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.

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 is a long-term therapy for BPD, usually around 18 months, that strengthens your ability to read your own and other people's minds under stress. What Bateman and Fonagy's trials found, including the 8-year follow-up, and how it compares with DBT.

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15 June 2026

How to Get DBT on the NHS (UK)

Yes, DBT is on the NHS, but not everywhere, and nobody can self-refer to it. The GP referral NICE describes, the exact words that help, what a full programme involves, what the wait looks like, and what to ask for if your area does not run it.

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15 June 2026

DBT vs CBT: What's the Difference?

CBT is usually 8 to 16 sessions focused on how thoughts, feelings and behaviour interact; DBT is typically a 12-month programme built for suicidal behaviour and BPD. What NICE recommends each for, and what the trials found.

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15 June 2026

What Is DBT? Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Explained

DBT is a structured talking therapy, typically a 12-month programme of individual therapy, a skills group, phone coaching and a therapist team. Here is what it involves, what the trials and the 2020 Cochrane review actually found, and what NICE says.

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