“I didn’t cause it; I can’t control it; I can’t cure it”

Posted on May 13, 2013 by omhf_admin

Posted by blogger, 13th May 2013

Those were the resounding words of the father of Benedict, a 22 year old who suffers from alcoholism, who both appeared in last week’s Channel 4’s award-winning documentary 24 Hours in A&E.

The episode, titled ‘Second Chance’, followed three incredibly moving stories of unconditional love – Chrissie who suffered a very serious head injury after colliding with a motorbike, John the victim of a stroke, who is brought into A&E in a very confused state, and Benedict, a 22yr old suffering the severe effects of alcohol withdrawal. All three stories were utterly compelling and heart-rending, showing the often overwhelming nature and complexity of our brains; the devastating impact when things go seriously wrong, and the power of unconditional love in both adversity and uncertainty.

I was drawn to Benedict’s story because of its mental health angle in particular, and because of its honest account of the reality of the impact of such a devastating disease, showing a completely different take to that often reported, with both the tragic impact on the sufferer, and the family, in this case, Damian, Benedict’s father. Damian describes the agony of feeling so helpless watching his son succumb to the disease:

“When somebody that you’ve brought up and been proud of is an alcoholic, I think there aren’t enough words really to describe the intense sorrow and pain that one can feel.”

“It’s like cancer or MS…”, and of course not making a direct comparison of the illnesses themselves, but highlighting that the illnesses are non-discriminatory, that alcoholism, like any illness, can affect the rich, the poor, whatever background… “I don’t think there’s a stereotype.”

Benedict, a musician, describes his struggle, his fears, and desperation, as he articulately explains his drinking and unbearable depression – how he drinks to block out the pain. How there were days when he left the house for concert practice, no longer with his trumpet in its case, but “a big bottle of cider”.

The programme ends with an equally poignant look at life outside the grips of the disease, as all three stories encapsulate the importance and meaning of love and resilience.

24 Hours in A&E, 4oD:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/24-hours-in-ae/4od#3519891

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10 Evolutionary Approaches to Psychology and the Mind

Posted on April 1, 2013 by omhf_admin

Posted on 1st April 2013

The human brain is one of the most fascinating, challenging objects of scientific study. Learn more about the latest advances in understanding the inner workings of the mind with this latest infographic from Best Psychology Schools Online.

10 Evolutionary Approaches to Psychology and the Mind
Source: Best Psychology Schools Online

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Caring for family members who suffer with mental illness

Posted on March 6, 2013 by omhf_admin

By Veronica Kamerling, posted on 6th March 2013

I have got three children, one son Henri who is the eldest and has never had a mental health problem, and two daughters Vanessa and Henrietta. Vanessa my youngest daughter had Anorexia when she was 14 and the eldest daughter Henrietta was a Bulimic/Binge Eater when she was 16. They are both in good recovery now.

I first became a carer in 1990 when my youngest daughter Vanessa became ill and very shortly after that my eldest daughter became ill as well. I cared for both of them which was in Vanessa’s case about 3 years and in Henrietta’s about 5 or 6 years.

The impact that these illnesses make on you and your family are enormous. I found it a very frightening experience as you never knew from one moment to the next what was going to happen, whether my anorexic daughter would be in starving mode or whether my bulimic daughter would be in overeating mode. Adapting your life so that you can cope with looking after someone who has an Eating Disorder is very stressful and can leave you feeling exhausted, very depressed and extremely isolated. You get worn down by the rows and the guilt that you constantly feel, arguing continually with yourself that it has to be your fault and something you did to cause the illness!

My son was very good about it all but he did get quite irritated with the endless chat about eating disorders and the utterly self obsessed attitude of his sisters. He also worried about his parents and whether they would become ill as well. He was been an enormous support to his sisters and remains so to this day. My ex husband was very supportive as was my partner, despite the fact that he struggled sometimes to completely understand the illnesses and the behaviour they brought with them, which he found could be very disruptive.

