cast of characters

2003-05-15 at 8:07 p.m.

I saw someone with one of these on their diary, and its a good idea. Just so you have some idea of who the people I mention actually are to me!

~Me~ - Emma, 23, since January 2003 I've been clinically depressed with a few weirdy things thrown in for good measure, though I'm holding out a tentative hope for better things at the moment. I self-harm on an occasional basis, I used to do so much more often but mostly because of time/space constraints, less so now.

~Lynn~ - one of my friends. She works at the university, has kids, and comes out drinking with me a lot.

~Shirley~ - otherwise known as the "old, dark, nasty, rough thing". She's a bit older than the rest of us at 33. A friend from my course, another divine, wanted to be a minister but was chucked out for being a heretic.

~Gillian~ - another friend from the faculty, although this one is a religious studies student. A fairly new friend - she was friends with Lynn, who brought her along to the pub quiz we go to.

~Neil~ - Old, and rather political friend of mine who has always offered his flat as a place to stay in. A great person to drink with lol.

~Mum~ - naturally, my mother. She's a psychologist by trade, though she doesn't work anymore. She's also heavily into politics and history. And she has a tendency to nag me to a) get a boyfriend b) have babies c) get a good job. I suppose thats what mums are for.

~Dad~ - much quieter than mum, unusual for him to ever get irritated. He's a fairly high up in his company and surprisingly quite well liked (I worked there for a bit).

~Nana~ - my paternal grandmother (the other is dead). She's a truly lovely woman, even though I'm biased! I speak to her more often than to my grandad, he says he's not good at talking. She was a cleaner before she retired.

~Helen~ - my cousin, who's the same age as me. I don't see her often, though I like her, we have different interests.

~Aunty~ - my mother's sister, she lives in Australia. She used to be a nurse, I don't see her very often, but I am very fond of her.

~Ashley~ - one of the posters on http://gabrielle.self-injury.net. Has a nice website.

~The psychiatrist~ - I don't give his name, because I'm a bit paranoid he'll find this by mistake. A funny little man who I didn't get on with for ages. Then I realised his job isn't to talk so much as to give drugs, now we get on better.

~The Nurse~ - the Community Psychiatric Nurse I've been seeing. She's very nice, young, informal, not scary. She's supposed to talk through my problems with me. I've since stopped seeing her.

Hmmm....can't really think of anyone else just right now. If you see a name that confuses you, drop me a note or something.