mental health

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 8

Day 8. When I opt for a short run, two miles say, I don’t seem to get out until it’s dark and having eaten two meals. This means that initially I feel a bit heavy and bloated. I feel much brighter and alert in the morning, particularly if the sun is shining and it’s not too cold. In fact I’m a Spring and Summer kind of guy. Today’s run was uneventful and unremarkable. I didn’t pass anyone or have anyone coming towards me. No bird flew beside me, no tree gave me the thumbs up, no clouds formed themselves into a kindly, benign face as I passed below. But running always improves my mood and that, in itself, is enough to run consistently.

Current research demonstrates a causal link between running and exercise and improved mood. I’m sure that depression, anxiety and some phobias could be part treated, with the appropriate management, service and financial commitment, by instituting a running/exercise regime. You may able to get an Exercise on Prescription from your GP (possibly just a small discount from normal gym rates) but this is generally for people who are overweight or have specific physical problems. The good news is that you can learn to be a runner. It doesn’t need to be competitive. It doesn’t rule your life. It helps you feel in control. It gives you a genuine sense of achievement. You get butterflies and dragonflies accompanying you. You meet some lovely people. It should be a no brainer.

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Aliveandrunning2013 November 9

I haven’t run for a full week. I’m not injured but the weather does interfere with my motivation. Autumn, I have accepted, is really here. More rain, less sunshine and lower temperatures. Rain’s OK but cold and grey skies certainly do have a negative impact on my mood. I’m probably a very mild case of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). It doesn’t help that I’m more susceptible to cold now compared with  much greater tolerance of it prior to my heart attack four years ago. I think it’s due to the effects of the medication I take. The same medication that regulates my heart beat, keeps me well and STOPS ME RUNNING FASTER. Today, I ran Cambridge parkrun which featured plenty of mud and large puddles. I felt good running but the time was inevitably slower than usual because of the conditions under foot. Poor traction always makes for greater effort and slower times. I was around 20 seconds slower than last week’s slow time but overall I was happy with my performance. Last week I was still coming back from injury so my displeasure is on the meagre side. My arch rival Mike easily beat me again. I need to choose some less fast arch rivals and install them into my mind. Then I can relegate Mike to ordinary running dude and friend rather than evil competitor.There’s clear need to get some trail shoes to negotiate muddy and  wet conditions which are a regular autumn/winter feature of both Cambridge and Wimpole Estate parkruns. At Cambridge, in particular, there are lots of tight muddy corners and it’s easy to come a cropper.

Interesting article in New Scientist November 9 2013 concerning the benefits of exercising. Current research is suggesting a correlation between consistent exercise and maintaining cognitive health including a lesser risk of developing severe cognitive impairment through dementia. Research also points to the importance of physical activity in the development of a range of cognitive abilities from childhood. Increasingly, exercise is linked with a number of health benefits including lowering the risk of heart disease and certain cancers and preventing the onset of type 2 diabetes. I did have a heart attack but my general level of fitness, as a result of running, has greatly helped in my recovery with no real loss of running ability. It’s left me with few obvious deficits in my overall health (except the medication STOPS ME RUNNING FAST).

What a bunch of shits comprise this coalition government and principally, the Tories. They are very skilled in creating an atmosphere of public loathing and condemnation of certain groups of people whom it is in their interest to demonise, those they would describe as  benefits scroungers or work refusers, and highlighting people taking  benefits on medical grounds which are supposedly insubstantial or non existent. The non working mentally ill, NHS “tourists”, housing benefit claimants and anyone who isn’t a hard working tax payer, all come in for a drubbing. There is a cruelty and a lack of humanity about their policies which is more obvious when you understand how they are implemented. See Polly Toynbee article http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/08/duncan-smith-poverty-benefit-sanctions-easterhouse

More dusting yesterday including cobweb removal. Dusting is not particularly interesting but dust itself is ! There’s so much of it and each, occasionally visible individual speck makes its own individual journey before its final resting place (unless you blow it elsewhere). What tales dust could tell (or not), what lessons could be learnt from history if dust had a voice. What a noble substance ! Don’t mess with it.

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Aliveandrunning2013 November 2

Today, I ran my 150th parkrun, the weekly 5K  inclusive social run which is really a race no matter what time you achieve. Of course, the elite runners started to my rear and immediately  preceding me a golden chariot, steered by an Egyptian chariot master and pulled by two Bengal tigers, growling and barely contained, waited for the start gun.  Bang! Off we went. I must give praise where praise is due. Those tigers did a good job of clearing the woodland path of dawdling bystanders and they were very fine pacers. I won by miles and set another course record. I gave  a score of autographs and had much cake proffered. My eyes were dazzled by the dozens of flash photos taken and I could only assuage the excitement of the crowd by giving a short speech. A subsequent appearance fee was satisfyingly agreed.