Mental illness still brings with it an enormous amount of stigma and my friends were not overly helpful. I think this was sometimes out of fear of mental illness itself and sometimes they just did not want to hear about it for whatever other reason. I often felt that had my daughters had something like cancer or heart disease they would have been more concerned. I became very isolated as I didn’t want to go out with my friends as one was exhausted from either trying to get Vanessa to eat or trying to cheer Henrietta up, as she suffered with huge bouts of depression and at one stage took an overdose of paracetamol from which she was lucky to survive.

When this whole saga started I did not know anything about Eating Disorders but I started by asking for help from B-eat which was then called the Eating Disorders Association who were extremely helpful. My GP at the time, although very nice, did not know a lot about mental health and certainly not Eating Disorders but he did refer me on to other professionals. My children both had a variety of treatments which ranged from inpatient, outpatient, day care and one to one counselling. One of the best aspects of their treatment was the aftercare that they received which is vital if sufferers are going to benefit from the treatment that has gone before. One thing that is not helpful is to have months of intensive treatment and then reduce it to virtually nothing.

It was because of the attitudes that I experienced towards family carers from some of the professionals that I decided to start my own business called “Eating Disorders & Carers” and the website address of which is www.eatingdisordersandcarers.co.uk. Family carers need better recognition and support by the services and those who work in it. To this end the Triangle of Care document is a huge step in the right direction. I also run workshops where I teach motivational skills which helps carers to look after someone with an eating disorder and any other mental health illness. My work now covers all mental health across the board rather than just Eating Disorders specifically.

One of the most important things that you need to do is to “Look after Yourself” and try not change all your own life to fit in with the person you are caring for. Keep up social activities and try and do things with the other members of your family. Have a non “Eating Disorder” day with the person you are looking after. Try to really listen to what the person you are caring for is saying. I thought I was a very good listener until my daughter said to me “Mum I know you are listening but you are not hearing!!”

Try and learn as much about the illness and the mental health system that you can. I did lots of research and it helps you to be doing something when at times you may feel somewhat helpless.

To end on an optimistic note my family and I have come out of the experience as a much stronger family unit and so do stay positive at all times if at all possible!!

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Mindfulness: struggling to keep up in a busy world

Posted on February 8, 2013 by omhf_admin

By blog user, posted on 8th February 2013

The following is an interview with an audience member of Professor Mark Williams’ recent talk on Mindfulness at Blackwells. Professor Mark Williams is a Wellcome Principal Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, and Professor of Clinical Psychology.

What made you decide to attend the talk?
I’ve been to Blackwells author talks before and always found them interesting even when I wasn’t familiar with the subject so I tend to keep an eye on their events page. I spotted the Mindfulness talk listed on the page and was particularly intrigued by the description of the talk because it mentioned that the technique could be helpful not just for depression but “for people who are not depressed but who are struggling to keep up with the constant demands of the modern world”. I had recently been suffering from an ache in my jaw that the doctor diagnosed as being caused by this very thing – essentially just being very busy had caused me to habitually tense my jaw and 12 months of this had resulted in an insistent pain. I was also intrigued by the technique as I had experienced depression in the past too, although thankfully it was never bad enough that I sought treatment for it.

I also mentioned it to my sister who has studied Psychology and has counsellor training and she encouraged me to go as she has heard of the technique being useful for various things and explained that it was now used in schools too, which reassured me that it was well-respected.

What were you hoping to get out of it/take away from the talk?
I’m quite sceptical so I didn’t really expect that learning about the technique would be life-changing and wasn’t even convinced I’d find it useful, but as it sounded like it was a respected technique I was curious enough to want to find out more. I was hoping that it might be helpful for the pain I’ve been experiencing.

Having attended the talk can you explain the concept of Mindfulness?
Professor Williams explained that the technique originated with a friend of his, his co-author Danny Penman, who was in a paragliding accident and ended up stranded on a Cotswold hillside in agonising pain. He had been taught a simple meditation technique at school to cope with exam stress, involving breathing in and out, focussing on the breath and envisioning being away from his current situation. The process worked and helped him to cope with the long wait for help, and then with the lengthy recovery process after his surgery. Professor Williams has finessed the technique into an 8-week program where patients follow his instructions for meditation and slowly build up the length of time that they are able to meditate for. Professor Williams stressed that the technique was not about attaining an altered state of consciousness but simply about centring and focussing oneself in order to cope with whatever difficulty, stress, or depressive state you’re encountering.

