A Day in the Life

Echoing the concerns of many, me included and perhaps others who read this blog, I have decided to share some of what I have learnt in researching mental ill health, particularly of my own diagnosis, schizophrenia. God, how I loathe "that word", but for the time being it will have to do as a description of what I have experienced over almost the last twenty or so years. It would appear to me that, according to research I have done, there is something of a split, a division, amongst the opinions of psychiatrists as to what actually causes mental ill health, in particular schizophrenia. While some would appear to see it as a purely bio-chemical condition, others, like the (something of a celebrity) psychiatrist Oliver James, for example, emphasise the impact of our society and environment on mental ill health. On the one hand, then, many would view depression as a simple chemical imbalance of levels of serotonin in the brain, and similarly with schizophrenia, levels of dopam...

After my last blog, I thought I might say a little bit about what is actually being done to combat the stigma surrounding mental ill health. Instead of being so negative, I thought I would try a shot of positivity and finally accept that much is currently underway to try to stop the many outmoded attitudes that continue to plague those experiencing mental ill health. For a start there is a national campaign currently underway in the UK, called "Time to Change". It is, by any account, a massive and truly national campaign that is taking place over the next four years at a cost of some sixteen million pounds. Most of the leading mental health charities, like Mind and Rethink, are involved, all tying to portray a positive, realistic and sympathetic portrait of those experiencing mental ill health. After a somewhat disappointing initial TV ad, I can only say that I am impressed by the vigour and range of this campaign. Many celebs in the UK have also "come out" in its ...

In the bad old days of mental ill health, psychiatric hospitals or wards used to be called "asylums". According to the OED "asylum" means "1. sanctuary; protection, esp. for fugitives from the law. 2. hist. institution for the mentally ill or destitute." And, indeed, when asylums were first set up, I believe in the sevente enth century, they were not only for those regarded as mentally ill, but also the poor, the indigent, the workless and destitute. What I want to know is, has that much really changed since the inception of the asylum all those years ago? Due to new ways of thinking about madness in the seventeeenth century, many more people would find themselves  confined as a result of suffering from some form of mental distress. Before this, according to Michel Foucault in his book " Madness and Civilisation", the mentally ill were allowed to roam free. There are many examples of this in literature. For example, the clown or fool in Shake...