Well, that’s how it should have gone. The cold reality is that I achieved position 107 and came in one second faster than last week. The secret of my success? I run as fast as I can at any particular point in the race. With this formula, which gets me in one second faster each week, I’ll be able to calculate the date I can win in 15 minutes. For real !

Didn’t see many of my running chums today. A number of them are in tomorrow’s Bonfire Burn 10K and don’t want to jeopardize their times by running. Lorna remains long term injured and decided not to spectate or volunteer today. She has developed insertional achilles tendonitis and this is a problem which is not resolving. A scan later this month should give a clearer understanding of the severity, and treatment needed. It may require an operation to rectify. It’s so unlucky to get such a substantial injury and a real loss to us both. Running has got lonelier again.

Our local daily newspaper Cambridge news ran a headline today. See http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/Some-people-turn-to-God-I-turned-to-Adolf-Hitler-says-Paul-Dutton-the-Cambridge-man-who-wore-Nazi-SS-uniform-to-go-shopping-at-Asda-20131102053542.htm Browsing the  electronic ether, I see most of the tabloids have the story plus a number of good quality images of his considerable stock of Nazi memorabilia, Nazi tattoos and uniforms. The various  articles all give prominence to the reason he gives for this obsession : mental health issues which developed after a vasectomy operations and the onset of insomnia. On the limited information available, his behaviour does not make any kind of sense unless the primary cause is a personality disorder. His quotes and that of others are hilarious non sequiturs. Even giving him the benefit of the doubt, which I don’t, this kind of behaviour is very, very rare in a mental illness context. Unfortunately, this high profile case can only strengthen stigma against, and stereotyping of, people with mental health problems.

A few random images of a local open space which, on reflection, has its eerie aspects.

Walnut tree   China dog   spooky path   Curious and whistful cow

A walnut tree which is still producing walnuts, an abandoned full sized porcelain dog, a spooky path and a curious but wistful cow. Future images include families of fungi.

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Aliveandrunning2013 October 2

No available car to drive to Cambridge and Coleridge AC, so no road running for me with the club yesterday evening. Instead I went for a routine 47 minute run which took me to the banks of the River Cam at which point I turn around and run back. Calf feels normal but will it hold up for 2 hours when I do the Hoo Haar half marathon on Sunday, October 6 ? Should I do an hour’s run  tomorrow ? And what about parkrun on Saturday ? Good sense suggests I should cut out at least one of them. I’ll definitely do parkrun, however.

The media is reporting a meta analysis finding in the British Medical Journal which looked at 304 research papers concerning the role of exercise and medication in heart disease and stroke. The conclusion identified exercise as on a par  with medication in terms of continuing good health outcomes. It identifies diuretic drugs as most important for heart failure and exercise as important , or most important, in stroke recovery. It looked at trials involving nearly 340,000 patients to assess the merits of exercise and drugs in preventing death. Such was the extent of exercise in reducing death rates, the findings suggested that exercise should be added to prescriptions. This is good news and will encourage people to take some responsibility for their own continuing health. Unfortunately so many of us seem determined to sleepwalk into substantial health problems by willfully ignoring sensible eating patterns, not sleeping sufficiently, drinking too much alcohol and not taking any regard for the nature and quality of the food we consume, particularly the refined stuff.

At Birmingham Crown Court, a 23 year old man pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a 16 year old girl on a bus by stabbing her, He has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, a severe and enduring mental illness which when appropriately treated and care supported, can be well managed. He was previously assessed by a psychiatric service in prison where he was serving a short sentence for threatening his mother with a knife. On discharge there was no treatment or care plan presumably because they didn’t identify a treatable mental illness (although prison staff had identified a number of problem behaviours). That’s the most charitable explanation. Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust have Assertive Outreach teams, a medium secure forensic service and a contract to provide a psychiatric service to the prison system. I find it difficult to accept that the assessing personnel didn’t identify an illness that their services could successfully treat. Paranoid schizophrenia was apparently diagnosed after the fatal stabbing which occurred about 3 months after his discharge from prison. Are their specialist Assertive Outreach teams working at full capacity? Have there been cuts in the provision of such services ? How could he not meet the criteria ?

