Scrapping About Mental Health

My entire life has been shaped and in some ways destroyed by my bipolar disorder. No way I’m scrapping that. That part of my life needs to remain undocumented.

I’m sorry you have to worry about people making fun of you for things you’re proud of. That really sucks.

It’s a tricky situation, if you don’t feel like you have the privacy or safe space to create and display your albums. I love the idea of creating something that gathers together your wins and happiness. Would leaving the album unlabeled allow it to remain more private? Or giving it a title that would discourage interest from people you’d rather not view it?

I know some people who make art journals hide their writing, sometimes by obliterating it under more layers of art, which means you process the feelings without having to read them again. In scrapbook form creating hidden pockets for words or making the journaling difficult to pull out (like having to take the whole page out of the album to access the pocket) might create the same effect. The words are there for you to seek out but not visible to a casual browser.

I don’t know if you’ll be able to find out if doing this makes you feel empowered or exposed except by doing it, which is a bit scary. I wish you luck though. I hope you can find a way to celebrate your goodness

I think journaling is so helpful, do it! That said, I agree, I don’t want people to read some of the things I think, feel, or write. In fact, there was another Pea recently who posted her daughter shared a list of grievances that included a line she’d written for a layout and the daughter took it differently than the Pea intended.

My scrapbooks are in a bedroom that is my “office.” Over 20 years of scrapbooks. FWIW… I’ve been with my SO for about a quarter of that. I’ve told him, please, when you flip through the scrapbooks, please don’t feel weird- I scrapbook for me. My story. And maybe someday, someone else may care. My son and daughter will likely take what they want and pitch the rest. The first 5 or so years, journaling was written sort of as a letter to my son… that was before Ali Edwards’ emphasis on story, and honestly, as my kids have grown, it’s 100% for me and no longer written that way.

Anyway, plenty of history and trauma in this family. And I need to do a lot more journaling and getting it down on paper than I want people to be able to see. I fully want my family to feel welcome to flip through my scrapbooks (that’s what they are for!!!) But, that said….. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings and I always want my scrapbooks to be uplifting, and someday, when I’m likely in a nursing home, I want the good stuff to keep me company and be reinforced in my mind and reminiscing with my loved ones.

What I do… when I’m in “write it out mode” I always feel the need to be thorough, wordy and full of facts and information. Typing works wayyy better than handwritten.. It doesn’t do my family or me any good for my kids or grands to have to sift through all that crap. Someday I’ll be gone. I want to let it GO! So.. I keep a word document for journaling for every year. I batch print and batch scrap, but I want all the journaling details. I just write it allllllllll out. The stuff I don’t want anyone to read if I get hit by a bus tomorrow, I highlight in red. What I plan to put in the books is highlighted in green, and the stuff I already put in the scrapbooks, that gets highlighted in yellow.

So, super wordy answer. I use digital to house all that stuff I hope no one ever reads. But it’s there for me.

Ps: years ago before I started doing that, 2006-13ish I would take two chipboard dividers, write it out. Put a divider on either side, and wrap it in duct tape, packing tape or many many staples. Basically a serious deterrent for either me, or an album reader to look at it. I’ve never opened one up.

I’ve used hidden journaling, but that tends to be the stuff I just would rather not see or share casually.

Well then joblackford.. you shoulda warned me about all the tiny baby sweetness on that page! Gah!

Do people look at your current albums? You can always incorporate pages here and there in your current albums, using hidden journaling. I don’t scrap about hard things very often but I have done a page about a medical procedure etc that just flows in the album chronologically. I have used the hidden journaling technique, or no journaling and only I know what the page is about.

If you are worried about someone finding your journal or snooping through your stuff, you can lock it in a small safe.

could you do this type of journaling in a traveler’s notebook? The format is smaller, and could be tucked away for privacy.

I purchased the KP PAPERPERSON new stamp about THERAPY/MENTAL HEALTH. I plan to use it to document my situations, struggles and victories. I don’t have an issue with needing privacy for the most part. I live with my husband and discuss things openly. I don’t worry about future generations because they may need to know in case they have my diagnosis.

Doctors and therapists suggest creative formats as a tool for processing and allaying mental and physical diagnosis. The act of scrapbooking and memory keeping is a huge part of my self care.

That is a great idea. I might do that myself. My therapist has suggested journaling about grief. Writing a letter to my late DH was very helpful. I shredded it, because it was too personal for my adult kids to ever see.

OH WOW! 

Honestly, I wouldn't care if the cleaning lady or my cousin 8 times removed flips through my albums, or even my mail.... lol But to actually TAKE pages or photos?? I would lose my mind!

Back in the scrapping days when I was cutting a bunch of stuff up and printing the same photo in black and white, sepia and 3 different sizes, I had a bunch of extra photos left over. It was pretty common for people to look at an album, and want a copy of a photo, and I'd always just turn them loose on the "extra" photos. But an actual scrapped page? They may as well steal your underwear lol I consider that really obnoxious!