, trying to see my family and fiancé and so on. 

I have actually been doing some charity work raising money for a charity called YoungMinds. The cause is incredible and honestly deserves as much publicity as it can get, so please visit the website and check it out http://www.youngminds.org.uk/ 

Yes I am eating a bacon sandwich!

I raised £30.08 which is quite good considering it was a slow day at college. 

So anyway as you know come September, my chosen area of study will be mental health. 

Today I spoke to someone who has a daughter that is in a mental health facility and she asked some of the staff what kind of qualifications they had or what training they had undergone to get into the sector. She was quite shocked (as was I) to discover that mental health nurse assistants actually don't need to have and qualifications or training! 

I understand that in a way they are like health care assistants but health care assistants still have to undergo training such as health and safety and often request more training when they have to start 'specialing' patients. This information has, in a way, scared both myself and the woman involved as the mental health nurse assistants literally do the majority of the work and knowing that they are not actually trained in what they are doing is harrowing.  

When asked one of the mental health nurse assistants said that she hadn't undergone any training and that she just learnt on the job. Personal I feel that learning on the job is a good way to pick up bad habits.

Obviously it is not their fault that they have been employed without qualification or training but training should be offered at every chance. For instance what if a inpatient has to be restrained and the assistant obviously hasn't had any training, all it would take is a bump in the wrong place and in a worse case scenario the inpatient could potentially die.

I feel that all that qualifications in the world doesn't make you right for every job but training in the field should be mandatory. It makes the workplace safer for both staff and patients and helps to avoid implications. 

I don't believe that mental health nurse assistants are incompetent in any way but like they say, better safe than sorry.

Let me know what you think.

Stay safe

Paige

xo

Tattoo acceptance

Tattoos have such as bad reputation, even in this day and age when tattoos are a lot more common, people still tend to shy away from those with tattoos. A few stereotypes are thugs, rough, a member of a gang, been in prison. The fact of the matter is a lot of people with tattoos are none of those things.

I have 7 tattoos. I am not threatening in anyway. My tattoos aren't a waste of money. Each one represents something very important to me.

This is my name in Japanese (Katakana). This was the first tattoo I got.

My nan passed away 3 years ago. Her ashes were scattered under a cherry blossom tree. I loved her very much and still do.

This is a heartagram (nothing to do with the devil!). Its the sign used for the band H.I.M. Both I and my fiancé have this tattoo. It means a lot.

These roses are for my mum. She loves flowers so I got these to show her my love and appreciation.

This says Megan, Luke and Jake. My little sister and 2 little brothers.

This is my latest tattoo. My great grandma died not long ago from cancer. My nan also died from cancer and the majority of the people I have lost have had cancer. This is a cancer ribbon mixed with the norse sign for family. This is my favourite.

My fiancé gets tattoos just because he likes how they look and that's perfectly fine, but just because people don't have the same tastes as him or because his tattoos are extensive people tend to steer clear of him regardless of the fact that he is the nicest man I've ever met.

I honestly believe that unless your tattoos are offensive or obscene that you shouldn't have to cover your tattoos whether for a job or school or just because they aren't to others tastes. Tattoos are a part of an individual. They are creative and expressive. To some they tell their personal stories. To others they are art.

I suppose just don't judge a book by it's cover.

Stay safe,

Paige xo

Lets talk depression..

Depression and anxiety is an illness very close to my heart as I myself suffer with it. 

A lot of people don't view depression as a mental illness. I get it I didn't either until I was diagnosed. I felt hopeless most of the time. It took all of me to get out of bed some days. I thought constantly about suicide. The little voice in my head telling me I was worthless and that no one cared if I did die. Sometimes it would feel like the voices weren't just in my head and that I could actually hear them. It only made the already sleepless nights worse. I would cry endlessly and feel like there was no way out of the despair I was hounded by. Even though everyday was a constant struggle I still managed to pull myself together and go to college and work because I knew that if I didn't try things would only get worse.