To be honest Professor Williams only had an hour to explain the technique and although he went through a couple of simple exercises with us it was difficult to really see exactly how this technique translated into coping with depression. I suspect that I would have to read one of his books, or go on the course, to fully appreciate this. He was also very honest about the fact that it doesn’t work for everyone, or that for those with depression it may have to be used in conjunction with medication, and also, as with everything, you have to want it to work and be willing to spend the time to learn the technique properly.

You can find out more about the concept of Mindfulness on the Oxford Mindfulness Centre website: http://oxfordmindfulness.org/about-mindfulness/.

What did you think about the talk more generally? What did you find helpful or not helpful, for instance?
I definitely enjoyed the talk and was glad I’d attended. Blackwells author talks are very reasonably priced and it’s always a nice atmosphere; as there were so many people in the audience (the most well-attended talk I’ve ever been to there!) it was held in the Norrington Room which was a lovely venue to be sitting in for an hour.

Professor Williams was an engaging speaker and peppered his talk with funny anecdotes and examples to support what he was saying. Despite facing a very large audience he came across as friendly and informal. I could appreciate why he was so good at teaching the technique as he had a very calming presence and wasn’t at all pushy or prescriptive. As I said I was sceptical and suspected claims of a ‘cure all’ technique, but he was pretty honest about the technique and also seemed authoritative and academic when he was speaking. He took questions from the audience at the end and was very patient and provided good answers to even the most obscure queries!

Having said that I wasn’t completely persuaded by his technique. I can see that, given time and practice, the simple meditation exercise would be a good relaxation tool, and I do plan to keep trying it to see if it can help with my habit of tensing up when I’m busy. However, he obviously only explained it in very simple terms and from that hour-long talk alone it was hard to see how it could help people with severe depression or pain. In his answer to one of the questions at the end he explained that the technique was best learnt when the person was feeling stable – recovering from depression, rather than being in the midst of it. This suggests to me that it is most useful as a preventative measure, rather than an active cure. He also, when introducing the technique, made some slightly sweeping statements about people not living in the moment and explained that this technique teaches us that. I can’t say that I necessarily identified with this problem and was a little put off by his assumptions. However, I can appreciate that some people would identify and would therefore be reassured by his empathy with this problem.

The fact that there was such a large number of people at the talk was testament to the fact that it is popular, and it has been proven to work for some people. I suspect that the 8-week course would involve taking the technique further and using visualisation, which Professor Williams only touched upon in the talk. I attended the talk with two friends and we all agreed that we would like to find out more, but weren’t convinced by all of his claims. I will, however, persist with trying out the meditation as it seems like a good thing to do, and I think taking focussed time out, of any form, does help with coping with a busy life.

That was very interesting – thank you!

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Stephen Fry’s battle with mental illness took him to France… I ended up in Lymington

Posted on January 5, 2013 by omhf_admin

By blog user, posted on 5th January 2013

In Stephen Fry’s TV documentary on his struggle with bipolar disorder (The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive) that was aired a few years ago, he spoke openly about the devastating impact of his illness including a time when he walked out of a West End play he was starring in and went missing for a week while close to suicide, sparking fears for his safety. He travelled to Belgium before eventually returning to London.

Fortunately I didn’t end up going missing, but a bad period of depression similarly took me to a place where I couldn’t see a way forward and the suicidal thoughts felt like a huge burden that I didn’t want to inflict on anyone else. I couldn’t really make sense of how I was feeling. It all felt too difficult to bear and I wanted desperately to escape and to be well again.

I decided on a whim to travel to the South coast without telling anyone at the time, and picked a spot on a map that looked easy enough to travel to. I didn’t know anything about Lymington and hadn’t been there before, but for some reason it stood out to me. So the next morning I took the train for the 2 and a half hour journey and sat back and watched the world go by.

Lymington is a pretty little town on the coast, the streets lined with cobbles, and the smell of crisp sea air. I realised when I got there that I had no idea if the centre was near the train station and which direction to walk in, but I quite liked that sense of adventure..

