Thursday 26 September 2013

HALLOWEEN TRICK GOES WRONG

So both Tesco and Asda have apologised for putting on sale fancy dress outfits designed to portray people with mental illness as a danger to the public. One item used a strait jacket and included a meat cleaver.

Unfortunately this apology is too late. The deed has been done and much damage will have been done to sufferers who found themselves the target of a marketing campaign designed to make fun of these distressing conditions. Thank goodness for people like Alistair Campbell who speak out for this marginalised community. It is indeed the stigma that is harder to fight than the actual illness, something he made very clear.

The truth is that people suffering from depression or other mental health illnesses are less likely to harm others than they are to harm themselves. This type of activity which pokes fun at people in their lowest moments will be more likely to lead to suicides than to murder.

It is clear the items should not have passed  stringent tests that should be in force. We have codes and guidelines for baby toys and electrical equipment, for example. The two companies concerned have marketing departments which should be adhering to a code of conduct. Some bright new spark obviously thought he or she would make their mark in the company with this atrocious idea. What is more worrying is that the chances of the designer of these outfitters being a young person would seem high.

On a positive note today's news has brought about much debate in the media and many posts on Twitter where tweeters post their photos and say 'this is what a mental health patient looks like.' Good for them.

We cannot always choose whether we suffer these illnesses but we can choose where to shop and I, for one, will be boycotting these two stores from now on.

Monday 23 September 2013

BIRTHDAY TREAT

Last week I celebrated yet another birthday. I would prefer not to count them but see them as an excuse to do enjoyable things and treat yourself for one day of the year, although in my struggle with depression, I have got much better at having 'treat' days and doing things I enjoy doing rather than the things I feel I ought to do. We all have things we have to do like the washing, ironing, washing up and shopping but now that I practise Mindfulness even these tasks provide pleasure.

Following a trip to London for Proms in the Park I have been bothered with a pain in my shoulder and have woken in the night with pins and needles in my arm and fingers. I have had this before after carrying heavy teaching and assessment materials for considerable distances on a college campus so I immediately linked it to this trip.  We decided we could do without our wheelie cases and survive with a back pack each. The weather was unpredictable so my backpack filled quickly topped up with lots of goodies for the picnic in Hyde Park. In London we found our hotel in Bayswater was not as convenient as we thought and we walked long distances with back packs attached.

On my birthday I decided another broken night was one too many and telephoned my local therapy treatment favourites (The Bay) to see if I could have a massage that day. Unsurprisingly they were fully booked up but they managed to get an independent complementary therapist to come in half an hour early to see me at lunch time.

Mindfulness teaches us not to live in the past or future but to live 'in the moment' and focus on the present. It does include planning for the unexpected so we are not 'thrown' by events. I therefore decided I was just having a back massage and did not expect to be relieved of my painful shoulder, which the googling told me was a trapped ulnar nerve. Lowering expectations is known to relieve stress, depression and anxiety.

This was the best 30 minutes I have spent since becoming ill last April as Allyson persuaded me to return to yoga and emailed links to local yoga classes. I have now cleared my lounge rug to a yoga-friendly zone and undertaken some independent practice prior to tomorrow's class. She was also exceedingly understanding about a mental health illness I have had for 24years.

Allyson is prepared to 'mix and match' her therapies so she can, for example, combine some Reiki with a back massage which I have not always found with other practitioners.

You can look at her website
www.equilibriumholistics.com, email her on Allyson@equilibriumholistics.com
or phone her on 07977 519141

Monday 23 April 2012

Bipolar tests online - A Warning

A warning about doing online tests on personality or mental health issues such as Bi-Polar Disorder or Depression.

This type of self-testing can be harmful for several reasons.  Of course, many people who complete a yes/no type of questionnaire, may, without realising it, be putting down the answers that they think should be given.  If the online test appears on a website that has no identified owner or organisation, it should be viewed as suspect.  If the test is carried out when the person is under stress or in a very low mood, the answer level may differ from what would be given on other occasions.