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Aliveandrunning2013 September 29

Cambridge parkrun went well. No problems with my right calf muscle and I was only 22 seconds away from a personal best. My arch rival, Mike, beat me by 17 seconds but ” vengeance is mine, sayeth the runner” and we go head to head next week in the Wimpole Hall Estate Hoo Haar half marathon. Lovely, sunny weather for the 5K parkrun. Lorna volunteered, scanning finishers’ barcodes and, after the race,  we had coffee, with friends, outside in the warm sun. Why wouldn’t you do parkrun at 9 am on Saturday morning? Staying in bed often results in feeling lethargic during the day and susceptible people are at risk from Krispey Kremes or other dangerous sugar and fat confections if they don’t take active steps to wake themselves up. If you are feeling down in mood, running and particularly social runs can help you to manage your mood or positively alter your mindset. Runners readily form communities and everyone can belong. There are so many more available races these days and it can work out fairly expensive in terms of entry fees. Soon, people will be turning to crime to fund their running habit. But parkrun is free! They only ask you to volunteer occasionally (and this is fun rather than a chore). It gives an insight into the amount of organisation required to stage a run and allows you to contribute to its success. Parkrun is very inclusive ; parents frequently run with babies in buggies, carry toddlers or run with older children. You don’t have to be a “serious runner” or particularly fit but it will motivate you to think about what you would like to do regarding levels of fitness and how you could realistically achieve those goals.

At the moment, I think I will be sufficiently fit to do the Wimpole half marathon. I have done very little training, due to injury, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to complete the course without calf pains. If I feel uncomfortable, I will stop running. After more than 30 years, the penny has finally dropped. DON’T RUN ON AN INJURY ! It’s so tempting. How easily we can delude ourselves and become  unrealistically optimistic. We find we can run the race and the pain hasn’t been so bad. Then we discover, at our leisure, that we have compounded the injury which might have cleared up in a third  of the time  it will now take. Anyway, that’s the theory. But if I’m just ahead of Mike and my calf starts to twang, no way am I going to pull up and let my arch rival beat me so easily. In fact I will redouble my effort and push on, even if I need to be stretchered off at the finish line.

Today, we spectated at the Bourn to Run 10K where Mike and Sue were running. Both ran well over an undulating trail course and their young daughter, Emily, did the 3K race. A second excellent day of weather with unbroken sunshine and early Autumn warmth. We met loads of running friends of all abilities and it was an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday morning. Again, why wouldn’t you want to be a part of that? If you experience problems with your mood, here’s a gold standard activity (running or volunteering or spectating) to mitigate and manage those difficulties.

Chief Constable Mike Barton of Durham Police has called for the decriminalisation of Class A drugs and advocates the care and treatment of addicts rather than criminalising them. He argues that the  disappearance of the criminal element of drugs removes the income stream of criminal groups, erodes their power and influence and allows for a “controlled environment” for the dissemination of addicts’ drugs, possibly administered under the auspices of the NHS. This approach has been implemented, or part implemented, in a few other countries. I don’t know what the outcomes have been but it is a dramatic change of tack that is increasingly being discussed. Unfortunately these kinds of controversial measures are laden with political risk for the party bringing in the appropriate legislation. The government would be denounced and pilloried by the right wing media whose demographic comprise the frightened middle classes, unthinking people, bigots and the mindset that requires all transgressions to be punished. I presume the coalition, or rather the Tories, won’t genuinely address the issue or will dismiss it.

Lorna pointed out a statistic in yesterday’s Guardian. “For 36% of Britons , a tidy home is a greater pleasure than a holiday, a night out or sex But the study showed that woman still do most of the tidying).” Source : survey of householder appliance manufacturer Beko. Ye Gods! What inferior kind of holiday, night out or sex are these people having?

Random pictures of books in our home. Reading a book, of course, is a greater pleasure than keeping a tidy house.

photo (4) photo books12photo5

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Day 7

Went into Cambridge today but didn’t buy trail shoes. I’m uncertain what I need. I’ll just keep looking and thinking. Ran two miles after my evening meal and finished one second slower than yesterday.

It’s very difficult to reach conclusions from limited newspaper coverage of the Cardiff hit and run rampage by the mentally ill man, Matthew Tvrdon. But in today’s Guardian it is reported that despite a long history of severe mental illness including previous detention under the Mental Health Act, he was advised to phase out his medication over the course of a year. Given that he had a severe and enduring mental illness, paranoid schizophrenia, this makes no sense to me, particularly since there is no mention of continued community support to monitor  progress/level of wellness. This suggests that care in the community has been deemed unnecessary probably because the emphasis is on short, not long term interventions and at the point of his last outpatient appointment, he appeared well. Wishful thinking borne of cuts to the mental health services.

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Day 6

Another two mile run, this time in relative heat, mid afternoon. Not very exciting but able to do it easily enough.

Two high profile mental health incidents in the news at the moment. The Cardiff van driver and diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who killed a mother and injured 17 others, including children , by deliberately running them over, has been indefinitely detained under the Mental Health Act. Stephen Fry, the actor, comedian, writer, presenter and Tweeter who has publicly revealed his struggle with bi-polar disorder, disclosed that he attempted to end his life last month.I’m not sure how they are being reported in the media. I suppose it will depend on what media you read or hear and whether you are  motivated to consider the issues objectively and compassionately or want your prejudices confirmed and strengthened.