Screw Optimism!

This is such an insightful piece. And fun to watch.

A Big Moan on Behalf of Lots of People

A friend of mine has recently been admitted to an NHS mental health unit. I went to see her yesterday. For someone who's not a healthcare professional I'm fairly clued up on good ways of addressing mental health problems. I think a healthy diet, gentle exercise, plenty of activities, regular counselling, advice about potential medication and a peaceful environment are the most obvious things that should be offered. My friend has so far seen none of these.

She described the food as "minging" but was told I couldn't bring fresh fruit in for her because "I might have injected it with alcohol" - the irony being that I did have alcohol in my bag when I went in and no-one even checked. At breakfast she was told she could have either butter or jam on her toast, but not both (while ketchup and mayonnaise are not rationed so it's not even a health or budget thing). She said very little food was provided and for instance she was required to choose between dessert and a piece of fruit and ended up having to choose the dessert because it was more filling. Vending machines with crisps and snacks are next to the place where food is served.

The only place to exercise is a tiny courtyard. There is a small gym clearly visible next to reception but no-one recalled anyone being allowed to use it and some people thought it might be for staff, not patients. She does not feel safe going out into the courtyard alone as she has already seen fights and staff do not maintain watch.

No activities offered except that she was told there would be karaoke at some future date (what about art, yoga, meditation, exercise?). She was told on admittance there was a DVD room but when she asked to use it they said there wasn't one (and then it emerged there was, and eventually they let her use it). There is one TV for around 80 patients and because most of the bigger, more aggressive patients are guys, the football is always on which she has no interest in but has been watching out of boredom.

No counselling. Nor any mention of when any would be provided.

One doctor's consultation during which she was asked to give a blood sample and asked if the TV talks to her and if she hears voices and basically nothing else.

The general environment ... where to start? Within ten minutes of arriving a man was stood with his face ten inches from mine shouting "There's mad people in here, I'm Adam, I'm Saddam, you wanna be careful you could meet a mad person in here, we're all mad". The same guy grabbed my hand and creepily kissed it, and stroked another visitors back uninvitedly. My friend is quite glamorous usually but had asked friends to bring in frumpy, longer clothing and stopped washing her hair and wearing make-up in a vain attempt to deter the other patients from a providing a constant barrage of sexual remarks and harassment. When an elderly female relative came to visit her, other patients wolf-whistled at her. Yes - at the elderly relative. Most of the abuse was sex-related although my friend said some patients were also on the receiving end of aggressive racial abuse. Staff did nothing to stop the abuse.

How exactly does anyone think this is helping? I'm not blaming staff, I'm sure they are overworked and ultimately willing to do the best thing. But surely we have to distinguish between patients likely to frighten and intimidate others and patients needing a peaceful supportive environment. Screaming sexual abuse at mental health patients just doesn't seem like it's going to solve anything.

Young and Responsible

There is a new documentary coming up about young carers - children who look after their own parents and households as well as trying to keep up with their school work. The documentary, or at least what I can see from the trailer is about how these kids manage it. The bigger question for me is why we're allowing this to happen in our society. In the trailer there is a brief moment when Melissa - 12 and a carer for her mother who has serious mental health problems and serious mobility problems - says "we tried to get help from social services but they wouldn't do anything".

Why not? What is the point of social services if they don't intervene in cases like this? Basically they've worked out that young children don't know any better and won't make a fuss if they're told that they have to do all the work, so they don't do anything because they can get away with not doing anything. I suspect, I should add, that the actual people who work at SS are run of their feet, but the issue is they don't have enough staff and resources.

This is another thing which could be picked up in my annual questionnaire in schools.

BBC Warning Service - Round-Up For Pregnant Women

I pointed out yesterday that the BBC had one of those annoying "women warned..." stories about weight gain and loss during and after pregnancy. Then I realised it was a real trend on the BBC. So I thought I'd offer a quick round-up of the warnings the BBC has for pregnant women and new mothers:

WARNING: Watch out for bogus midwives!

WARNING: Don't take too many vitamins!

WARNING: Don't let your kids watch too much TV!

WARNING: Don't take too much iron!

WARNING: Don't drink any alcohol at all!

WARNING: Don't eat too much!

WARNING: Don't take painkillers!

WARNING: Don't be over thirty!

WARNING: Don't give birth in November in Cornwall!

WARNING: Don't have your baby at home!

WARNING: Don't smoke!

WARNING: Don't eat unpasteurised cheese!

WARNING: Don't be old!

And just for good measure (although this one isn't for once explained in a "women warned" way) stress can damage your baby. I wonder if pregnant women can sue the BBC for giving them pregnancy stress?!

Super-Gran

This piece on the BBC is interesting. Apparently women who live into old age increase the number of children their own offspring have. The study is based on data from around two hundred years ago from Finland so I doubt the connection is so strong these days, when a lot of older people live miles away from their kids and grand-kids. It reinforces something I have long thought - that the menopause is really a huge compliment for women from evolution. The menopause tells you "you are valued for more than just your ability to produce children". Some people should bear that in mind before they treat women as though reproduction is the be-all and end-all of our lives.

Another Good Post For You To Go And Read

(Don't say I don't keep you busy!) Forced ECT as a feminist issue?

Everytime I Open My Mouth...

...well I seem to get included in some new cool blog post! This time it is my post Brain Scan which is featured in the latest Brit Blog Round-Up. And ok so there are mutterings about feminism and stand-up comedy as though the two were somehow incompatible! Let me be clear though - the view from the inside - we don't need any more misogynist comedians, we are over-run with them already. I sincerely hope one day (SOON!) they will be as unwelcome as racist comics now, thankfully, are.

Brain Scan

Stumbled across this fascinating article that asks the question - can bigotry be classified as a mental illness? The author ultimately concludes - probably not. But there are some good arguments in favour of the idea. I have long thought that we probably send to prison a large number of people who actually need psychiatric treatment and for whom prison will probably serve as little more than an incubator for existing problems.

I also think that we cannot rule out the possibility that just because a large percentage of the population believe something, that belief is somehow sane. For instance in our scientific age - isn't believing in God symptomatic of a refusal to face dazzling reality? If you plucked out your child's eyebrows because you thought The Flying Spaghetti Monster and his Noodly Appendage (all hail) willed it so, you would be convicted of child cruelty and either locked up or referred for treatment. No-one would conclude you were sane. If you cut off some of the skin on your child's genitals (yes genitals) because God wanted you to ... oh, that's normal, carry on.

Which brings me to another question - could misogyny be defined as a mental illness?

mental illness n. Any of various conditions characterized by impairment of an individual's normal cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning, and caused by social, psychological, biochemical, genetic, or other factors, such as infection or head trauma.

So if in fact women are not trying to "trap" you into a loveless marriage or control your life or ruin your career or bankrupt your company, or any of the other things you hear from the uber-misogynist camp, and you believe they are - can I have you sectioned? Someone better tell Gordon Brown to build a LOT more hospitals...