I have recently researched an online Bi-Polar test.  This came out at the top of the google search results for 'Bi-Polar Disorder'.  Inputting the answers from someone diagnosed with Bi-Polar on two separate occasions resulted in a pop-up box (don't we hate them) noting No Disorder.  The 12 points were all listed as 'incorrect'.  When the mouse was hovered over the box, an answer appeared which was not one that had been given.  The actual answers had ranged from 'moderately', to 'quite a lot' and 'very much' but the site recorded answers at the opposite end of the spectrum such as 'just a little'.  One possible cause for these results may be that the test only provides valid answers if the user is logged in.  There was no named owner of the site or facility to 'contact us'.

What this site was very good at was providing pop-up boxes which were trying to sell you something, either a sleep remedy or a way to make more money out of your retirement.  Both these adverts should not have appeared on a website dealing with Bi-Polar Disorder as poor sleeping patterns should be dealt with by the patient's doctor or psychiatrist.  Also, one of the symptoms of Bi Polar is that, when on a high ie in a manic phase, sufferers are easily persuaded to sign up to costly schemes or buy memberships or items that they do not need.  Going on a spending spree is a typical behaviour observed in sufferers.

It is worrying that many people will be researching mental health issues when they are at their most vulnerable.  The content of this website is not written well.

Try instead researching on NHS Direct or even web-MD.

The advice has to be NOT to sign up to anything which involves financial input without consulting family and close friends who can give you impartial advice based on their knowledge of your behaviour patterns. One writer has referred to the Rule of Three which means that, for any large expenditure, the Bi Polar patient should obtain the agreement of two other people.

It is possible to get accurate information about Bi Polar Disorder or other mental health conditions such as Depression from good medical websites. So DO take care when you are researching your condition.
A good website is the one set up by Ruby Wax in conjunction with SANE the mental health charity. It is in its infancy but some forums are being set up where those with a mental health condition can ask and answer questions.
www.blackdogtribe.com
A good source of information is from dedicated organisations such as

MDF The Bipolar Organisation
www.mdf.org.uk
0845 6 340 540


The Samaritans
www.samaritans.co.uk
08457 909090


I will be exploring other websites to check the information being given and will add to this page as I do so.

Saturday 7 April 2012

Emotional Freedom Technique

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EFT - Emotional Freedom Technique
This is taken from the website of  Christine Bosley-Collins, AET,BCMA, Reiki Master who is an experienced Energy therapist offering holistic treatments in Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Dowsing for Health and Answers, Mediumship Dowsing, Dowsing tuition, Allergies/Intolerances and their Remedies, Reiki, Chakra Balancing/Aura work.  She is based in Swanage and has worked with EFT in Performing Arts, Media, Public Speaking, Sports Performance, Motivation, Personal Development and Stress Management.
Christine trained for three years with Stephen Coburn BEM EFT - ADV. MBCMA.DS Dip Vib Med, who was originally trained in the USA by the founder of EFT Gary Craig.EFT Dorset
EFT often works where nothing else will and has a high success rate.

It helps cure innumerable problems such as:


  • Stress anxiety, trauma, panic attacks
  • Fears and Phobias - examples, fear of dentist, flying, heights
  • Addictions - examples, smoking, chocolate, over eating, anorexia, bulimia
  • Pain management, IBS, anger management
  • Headaches, Tension, PMS, Relationship pain and conflict
It is an incredible tool for self help with:

  • Confidence and self esteem issues
  • Self empowerment
  • Spiritual blocks
  • Motivation
  • Confidence
  • Self belief
  • Weight loss
  • Stopping Smoking
EFT works on the premise that 'The cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body's energy system'.

EFT really makes a difference and the healing benefits are amazing.

EFT is like an emotional form of acupuncture but without the needles! It is powerful but gentle and often works where all other treatments have failed.

It does not rely on a belief system and will work on anyone, including babies.

It is common for clients to experience rapid relief from pain in less than half an hour and emotional problems such as anxiety are often fully relieved in just one session.

If you have a problem that is personal or private then EFT is perfect for you. I can help without needing to know what the problem is.


