A Recap on Mindspire Blogs 2025-26

Why This Exists — and How to Use It

2026 Mindspire Where Lived Experience fins it's voice Blogs

By Michael P. Lennon

https://www.mindspireblogs.co.uk/
Wednesday, 14 January 2026

I want to stop for a moment and explain why this place exists.

In November last year 2025, on International Men’s Day, I told my story publicly for the first time.

I spoke about breakdown, hospitalisation, and what it is really like to fall through the cracks of mental-health systems in Northern Ireland. That moment mattered — but it was only one blog. Everything on this site, every blog, every timeline, every record you will read here, belongs to me, Michael P. Lennon. These posts are not content. They are evidence. They are a living archive of what happened, what followed, and what the systems around me chose to do — or not do — when it counted.

I didn’t start writing because I wanted to share my story with the world. I started writing because I didn’t understand what had happened to me, and I needed to slow things down enough to see it clearly.

Something in my head gave way. Not all at once. Not with a bang. More like a quiet collapse that only made sense after the fact. Writing was the only way I knew how to look at it properly. Not to explain myself to anyone else — but to make sense of it for myself.

That’s how Mindspire started.

Not as a blog.
Not as a project.
Just somewhere honest to put things so they stopped going round and round in my head.

What I Was Trying to Figure Out

At the beginning, none of this was public.

It was notes. Half-finished thoughts. Trying to work out how I went from coping to not coping without noticing when the change happened. As I wrote, things started to line up. Not one big dramatic moment. Not one bad decision. Just pressure building over time. Silence mistaken for strength. Getting on with things instead of dealing with them.

Seeing that written down mattered. It stopped me rewriting the story in my head. It gave shape to something that had felt messy and confusing.

That was the original point of the writing. Nothing more than that.

Why I Left It Public

Sharing it came later.

While I was trying to understand my own breakdown, it hit me how little honest language there is for the middle bit — not full crisis, not well either. Just slowly coming apart while still functioning. Still working. Still showing up. Still telling people you’re fine.

I didn’t spot it in myself until it was too late. That’s the part that stays with me.

So I left the writing public. Not to make a statement. Not to build an audience. Just because it might help someone else recognise what I didn’t.

That’s the only reason this site exists.

One Experience, Different Parts

Everything on Mindspire comes from the same lived experience.

Different posts focus on different parts of it — hospital, recovery, money, systems, identity — but none of them stand alone. They’re different angles on the same story.

If you want to understand the foundation, these posts matter:

From Suit to Lock-Up: Inside a Mental Health Crisis Unit
https://www.mindspireblogs.co.uk/2025/10/from-suit-to-lock-up-in-hospital-crisis.html
This is where things finally stopped. Not the beginning — the point where I could no longer pretend I was managing.

Being Sectioned Isn’t the End — It’s the Start of Safety
https://www.mindspireblogs.co.uk/2025/10/being-sectioned-for-mental-health-isnt.html
What being detained actually meant for me once the shock settled and some structure kicked in.

Those explain the crisis.
What came next explains the gap.

The Gap, The Hangover from hell, After Hospital

Most recovery doesn’t happen in hospital. It happens after.

That long stretch where you’re no longer in danger, but you’re nowhere near back to normal. Where the world expects you to be fine, and you’re still trying to work out how to live again.

If that sounds familiar, these posts belong together:

The Gap — Where Recovery Quietly Happens
https://www.mindspireblogs.co.uk/2025/10/the-gap-where-most-of-us-actually-live.html

Where Real Recovery Comes From — Beyond Pride
https://www.mindspireblogs.co.uk/2025/12/where-real-recovery-comes-from.html

They’re not about motivation or positive thinking. They’re about reality. The slow rebuild. The awkward conversations. The ordinary days that don’t look like progress but decide whether you stay well.

Money, Pressure, and the Mess Nobody Talks About

One thing I badly underestimated was how much practical damage sits alongside mental illness. Money doesn’t cause everything, but it makes everything heavier.

I wrote about it because pretending it doesn’t matter helps no one.

After the Ward: The £30k Wreckage and the Road Home
https://www.mindspireblogs.co.uk/2025/10/stop-blaming-storm-fix-your-ship.html

When Your Credit Score Feels Like a Verdict
https://www.mindspireblogs.co.uk/2025/11/when-your-credit-score-becomes.html

Those posts exist because shame grows fast where money and mental health collide. Naming it takes some of that power away.

If money is part of what’s weighing on you, practical help matters:

PayPlan — free, confidential debt advice
https://www.payplan.com/

Why Lived Experience Matters

I’m careful here.

Lived experience doesn’t replace doctors, nurses, medication, or services. But it does reach places that leaflets and policies don’t.

That’s why these posts exist:

How Sharing Lived Experience Shapes Mental Health Recovery
https://www.mindspireblogs.co.uk/2025/11/how-lived-experience-shapes-mental.html

Mindspire — Where Lived Experience Finds Its Voice
https://www.mindspireblogs.co.uk/2025/10/mindspire-where-lived-experience-finds.html

They’re not about telling anyone what to do. They’re about recognition. Seeing yourself clearly enough to realise you’re not broken or failing — you’re dealing with something hard.

If You’re Reading This and Struggling

If any of this has landed too close, you don’t have to carry it alone.

UK & Ireland Support

Samaritans
116 123 — 24/7 listening
https://www.samaritans.org/

SHOUT (UK)
Text SHOUT to 85258
https://www.giveusashout.org/

PAPYRUS HOPELINE247 (under 35s)
0800 068 4141
https://www.papyrus-uk.org/

NHS Mental Health Services
https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/

Emergency
999 or 112

Northern Ireland Community Support

S.T.E.P.S Mental Health
https://www.facebook.com/steps.mental.health/

How to Read This Site

There’s no right order.

You don’t need to read everything.
You don’t need to agree with it all.

This is one person writing honestly about what happened, what followed, and what recovery has really required. Nothing here is written to impress. It’s written to be accurate.

If one post helps you put words on something you’ve been struggling to name, that’s enough.

Before We Go On

This isn’t an ending. It’s a marker.

I’m still writing because understanding doesn’t happen in one go. I’m still learning where the cracks were — and how to live differently now that I can see them.

This site exists because writing helped me understand what broke.

It stays public because it might help someone else do the same.

To everyone who has read, shared, commented, or quietly supported this work — thank you.

Whether you found these words through International Men’s Day, through Mindspire, or by stumbling across them at 2 a.m. when things felt heavy, your presence here matters. If anything you read resonates, you’re welcome to share it.

These stories are meant to travel — not for attention, but so fewer people have to feel alone in what they’re going through.

Michael P. Lennon

Disclaimer

This blog is based on lived experience and personal reflection.
It is not medical, legal, or financial advice.

If you are struggling or in crisis, contact your GP, local services, or the organisations listed above.
In an emergency, call 999 or 112.

Search This Blog

Mindspire | Lived Experience Mental Health Blog (UK ,& Ireland)