The Journal

Writing from the series

Short, honest pieces on the things The Steady Series is about, for the parents who love hardest and struggle most.

30 July 2026

Loving Someone With PMDD: A Guide for the Person Who Stays

For two weeks she is someone else. Then she is back, and devastated. Here is what is actually happening, what genuinely helps, and the line you must not cross in either direction.

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28 July 2026

The Shame That Arrives With Your Period

Everyone assumes bleeding brings relief. For a lot of women with PMDD, it brings something worse: total clarity about what you said and did, and a shame that can be more dangerous than the storm itself.

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26 July 2026

Quiet BPD: When You Turn It All Inward

You do not rage or throw things. You apologise, you withdraw, you punish yourself in private. Quiet BPD is why so many people go years without anyone noticing, including their own doctor.

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24 July 2026

PMDD Treatment in the UK: What the Guidelines Actually Say

SSRIs you can take for only half the month. The pill that beats placebo by less than you would think. What RCOG genuinely recommends, and what the evidence really shows, without the hype.

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22 July 2026

How to Get a PMDD Diagnosis in the UK: Track First, Then Book

There is no blood test for PMDD. The diagnosis is a pattern, and the pattern is something you can produce yourself, for free, before anyone believes you. Here is exactly how.

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20 July 2026

The Favourite Person in BPD: What It Is, and How to Loosen Its Grip

It is not a clinical term, but everyone with BPD knows exactly what it means. Why one person becomes your entire weather system, what it costs you both, and how to loosen the grip without losing the love.

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18 July 2026

What Is PMDD? It Is Not a Hormone Imbalance, and It Is Not Bad PMS

PMDD is a cyclical mood disorder that takes half of every month. Here is what it actually is, what causes it, and why almost everything you have read about hormone balancing is wrong.

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16 July 2026

Splitting in BPD: Why Someone Can Go From Perfect to Worthless Overnight

Splitting is the all-or-nothing switch that flips a person from wonderful to unforgivable in an afternoon. What it is, why it happens, and how to catch it before it costs you someone you love.

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15 July 2026

PMDD or BPD? The Difference Is the Baseline, Not the Peak

Most articles tell you that if your symptoms follow your cycle it is PMDD. That is not true, and believing it can send you down the wrong path for years. Here is the honest difference.

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15 June 2026

What Is Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT)?

MBT helps you understand the thoughts and feelings behind behaviour, your own and other people's, especially when emotions run high. An evidence-based treatment for BPD, explained simply.

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15 June 2026

How to Get DBT on the NHS (UK)

DBT is available on the NHS, usually through your GP and a community mental health team, but access varies. Here's the route, what to ask for, and what to do if there's a wait.

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15 June 2026

DBT vs CBT: What's the Difference?

CBT changes unhelpful thoughts; DBT adds acceptance, mindfulness, and skills for overwhelming emotions. A clear, plain-English comparison, and which tends to suit what.

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15 June 2026

What Is DBT? Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Explained

DBT is a structured, evidence-based talking therapy that teaches four sets of skills for managing intense emotions. Originally built for BPD, now used far beyond it. Here's how it works.

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15 June 2026

ADHD Shared Care Agreements, Explained

A Shared Care Agreement lets your NHS GP take over ADHD medication prescribing at NHS cost after a specialist starts it. But not every GP accepts them, here's what to know.

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15 June 2026

What Happens in an Adult ADHD Assessment?

An adult ADHD assessment is a structured clinical interview about your symptoms across childhood and now, usually 1–3 hours. Here's exactly what to expect, and how to prepare.

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15 June 2026

How Long Is the NHS ADHD Waiting List? (2026)

NHS adult ADHD waits now run from 1 to 8+ years depending on where you live, with some lists closed entirely. Here's the real picture, and the faster legal route.

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15 June 2026

ADHD Right to Choose, Explained (England, 2026)

Right to Choose lets you skip multi-year NHS ADHD waits by choosing an NHS-contracted provider, free, and usually within months. Here's exactly how it works.

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15 June 2026

Time Blindness: The ADHD Time Problem (and What Helps)

Time blindness is the ADHD difficulty with sensing and managing time, why you're late despite trying, lose hours without noticing, and can't feel a deadline until it's here. Plus what actually helps.

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15 June 2026

ADHD Burnout: Signs, Causes, and How to Recover

ADHD burnout is the crash that comes from masking and over-functioning for too long. Here's how to recognise it, why it happens, and what actually helps you recover.

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15 June 2026

ADHD and Emotional Dysregulation: Why Feelings Hit Harder

Emotional dysregulation is a core part of ADHD that the textbooks underplay, feelings that arrive bigger, faster, and harder to steer. Why it happens, and what genuinely helps.

