Thoughts for Today

British justice across the classes...

 

Sunday is going to prove interesting in Catalonia.

 

Sad with Tom Petty going today and so much killing and persecution in the world

 

Size doesn't matter - it's all about attitude.

 

Crazy we now live in a world where it is quite normal to pay to enjoy ourselves.
This groupon email entitled "Things to do near you" just led me to think what a consumerist society we have become...

 

Very true. I for one am rather glad that my kids have all grown up, meaning the days of tramping around 'theme parks' are over. Thankfully, my wife and I can now enjoy walks along the clifftops, through the countryside, or just choosing a road we've never driven on and going to see what's along the way and what's at the other end.

We used to be 'active' Scottish National Trust members, but politics got in the way - I quit my membership recently when they appointed Neil Oliver president.

 

i have fallen into membership of NT,RSPB, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.... but in reality dont use any of them consistently enough.... I like the magazines etc though

 

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From Private Eye -

 

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We are all at risk....

http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co....n-depression/story-30534158-detail/story.html

 

This is a horrible illness for all who live with it and their friends and relations. It just seems so difficult to get relief from. It is not so long that he seemed a lot better, and re-married, but clearly he has sunk back into his troubled state of mind.

 

It certainly is. I have a son and a daughter who both struggle with it - daughter for the last decade & son for nearly three years now. Both can appear 'normal' for lengthy periods but can slip back for no apparent reason - even when under medication. The saddest thing my wife and I find is that neither are willing to discuss it with us - or, more likely, they simply can't discuss it because they don't know why or what causes them to be this way. The hardest thing to deal with when they have a relapse is the fact that there is nothing we can say to help - anything we do say is always wrong & if we say nothing, that's just as bad. Frustrating really.

 

The fact that it is a recognised illness and openly talked about now is in itself a huge step forward, especially for young men. I'm old enough to have been brought up in a time when young men were taught never to admit weakness of any sort. It left so many struggling daily to appear as though nothing was wrong when inside everything around them seem frightening to the point of being impossible to face.

 

Sorry to hear of your children 's problems BB. I hope you can find a way to help them and steer them back to a better life.

 

Ditto

 

Thanks for that dave - unfortunately I'm just not sure that there is any way to help.

We financially support our daughter as we don't want her harmed by any of the DWP nonsense. She is a volunteer child care worker at the local school's nursery - after a recent school inspection, she was flagged by both Care Commission and HMIE as the best worker there - and the head teacher was told to 'get her qualified' and employ her. You would think that that would be a positive boost for her, but it wasn't - in her mind she focused on the qualifications bit, which would mean attending college - an environment which causes her to have panic attacks. It's just heartbreaking.

 

I have no idea if such a thing exists in the UK, but here a friend with similar problems was given a 12 week residential course where different types of medication were tried out until they found the combination that created the greatest improvement. He became so much more confident in his own ability to live a normal life, spending hours working on his house and garden. Regular monthly checks were made at a 3-4 day stay in the same centre, and after a long period of this treatment he was very much better, although he had a great aversion to taking his pills. His wife would get really angry when he tried to stop taking them, but although never completely cured he was someone able to cope.
I do wonder if the average GP is really able to deal with such difficult problems without having the more specialist services available. I have seen and employed people with these difficulties, and cannot say that two case have been the same.