A Day in the Life

After a brief spell of quite mild weather for the time of year, Britain has been deluged with snow. I don't know how other countries with more severe weather conditions than ours (say, Russia, for instance) manage to cope with such things, but here in my homeland it seems that even with only a bit of snow, things begin to grind to a big, crunching halt. People have trouble getting about, with road, rail and air traffic all affected. Schools close. Businesses lose money. People stock up on supplies for fear that their food will suddenly run out. Football matches, meetings and other gatherings are all cancelled. Yes, folks, it's snowmageddon! And, if you're wondering what snowmageddon looks like, here is a little picture of round my way for your delectation.       Yes, I know it's not exactly Siberia, but you'd think, by our reaction to all this, that it was. So, let's close all schools, cancel all meetings, buy extra dog food so our pets don't...

Some time ago now I wrote a post called "A Road to Nowhere", in which I stated that although "recovery" from mental illness, particularly from psychotic disorders, is, of course, desirable, there were, to my mind, still significant issues to be addressed. Recovery is great, I suggested, but recovery to what end? Do we recover, as I seem to have done, only to be left poor, economically unproductive, and with little to actually do? Perhaps I should begin by explaining what is meant by "recovery". In the mental health field, "recovery" seems to have become the new buzz word, and, as far as I understand it, the concept of recovery in mental health encapsulates three major tenets: 1.) the provision of hope that a person can get better, rather than the suggestion that, particularly in terms of more severe diagnoses, this can mean the end of a person's useful life. 2.) the promotion of the idea of "living with" an illness, rather than bei...

At the end of my last post on this blog, after saying that cuts to mental health services and benefits had been a cause of dismay for many, I asked the question, what else can go wrong? Well, just in terms of my own predicament regarding benefits, it seems that the answer to that question is plenty. It all started when, after receiving the relieving news that I was to be transferred from Incapacity Benefit to the new Employment and Support Allowance, I got another form in the post. This time it was a form called an ESA3. I had already filled out the ESA50 form regarding my reassessment, and, as I say, had been granted the new ESA benefit. But now it appeared I was being asked to fill out yet another lengthy form (coming in at 49 pages long). I was somewhat confused by this, as on the front of the form it stated that the DWP had sent it to me because either a) I had told them about a change in my circumstances, or b) I wanted to claim income-related Employment and Support Allo...