I spent the morning exploring the town and getting my bearings and then went for a walk by the marina, which eventually took me along a coastal path, through a nature reserve with a beautiful view of the Isle of Wight in the distance.

I couldn’t have picked a better day, with the warm sun glistening on the water. I ended up walking for miles! I almost made it to Hurst castle in Keyhaven, before needing to turn back to make sure I didn’t miss the last train home.

By the time I arrived back I was exhausted. I slept well that night – it was the first time I’d slept well in weeks!

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Battling Bulimia: My beginnings

Posted on December 9, 2012 by omhf_admin

By blog user, posted on 9th December 2012

As an occasionally wise person once said to me, “you don’t just get an eating disorder overnight”. Of course, at the time I was so far in denial I was applying for an Egyptian passport. I was convinced that my new found obsession with eating below x calories a day and cutting out entire food groups was no more than finally becoming committed to healthy eating. My one niggling concern was that, about once a week, something would give. For some reason, I would be compelled to break my new amazing diet, consuming large quantities of foods that I’d otherwise banned from my diet at once. About once a week, I would decide that there was suddenly nothing more important in my life than the absolute need to get to the nearest supermarket and buy a packet of custard creams.

Fast forward six months, and I was solidly camped out in the bulimic category. In fact, I wasn’t just camped out. I’d invested in real estate and built a comfortable two bedroom home with a landscaped garden. The original diet? It had deteriorated as the value of ‘x’ slipped lower, and lower, and lower, while the list of foods I refused to eat… well, it’d probably have been easier to list the foods that I would eat. Meanwhile, that occasional but regular urge to demolish the nearest box of chocolates had turned into a daily compulsion. Unfortunately, as the binges got more regular I could no longer tell myself “it’s fine, you’ll restart the diet tomorrow”. In my mind, if I couldn’t stop eating, the logical thing to do was to start getting rid of it.

The fact that I thought that hunching over the toilet bowl, blasting Disney music in order to fool my housemates, was the logical thing to do pretty much says it all. When you have an eating disorder, you get locked into this mind set where the most important thing in the world is your weight and what you’re eating. You begin to organise everything in your life around that central principle: if eating x calories a day means that you don’t have enough energy to, you know, actually function, you stay in bed all day. If going out to dinner with friends means eating certain foods in a situation where you can’t get rid of them, you don’t go.

And as your world narrows, the only thing in your life becomes you, your eating, and your appearance. Which, seeing as many eating disorders tend to be fuelled by a certain amount of self loathing, is a pretty depressing world to live in. My eating disorder started, on a very basic level, because I was dissatisfied with my appearance. Now I had always disliked the way I looked, but normally I had a hundred and one things to distract myself from it: my appearance was not the most important thing in my life. I took pride in my other achievements. But with the eating disorder, it took over. My friends, my work, my entire life was diminished so that the only thing that mattered was my weight.

That was my biggest motivation for recovery. For months, as soon as I’d started to accept that my eating habits were actually just a bit of a problem, I’d been trying to get better. But nothing really ever prepares you for just how hard it is- it’s challenging just about every assumption you ever made, the way you see yourself. It’s like someone telling you for years not to jump off a cliff, and then suddenly deciding one day to go for it. It was only once I got to the point that I was on the point of dropping out of university that I suddenly realised that it was a choice between trying to be ‘skinny’, whatever that means, or actually, um, living.

And I chose life.

Published courtesy of ‘@bloggingmental’.

Read more at: http://youmakemefeelsick.wordpress.com/; a recovery blog by an Oxford University student focusing on bulimia, depression, and self-harm.

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Back to the Floor: Working on an Inpatient Ward

Posted on September 20, 2012 by omhf_admin

By blog user, posted on 20th September 2012

What’s it like working on an inpatient ward? Ali Neary, Communications and Involvement Manager at Oxford Health NHS FT, steps into the role of Healthcare Assistant to find out.

My “day job” does require me to visit our inpatient wards periodically but I am usually only walking through the patient areas, and have never spent a huge amount of time actually with the patients on our wards. However, this was all about to change when I was asked by Teresa McLarty, Ward Manager of Harding Ward if I wanted to do one of my Back to the Floor days there as a Healthcare Assistant.

