A Day in the Life

To broach a completely different subject this time, I thought I'd take a little trip into the territory of consumer affairs. We are all, it seems, these days, consumers, and don't like it one bit if we think we're being ripped off. I suppose I'm no different in this, and recently, after joining "LoveFilm", the Amazon company which rents out DVDs via post in return for the payment of a monthly subscription fee, I found that I was "dissatisfied" with a certain element of their service. It appears that because "Love Film" is an Amazon company, they will sometimes only offer certain DVDs to buy via Amazon, even though it has passed the date of their release for rental. The result is that customers of "LoveFilm" cannot watch certain DVDs, which should, by all accounts, be available to rent, and only have the opportunity to watch them if they buy them. The said films are then released to rent via "LoveFilm" at a later, unspeci...

So, having been away from the blogosphere for a couple of weeks, I finally have something to report. Yes, after many years of not getting on in life, I actually managed to get an interview for a new voluntary job. The role involves working at a local school, helping some of the children with their reading skills. I think, and hope, that with the qualifications I have, I will be able to live up to the expectations and responsibilities that such a position carries. I know it's only a voluntary role, but all the same, if I am chosen to do it (which, by the way, is not yet certain) it can only help me in looking for other opportunities. At the interview I was asked to disclose my diagnosis, which I, being the honest and upstanding person that I am, did. The news was taken by the interviewer, I thought, quite well, although he did remark that the illness I am diagnosed with remains "an emotive word". "Indeed", I thought, "and then some". In fact, I don...

Recently, at the Media Action Group for Mental Health, we have been formulating some ideas for our "Local People, Local Lives" campaign. As part of our project we will be producing postcards showing various artworks produced by the volunteers in our group of places in our locality of Stoke-on-Trent. The postcards will also have an anti-stigma message, and attempt to bring about a change in attitudes towards mental ill health. As we discussed how we would go about doing this, it became clear to us that one of the most pervasive and persistent myths about schizophrenic illness was that it is often viewed as a "split", or "Jekyll and Hyde", personality. Those who read this blog will know that this common perception of schizophrenia is entirely false, and so we began to wonder just where the misconception came from. I have often written in this blog that this myth may be due in no small part to the name "schizophrenia" itself, and it appears, that s...