See her website on  http://www.facebook.com/l/UAQH555r3AQH4V_qmW9ar1f2Z3NrNosSqpoWuOI4etHm19A/www.soulhealing.me.uk

Friday 16 March 2012

Look No Diet

'One thing I thank you for,' said my daughter, 'is that you were never on a diet, mentioned the word or suggested we should not eat/eat certain foods to lost weight.

It had never occurred to me that this was the case.  It wasn't deliberate, but our natural way of evolving within our household.  She continued to say that she felt that she and her two sisters had grown up with a good attitude to food.  This, from a grown woman who, when she was two years old, ate little else but chips and weetabix.  Shows what growing up can do for you!

It is true, though, that dieting has never been in my psyche.  Brought up by a mother who maintained two pregnancies in the war and survived rationing with a slim figure - have you ever seen any pictures of the war where the people were fat?  I doubt it.

No, I have never been on a diet, except for aonephase in my life when I lacked energy and I followed the food combining diet whereby proteins and carbohydrates are not eaten at the same meal.  A few weeks of this eating plan did make a difference and the whole family ate the same together totally ignorant of why certain foods were not on their plate.

While my daughter may thank me for her 'no-diet' upbringing, I do thank, in return, my two elder daughters for having introduced very healthy eating and drinking habits into their homes.  This means that, as a grandparent, keen to stay in favour with my grandchildren, I have to resort to other means rather than turn up with a plate of cakes, packets of sweets and biscuits.  Crisps and other nibbles are also not welcome.  If Mum does decide to produce crisps at a family event, then that is fine - she is, no doubt, balancing these with the other healthy options on the table.  Snacks for the children usually comprise cucumber, carrot sticks, apples and pears and they drink only water and bedtime milk.  The only time they do have a flavoured drink is when they visit me (hmm) as I have found unsweetened peach drink by Robinsons to be very popular.  But I always ask in advance if this is permissible.  I have never sneaked chocolate, sweets or crisps to the children as I know some grandparents do.

I have five older grandchildren who are like stick insects.  You certainly can't pinch an inch on them.  But, they are not lacking in energy.  In fact the opposite is the case.  They are also all doing well at school, their brains fed plenty of fish, oily or otherwise and a variety of vegetables which they have eaten as finger foods since they were 7-8 months old. 

My younger daughter is following in the footsteps of her two sisters.  She has the baby of the family and boasts a shelf full of books on babycare including many on cooking healthily for toddlers.  She updates me on my visits as to the amount of sugar in apparently healthy, low fat yogurts and many other snippets of acquired information which I do try to remember.

So what do I take on my visits.  Well, there are good 50p books in charity shops, the occasional comic and the very occasional small chocolate bar to share, with the parents deciding the time they can be eaten.  On their visits to Swanage they are treated to ice creams like any other child but there are no pasties or sausage rolls eaten from the local bakery.  Other Half and I save those for our child-free days.

After moving to the south west in 2001, Other Half was under investigation for a variety of niggling problems which raised a question mark over the health of his heart.  At a stroke we stopped all cakes, crumbles, pies and other foods ridden with fat.  Instead, we ate salad, brown bread and jacket potatoes, casseroles and roasts cutting down on the roast potatoes and Aunt Bessie's.  We had a border collie so exercise was plentiful or so we thought.

I attended a weekly yoga class and swam twice a week in winter at a local pool and most days in the sea in the summer.  So, with the dogwalking, and chasing toddlers round the playground, I expected to lose weight.  I didn't.  In fact, the weight gradually increased, some due to certain medications and a contented semi-retired life no doubt contributed to this.  For ten years I have been puzzled at my inability to lose weight.  Then at Christmas 2010, I was horrified to see five pounds more when I stood on the scales and, no matter how much I reduced portions, abandoned biscuits, chocolates or puddings, nothing seemed to work.
Even some of my less generous size 16 items failed to meet at the waist or at the blouse buttons.  More and more items were taken to the charity shop as I resorted to baggy tops, loose trousers, elasticated skirts, black clothes, brightly coloured scarves to distract - well anything comfortable.