I have to confess I wasn’t really too sure what to expect as I drove over to Stoke Mandeville for a 7am start, but think I was excited and nervous all rolled into one! The day started with the handover from the night shift, where each patient (20 in total) were discussed in detail, so the staff coming on duty are made aware of each patients overall mood and presentation, what medications they were on and any issues, such as appointments or family visits that we needed to be aware of. Once this handover had been completed it was time for us to get everything ready for our shift. Each shift is allocated a shift co-ordinator, who is responsible for allocating staff on duty to various jobs that need doing throughout the shift; one of the most important being undertaking the observations.

Most patients on the ward were on Level 1 observations, which means that they needed to be checked once an hour, but this particular day the ward had 2 patients on Level 3’s which means that a member of staff must remain in eyesight of them at all times. For years I have sat in meetings and heard people discuss the implications of having a high number of patients on observations but never really understood the impact that this actually has on the staffing levels on the ward. There were 5 members of staff on duty that day, 2 Staff Nurses and 3 Healthcare Assistants, but in effect from the minute our shift started we were down to 3 members of staff to look after the other 18 patients. I have also always assumed that when you are nursing a patient who is on either Level 3 or 4 observations that they are probably in their rooms and you are sitting quietly with them. Wrong! Our patients are all still mobile, and consequently wanting to get up and go to their room, go out into the garden, go for a walk around the ward or take a comfort break and the nurses have to follow them….everywhere!

What also struck me was just how many “roles” the nursing staff on the ward undertake; primarily a traditional nursing role of course but they are responsible for serving all the patients food, helping to clean up their bedrooms, reading, drawing and doing activities and completing what seemed like endless paperwork. This paperwork is important, and paramount to patient care, but there is an awful lot of it that needs doing, and times this by 20 patients and it soon adds up to a big pile that needs sorting out at the end of every shift!

I would like to say a MASSIVE thank you to Rosida, Beth, Narivie, Sibs and Laura who were all working the early shift with me that day, and who happily answered my endless questions throughout the shift. The environment in which they work can be chaotic and unsettled, but they work so well as a team, and it was apparent just how calm and relaxed the ward felt. The patients were genuinely at ease with them all, and their mutual respect of one another was clear to see.

I finished my shift and left the ward with not only a new found appreciation of everyone who works on our inpatient units, but also a big smile on my face (as everyone back in the management offices will tell you!) as I absolutely loved my day there and would have gladly gone back the following day were it not for the fact I do have a “day job” to do!

Reproduced with kind permission of Oxford Health NHS FT.

The Back to the Floor Oxford Health NHS FT initiative is a day when Senior Managers work alongside front line staff enabling them to understand what really happens on the ‘shop floor’ – the rewards, frustrations and what they could do to really make a difference to the experience of staff and patients.

http://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/back-to-the-floor/

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Can we reach a tipping point in attitudes towards mental illness?

Posted on July 22, 2012 by omhf_admin

By Rethink Mental Illness charity CEO, Paul Jenkins, posted on 22nd July 2012

Ever since I have worked in the field of mental health I have realised that changing public attitudes towards mental illness is crucial to improving the prospects of current and future generations of people with mental health problems.

Stigma and discrimination are a regular reality in the lives of people with mental health problems and those of their families. When we started Time to Change four years ago we undertook a major survey of the experience of service users and carers. At that time 90% of service users and 60% of carers reported personal experience of stigma and discrimination. This included rejection by family, friends and neighbours, discrimination from employers or potential employers, negative attitudes from public bodies, including sadly the very health and social services which are meant to be there to help. A number of respondents highlighted that the sense of rejection and exclusion created by the stigma towards mental illness was sometimes as bad as the symptoms themselves, terrible though they were.

The impact of stigma goes further. Negative attitudes and a reluctance to talk about issues relating to mental health are major obstacles for people to seek help when problems first arise. Furthermore stigma silences a wider public debate about mental health which in turn lessens the impact which the issue has on public debate and priorities.