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15 June 2026

ADHD Medication for Adults, Explained

Adult ADHD medication falls into two groups, stimulants and non-stimulants. Here's how each works, what to expect, and the honest answers to the questions people actually ask.

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31 May 2026

What Causes Borderline Personality Disorder? A Plain-English Explanation

BPD develops from a mix of biology and environment, not 'bad parenting' or weakness. The biosocial model researchers actually use, in plain language.

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31 May 2026

How to Get an ADHD Diagnosis as an Adult in the UK

Adult ADHD diagnosis in the UK, your three routes (NHS, Right to Choose, private), how long they take, what they cost, and what happens after.

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31 May 2026

PTSD vs Complex PTSD: What's Actually Different?

PTSD follows a single traumatic event; Complex PTSD develops from prolonged trauma, usually childhood. The plain difference, and why it matters.

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31 May 2026

BPD vs Bipolar Disorder: The 5 Real Differences

BPD and bipolar disorder both involve intense mood shifts, but they're fundamentally different conditions. A clear, plain-English comparison.

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31 May 2026

Is BPD Treatable? The Honest, Evidence-Based Answer

Yes, borderline personality disorder is one of the most treatable conditions in mental health. Here's what the research actually shows, and the therapies that work.

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25 May 2026

5 DBT Skills Every Overwhelmed Parent Can Use Today

Dialectical behaviour therapy isn't only for the therapy room. Five DBT skills you can use in the kitchen, mid-meltdown, starting now.

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25 May 2026

Breaking the Cycle of Generational Trauma

You can be the one who ends it. A clear, compassionate look at how generational trauma passes down, and the specific things that stop it.

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25 May 2026

Rupture and Repair: The Most Powerful Parenting Tool You're Not Using

You don't have to be a perfect parent. The science of rupture and repair shows why coming back matters more than never getting it wrong.

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25 May 2026

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria as a Parent: When 'No, Mummy' Feels Like a Knife

RSD can make a child's ordinary rejection feel unbearable. What rejection sensitive dysphoria is, why it hits parents hard, and how to ride the wave.

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25 May 2026

The Mental Load of ADHD Motherhood, and How to Put Some Down

Lost shoes, forgotten forms, the 8:55 scramble. The ADHD mental load is real and relentless. Here's how to build an 'external brain' that actually holds.

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25 May 2026

Parenting with Complex PTSD: How to Break the Cycle

If your own childhood still hurts, the fear of passing it on is real. Here's the honest, hopeful truth about parenting with Complex PTSD.

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25 May 2026

Emotional Flashbacks: What They Are and How to Come Back

An emotional flashback can hijack you in seconds, no images, just the old feelings. Here's how to recognise one and find your way back to now.

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24 May 2026

Loving Someone with Borderline Personality Disorder: A Gentle, Honest Guide

What it really takes to love someone with BPD, how to stay steady, set kind boundaries, and look after yourself, too.

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23 May 2026

Newly Diagnosed with BPD? Start Here.

A diagnosis is not a sentence, it's a map. What BPD (EUPD) really means, what helps, and a gentle place to begin.

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22 May 2026

Parenting with BPD: For the Moms Who Love Hard and Fear They're Failing

You can live with BPD and raise a secure, happy child. The one idea that changes everything, and where to begin today.

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21 May 2026

Borderline Personality Disorder, Demystified

BPD in plain, compassionate language, the myths, the truth, and what actually helps.

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20 May 2026

You don't have to be a perfect parent. You have to be one who comes back.

The single idea underneath all three books in The Steady Series, and why it changes everything for parents who struggle.

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20 May 2026

The Best BPD Workbook: 5 Top Picks for 2026 (and How to Use Them)

Looking for the best BPD workbook? Five DBT-based workbooks that genuinely help, what each one is best for, and how to make one actually stick.

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19 May 2026

Journaling with BPD: Prompts That Steady You

Journaling can be one of the kindest tools for BPD, if you know what to write. Gentle prompts to try tonight.

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18 May 2026

What The Steady Series is, and who it's for

Three honest, lived-experience guides for parents raising children while carrying something heavy.

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18 May 2026

BPD in Teenagers: What Every Parent Needs to Know

Spotting the difference between ordinary teenage intensity and emerging BPD, and how to respond in a way that genuinely helps.

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17 May 2026

Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness: Past the Stigma

Few conditions are as misunderstood as BPD. What real awareness looks like, and why it matters for everyone who lives with or loves someone who has it.

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