Last October, Other Half and I embarked on our first serious walking holiday, travelling to the Peak District and enjoying a week of sunny weather punctuated by some cloud but only one morning of rain.  To occupy ourselves in daylight hours, we needed to walk between 5 and 9 miles a day.  Evenings were spent sitting watching the television as we were too tired to venture to the local pub and preferred to drink our own wine.  Walking was the best way to see this wonderful part of our country and certainly the ideal opportunity to get good photographs, essential for our hobby competing in the local camera club.

We returned energised, both of us feeling exceptionally well and 'sharp'.  Our fuzzy brains had disappeared in the week and we enjoyed our new sparkle.  We therefore decided to continue walking long distances when we returned.  One day we took the bus from Swanage to the Sandbanks Ferry and walked back via Studland beaches and over Ballard Down to Old Harry Rocks and then down via Ulwell back to Swanage.  This walk is reckoned to be between 8 and 10 miles.  It took most of the day with refreshment stops and a picnic looking over the wide expanse of Poole Harbour.  Other days I walked over Ballard Down and back through Ulwell, the whole walk offering generous portions of beautiful views.  Twice we walked over the Down to Studland and took the bus back.

By late November we realised we were both losing weight albeit slowly but more exercise was on the cards.  My friend and I joined a Country Dancing class and enjoyed it enough to make it a regular Tuesday evening activity.  We then ventured together to the Zumba class one lunchtime each week.  As well as losing a few more pounds over the first month or two, we both felt invigorated and it was noticeable that I could walk up the hill to my home without the usual stop for a rest half way up.

My job has for the last twelve or thirteen years involved sitting working on a one to one basis with further and higher education students but shortly after Christmas, I decided to leave and pursue my writing.  The job was involving one or two days of sitting and inactivity for a period of nine hours each day which included a one hour bus journey each way.  Instead, I volunteered in a local charity shop, responsible for the books, my passion.  My four hour stints are spent on my feet either sorting the bookshelves or serving behind the counter.

My other passion is our local musical theatre company who, this year, are putting on Hello Dolly.  Our director seemed to put the show 'on the floor' earlier than last year with the result that a second evening a week was spent on my feet.

Soon after Christmas I found I had lost 9-10 pounds since my new active lifestyle began in October.  This has now, in mid March, increased to the loss of a stone, my weight dropping from 12 to 11 stone.  The best part of this weight loss was dropping a dress size and wearing size 14 clothes for the first time in nearly fifteen years.  But the creme-de-la-creme is my flat stomach of which I am quite rightly proud.  I can't resist a glance in the mirror as I pass and seeing my reflection in shop windows is no longer a depressing sight.

Another change in our lifestyle was in November when we were allocated an allotment.  To get the ground in shape for spring sowing has taken a lot of effort and even painting our second hand shed had helped keep both of us active.

All this without any attention being paid to diet.  We eat healthily so nothing has changed except our appetites which have increased.  In fact we now feel we can eat a large slice of cake or a few chocolate biscuits either at the allotment or on our return without any damage to our figures.

However, one change has been a reduction in alcohol consumption which, combined with our activities, has contributed to our weight loss and my own lowered blood pressure and a pat on the back from my doctor.

So if you feel you are joining the ranks of the overweight or nearly obese, try increasing your activity levels.  As I said at the start, we thought we were active with our swimming and walking but it is the type of exercise that is important and the amount.  Three 45 minute walks a week is NOT enough either for good health or for weight loss.  Zumba and Dancing have certainly made a positive difference . 

When people say, 'you have lost weight,' I now say, 'Look, no diet!'

Friday 2 March 2012

Alternative treatments for good mental health

YOGA
For the last sixteen years I have practised yoga as often as possible.  I began yoga during a hospital spell when I was under great stress.  I began to look forward to the two sessions a week and would travel back to the hospital when I was discharged but allowed back for activities.  I had taken an early retirement package from Further Education teaching and, while I didn't regret the move, I was coping alone with a house, mortgage, lodgers and suddenly faced with a reduced income and the need to apply for new teaching posts.  I didn't want to teach full time and part-time work is usually only available if you approach the department at a time when they are in need of more staff but not able to fund a permanent post.