 I was diagnosed at 19 and was told that I'd had severe depression and anxiety from a young age. At first I couldn't take it in. I wasn't behaving out of character, I didn't self-harm and I was still managing to get out of bed. I saw three health and mental health professionals before I realised that the sooner I accepted my diagnoses, the sooner I could start getting better, or at least coping with my illness. I saw a mental health nurse every 2 weeks to discuss how I was feeling and progress I had made. My doctor put me on antidepressants which was very daunting for me; I'd never had to be on long-term tablets before, especially ones that are so easy for you to develop and addiction to. 

For a while things got worse, increased suicidal thoughts, no sleep at all and crying constantly. I couldn't focus on anything no matter how much I tried, college work seemed to get away from me. Eventually things got better, I was signed off from sessions and my tablets ended. Things were looking up.

A couple of months later I suffered a panic attack. My first big panic attack. This sent me back into depression so again I was put back on the antidepressants. I soon realised that this was an illness I would never get rid of. I'd had it for so long that it had somehow formed a part of my personality.

Now: Things are good. I haven't had a big panic attack in months. I haven't been on antidepressants in months. 

Having a mental illness is not the end of the world. You just need to learn how it works and how it affects you.

I'm not a doctor or a medical professional in anyway but if you may have any questions about depression and anxiety, don't hesitate to ask.

Stay safe,

Paige xo

A peek...

Bobby & I

So I thought maybe it would be appropriate for you all to know a little about me. 

My name is Paige Charlotte Turner, born 02/03/1993, that makes me 20 at the moment soon to be 21 though. I currently reside in Corby with is a town in Northants in England. I moved here 2 years ago with my mother and little brother; I used to live in Birmingham.

I am engaged to an incredible man called Robert. From the 16th of Jan he will be joining the army. The Paras to be exact. It's incredible how hard he has worked to get there and how much he wants it but it's also so scary that he's going. I met Bobby (he rarely gets called Robert) at secondary school and have known him for about 10 years now but we've only been together for 3 years.

I am at college studying my Level 3 Diploma in Childcare and am now going throught the whole Uni process. I am applying to do mental health nursing. It's something very important to me as quite a few people I love and myself have a mental illness.

I have 3 younger siblings. Megan, Luke and Jake. Megan is 8, Luke is 3 and Jake is 2. Megan and Jake live with my dad and Luke and I live with my mum.

I am extemely family orientated and travel over to Birmingham alot so I can see my family. I miss them. 

I am not glamorous in any way. I am completely down to earth.

Well if theres anything else you want to know, just ask I suppose.

Paige xo

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New Year

So arrives another new year, 2014 just as promising as the last. All the new and wonderful things you hope and plan to encounter in this year, maybe even made a resolution to do so; the possibility of what the future year holds is greatly, well, exaggerated. Let's face it your chances of winning the lottery are exactly the same this year as any other. Your chances of finding love haven't increased and that weight you've resolved to lose, well, let's be honest you make that same promises everyday. So why do we think our chances of success lie with the beginning of yet another year?

Like everyone else I too make these little promises of change yet they never seem uphold. Lose a little weight, smoke less; after a few weeks I fall hard back into the same old routines that I thought needed desperate change, as do millions of us. Yet we all have every intention of keeping the promises made to ourselves but they never seem to last. 

But do we really expect them to?

Deep down surely we know that the facade won't last. That slowly we'll slip back into the same everyday routines. And so what if we do? Surely if we were so desperate for change, we'd change it, regardless of time, year and place. If you felt that you really needed to lose weight then you would make an effort to seek weight loss aid : diets, exercise and miraculous weight loss pills.

My point is do not despair if you don't keep the little promises that make to yourself. If they really mattered they wouldn't break.

My resolution this year: to start this blog and see where I go with it. Maybe I'll write more, maybe I won't. It's not the end of the world if I break my promise.

Promises, promises