Things have been changing. The evaluation of the first phase of Time to Change suggests small but significant changes in attitudes and reported experience. Overall attitudes have improved (against a backdrop of having been static or worsening over much of the last 15 years) and there has been a reported drop in the proportion of service users experiencing discrimination in their daily lives. Some aspects in particular discrimination in individuals’ social lives show particularly marked improvement. Finally our tracking of media coverage of mental illness also shows things getting better highlighted by a noticeable increase in positive portrayals of people with mental health problems.

The statistics are borne out by wider developments. It has been particularly striking to see changes, for instance, in the world of sport where a series of high profile sportspeople such as Marcus Trescothick, Johnny Wilkinson and Tasha Danvers talking openly about their own experience of mental health problems. Last month’s debate in Parliament where four MPs shared their personal experiences was similarly groundbreaking. They are indicative of a wider comfort in talking about mental health problems and a greater acceptance that mental health problems should not exclude someone from fulfilling their ambitions. They are also high profile examples of the underlying dynamic of changing attitudes. If we know someone personally with mental health problems our attitudes will be more positive than if we rely on stereotypes from the media.

So can we reach a tipping point where we shift the paradigm in society towards a positive and accepting view of mental illness in society? I believe we can but there are some significant challenges.

The commitment of the Government to this issue is welcome, not only through their decision to support Phase 2 of Time to Change but also in the backing they have given for the private members’ legislation which Gavin Barwell MP will bring to Parliament in September to end the arbitrary discrimination against people with mental health problems in respect of serving as a juror or acting as a company Director. Such commitment will also need to be reflected in efforts to raise the priority given to mental health across Government policy and a readiness to take action to ensure mental health is not disproportionately affected by cuts.

The workplace will remain a critical area of focus and will provide the single biggest indicator of the level of success we are having in countering stigma. Again there is some evidence of positive change with a number of prominent employers such as BT taking proactive action to support people with mental health problems in their workforce and others beginning to follow suit. The 2010 Equalities Act was a step forward in shifting the focus of disclosure away from pre-interview health questionnaires to the moment when someone was actually offered a post.

Despite this there is a long way to go for many employers and it is clear that there are still many people who are facing discrimination at work or when seeking work on account of mental health problems. The economic climate and the competition for work does not help nor do mistaken Welfare Reform policies such as the Work Capability Assessment which do nothing to help people with mental health problems to secure work and cause an immense amount of stress for many people who any sensible view would suggest are not well enough to work.

As in any movement to change societal attitudes young people will be a crucial audience but this is particular so with mental health where so many problems start in youth. I am delighted that Rethink Mental Illness is leading the new Children and Young People’s programme within Time to Change which will attempt to broaden out the messages on stigma and attitudes to reach younger people and those who work with them. In the longer the goal of seeing mental health and wellbeing as a core aspect of the school curriculum and of wider youth work must be a key objective.

So I think there are grounds for optimism that attitudes can change and the history of other issues such as race and sexual orientation show the kind of path which mental health might follow. It will be crucial that as a sector we focus on this agenda in a joined up way and don’t undermine change by failing to make common cause around this agenda.

The prize is a big one because if we can encourage a culture of openness and make mental health a topic of wider conversation then we have a much greater chance of getting the resources and attention we need to improve the lives of people affected by mental illness.

Paul Jenkins is Chief Executive of mental health charity, Rethink Mental Illness.
http://www.rethink.org.

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Health Matters: Dementia

Posted on June 4, 2012 by omhf_admin

By Fiona, posted on 4th June 2012

When I was invited to attend Oxford Health NHS FT’s Health Matters talk on Dementia recently, as part of the Science Oxford Live talks, I think I was really in two minds about attending. I had a particular interest to attend, as I have family members affected by the condition and was keen to learn and understand more about it. But I couldn’t help but wonder if the talk had the potential to be quite downbeat, simply due to the awful nature of the illness, in as much as it is a degenerative condition, and the amount of heartache it can cause sufferers and their families.