My crisis was soon to pass and I settled in to a summer of tennis with other patients, dog walking and pottering around the house completing all the jobs that needed to be done. As September approached I researched the yoga that was available.  I had been going to a class in Ruislip taken by the yoga teacher from the hospital and needed to find a class nearer to home.  I found an Adult Education class on a Wednesday morning and enrolled.  The teacher was excellent, her class slightly different to the one I had been in during the summer.  However, when she was away one week, we had a different teacher, who was also in the class.  I discovered that people who practise alternative therapies do keep up their own practice within their discipline as they appreciate the need to 'receive' as well as 'give'.  At the end of the class I asked the stand-in teacher if she held a class elsewhere.  She did and I began to go to her class on a Tuesday morning, still keeping up my AE class as I had paid for the year.

I began to enjoy Celia's class so much that I did not return the next year to the class in Uxbridge and I was to go to her for three to four years.  After my move to Swanage I put my name down for the Adult Education class held at one of the schools but was too late to get in straightaway.  Meanwhile I had been attending a class on a Wednesday evening which was quite rigorous and, I now know, included movements I shouldn't have been trying because of a health condition.  However, it was challenging and I learnt a lot. 

A phone call in late September told me that not all people had turned up to the class I was on the waiting list for and that I could begin the next week.  Thus began a very long period of yoga practice under this teacher, Pam.  Around 2009 I found myself short of money as I had retired once again from a post in Bournemouth so I didn't renew my sub for the autumn term.  Instead I went to the library and borrowed some yoga books, fished others off my over burdened bookshelf and sat planning my routine.  I developed two or three routines;  one for when I had time to devote 30-40 minutes of a morning; one for days I was going to work when I did about 20 minutes;  lastly a short routine geared to stretching myself and keeping my body supple.  I had noticed over the last few years that people in my class were nowhere near as supple as I was and I put this down to repeated practice over the years with a variety of teachers, all of whom taught me so much.

I know when I have neglected my yoga practice, as the knee I had treated with an arthroscopy in 2009 stiffens up and I lose the sense of calm that yoga practice provides.  Also my concentration becomes intermittently bad.  So much better did I feel doing daily practice that I provided a resource for my dyslexic students with links to a web page where they could look at the moves and read yoga information.  One of my students came in the next week and said I had changed her life.

'Has it helped your concentration for your studies?' I asked but was surprised at the reply.
'Yes,' she said, 'but the main thing is I feel so much happier.'

This student had practised yoga in the past and I definitely would recommend a novice to attend a class for a few years before embarking on independent practice.  I took a long time to learn the correct breathing and postures.

I will add the link to my resource later.  Meanwhile, visit the library and get a book so you can practice some simple routines.  You will see how better you feel and how much your concentration improves.  You may also find what my student found, that you are much happier and feel able to cope with what the day brings.

MASSAGE

Another alternative treatment that works if you are stressed and can prevent you disappearing into the depths of depression that usually result is massage.  This year I realised I had neglected to have a massage for 2-3 years so I asked around.   In the end I didn't go for a massage but I booked in for a REIKI treatment, something I have never experienced.  Below is information about REIKI from the website of the practitioner I visited.  Everyone experiences the results of REIKI differently but for me I felt movement in my head and throat area as well as feeling sensations in the rest of my body.  My main observation was of the heat which I felt as the treatment progressed.  This is the therapist enabling your energy to rebalance within your body.  I came away very relaxed and focused and slept for longer last night.

One reason I wanted a treatment was that I have found myself very busy over the last few weeks with my writing which is reaching an exciting stage,  a challenging allotment newly acquired last autumn, and other activites which have helped me lose weight, reduce my blood pressure and improve the sharpness of my brain.  When I begin to wake extra early I know this is an early warning sign that my mood may be rising to a level where I may make a bad judgement and become impulsive.  The REIKI treatment has calmed my whole system down and the quality of my sleep was improved.

