A Day in the Life

In my last post I spoke about a new direction for this blog, but as I have some sad news to relay concerning mental health, I will be returning to my main topic, at least for this post. And, the sad news is that the local mental health charity that I worked for voluntarily for over five years has now closed. The Media Action Group for Mental Health closed its doors for the last time on 28th March 2013. The group began in December 2000, and developed as an independent user-led charity with a remit to promote positive perceptions and awareness of mental health issues by working with the media in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire. Indeed, when I joined the group as a volunteer in 2007, we were taught how to interact in a positive way with the media as part of the group's "Talkbank" project. Many letters of protest were written, many interviews given, and as part of our training we even got to go to Staffordshire University where we made short films about mental he...

I don't know what it is, but this blog seems to be becoming less and less about mental ill health. The aim of this blog was, of course, to explain some of the misconceptions surrounding mental illness, and by doing so, attempt to dismantle some of the stigma which is still a burden to many. But, as I have gotten better and more time has gone by since my last episode of ill health, my preoccupation with mental illness has abated. Now I find that I've virtually exhausted the subject, at least from my own point of view, so I look around, feverishly trying to think of things to write about. I suppose that this, really, is a good sign (at least for me), as I now look to other areas to spark my interest. You could say that it's just another episode on a journey, a journey which has taken me from being very unwell and almost defined by my own illness, to one who now sees himself as very much his own person once again. I hope, then, that this blog reflects an ongoing progress (i...

After my last post about me giving up smoking, my hairy, hippy friend, Gary, remarked that I seemed to have "dumbed down" somewhat. So, being a little flustered by this observation, I thought I'd write something about the phenomenon of "dumbing down". When, for example, did this phrase start being so widely used? And, also, why? Being a relatively new phrase, could it be that it describes something peculiar to our own times? Well, according to Wikipedia, dumbing down describes "the deliberate deminishment of the intellectual level of literature, film, schooling and education, news, and other aspects of culture". Apparently, the phrase originated in the 1930s, when it was used by motion picture screenplay writers as slang to describe the process of revising a screenplay so that it would appeal to those of little education or intelligence. Indeed, judging by most mainstream Hollywood output, it would appear that the "dumbing down" of movies is...