I’m glad I attended as it was a fascinating talk. I was particularly interested to learn that there are four different types of dementia. Alzheimer’s is clearly one of the types that is well known, but I didn’t know much about the others. It turns out that there’s also Lewy Bodies, Vascular, and Frontotemporal (also known as Pick’s disease). I was also very surprised to learn that there are around fifty causes of dementia. I don’t think I could tell you what they all are! But you can probably guess many of them, ranging from strokes, alcoholism, medications, other conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, tumors etc. Interestingly, (though perhaps something I’d rather not know), is that that the main factor of risk of precipitating dementia is genetic, with a 50% chance of developing the condition if a direct family member also suffers from it. Holding my half full glass of water, I felt reassured that the odds were evenly matched. The statistic was also put in context when speculating on other statistics raised in the talk, and the number of factors influencing these. For example, in relation to the number of diagnoses in different areas of the country, it was revealed that Dorset in particular, has a very high population of people living with dementia in comparison with Glasgow for instance; we sensibly concluded more people would be likely to move to the South to retire, in addition to a whole range of other factors!

At the end of the talk it was touched lightly on the topic of research. This is something I was hoping to hear more about and so it was a shame this part of the talk had to be cut short in the end due to timing, but goes to show just how much there is to say and uncover with dementia and so much to discuss. Some of the members of the group also helpfully suggested that it would be good to hear suggestions and guidance for those who care for someone with dementia in terms of management and support. One of the key points I took away from the talk is the amount of awareness and work being done, particularly in the last 5-10 years that highlights the continuous progress being made, and the hope for the future, but that there still seems to be a lot of unknowns. With an ageing population, and the high costs of this condition, including both the financial and emotional strain, I think it is fair to say that there is still a lot more to be done, and there is clearly a need for continual investment in research and resources to continue to make sufficient headway.

Thanks to Oxford Health NHS FT, Science Oxford Live, and the speakers for an enjoyable and thoroughly interesting event.

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Is OCD just a light hearted disorder?

Posted on April 28, 2012 by omhf_admin

By Matt Watson, posted on 28th April 2012

Well no. I should know, I’ve had it all my life as far as I can remember, and it’s not in anyway a pleasant disorder to have, I am constantly late, I fall behind with work, I find it difficult to carry out day to day tasks and there’s no treatment that actually works, despite what psychologists say!

OCD is not in the slightest a light hearted disorder, personally it makes my life very difficult, so when I hear people say the comment ‘I’m a bit OCD with that’ it frustrates me. Myself and anyone else who has OCD knows exactly what it’s like, and it’s no joke. I mean why would you associate yourself with a disorder which literally ruins people’s life, I’ve known another OCD sufferer that actually broke up with his partner because his OCD made him. Sound silly?! Not at all, OCD isn’t just arranging bottles with the labels facing out of the fridge, or being a perfectionist, it can control you, it bargains with you to do certain things, makes good things incredibly difficult and generally tries to make your life hard. I’ve had a previous psychologist that referred to OCD as like a bully, its constantly there and is setting out purposely to make your life as difficult as it can.

So if you don’t understand OCD, you may think that a disorder could never make you do things, well it can, OCD has an incredible say in decisions, it can make you do things that you just wouldn’t do otherwise, it creates anxiety about things, it spoils objects, people, life. I am not surprised that OCD ended his relationship, OCD has a way of bargaining with you, and to me this is effectively what it says ‘you can miss this but that has to be done’. An example of this is I used to struggle turning off light switches, and if I didn’t complete turning off the light switch perfectly then something would have to be done as a consequence, for example turning it off and on again 5 times the next time, the number isn’t set either, it literally pops into your head like someone said it for you.

So OCD isn’t some disorder that makes people line up their pens straight or hang clothes up not touching each other, no. It is a great deal more, OCD is capable of causing not only pain to the sufferer but others around, pain that the sufferer has no intention of causing but OCD forces them into it, to make the sufferer’s life as difficult as possible. This is why I don’t understand people making remarks like ‘I’m a bit OCD with that sort of thing’, why would someone associated themselves with a disorder which makes people’s life so hard? Every time I hear that remark, I just want to go and tell them exactly how it is to have OCD. I don’t personally think that they would say it again, it’s associating yourself with something horrid. OCD isn’t a joke. I don’t appreciate comments about it and I’m sure that any other sufferers would agree. Follow me on twitter for more @mylifeOCD. Come and speak to me!

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