My therapist has provided her website link which I will post, but for now, I have copied and pasted below some information about REIKI which may help you decide if this is a treatment worth pursuing.

Reiki

The Japanese characters making up the work 'Reiki' are usually translated in the West as
meaning 'Universal Life Energy'


The practice of Reiki is based on working with and channelling energy, or a spiritual energy. The energy can be referred to as 'Chi'.

In my experience the general effect of a course of Reiki treatments is to produce a feeling of being 'laid back', calm and serene, more able to cope. If energy levels are low, then they will be boosted.  If spirits are low then they will be lifted. Reiki makes you feel more positive and brings life back into balance.

REIKI seems to produce fast and long lasting results in almost all cases of:
  • Stress, tension, anxiety & related symptoms
  • Emotional Turmoil and Discord
  • Sleeplessness
  • Feeling unable to cope
  • Low spirits, depression
  • M.E.
  • Long term pain
Reiki is not attached to any belief system or religion so it does not conflict with an individuals beliefs or lack of beliefs.
The intention of Reiki is that, if you can harmonise your energy system, you are putting your body in the best possible position to heal itself on all levels.
REIKI combines perfectly with all other energy & holistic treatments


EXERCISE
There is a considerable amount of research suggesting that an energetic exercise programme can help those suffering depression. I have been going to a Zumba class since last October and I love it so much that last week I bought a card of 10 sessions for £35 rather than pay £4 for each individual session. I can pay out in the confident knowledge that Zumba is somewhere I will be on a Tuesday lunchtime for the indeterminate future. It is not only the feel-good factor that this exercise regime gives you with its wonderful music and the programme being more of a dance routine, I have lost one stone in weight since October and I am told by people who praise Zumba that it is this exercise class which has made the difference.   However, I do not want to be too complacent about the benefits so intend carrying out some research via the classes that my Zumba teacher takes and will bring the findings to my blog when they are to hand.

Another activity I and my friend have taken up since last September is Country Dancing. This is in the evening and we have both now persuaded our partners to join us. Whereas Zumba is so energetic you have no breath left to even say 'hello' to another participant for the whole hour, Country Dancing is a very sociable activity and we love its old-time customs such as men asking women to dance. It takes me back to my Youth Club days although the male dancers don't make my heart race like those I prayed would ask me to dance fifty years ago. However, they are very encouraging to new members and those with some expertise always ask novices to dance and guide them through some of the more difficult sequences, especially as, in the beginning, remembering what you have done on a 'walk through' is a problem, especially if I am not in the best mood at the time. A caller reminds you of all the moves you must make and the more regular moves such as 'set to your partner' are now automatic which relieves the brain of a large area of memory load. Everyone dances every dance and no-one sits out unless they are feeling dizzy which does happen when you first start Country Dancing. However, I no longer get dizzy, probably because after Zumba and Country Dancing brought my weight down, my blood pressure, previously sky high, has dropped to the most normal reading I have had for years. For those of you who find meeting people difficult when you are in low mood state, this activity forces you to communicate non verbally in a safe friendly environment. Another advantage is that people with long term mental health problems find it difficult to 'belong' to a group as there are long periods when they do not want to socialise. The more you go to a dancing group like this, the better you will feel and the exercise is releasing endorphins which can't be bad can it? Do give this a try if you are struggling with the social effects of depression. Your local library will be able to tell you where groups meet.

this morning there was a programme of interest to those of you who follow Mental Health issues and news. I tweeted that the programme - The Lobotomists on Radio 4 - was interesting. You can Listen again on iplayer on BBCRadio4. I will try to add a direct link later.

http://soundmindsoundmedia.wordpress.com

I have been following the posts from the above website and they make good reading. James is a journalist with an interest in Mental Health so he has started this website to set up some discussion about the issues.

Another link is with www.blackdogtribe.com which has been started as a joint venture between Ruby Wax and the mental health organisation SANE
try this link Black Dog Tribe
Black Dog Tribe

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