The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive

The BBC website features a section called Ouch.  It is aimed at disabled people and in the main, is written by disabled people too.  In my opinion, one of the best bits of the site is their podcast (now referred to as a “Talk Show”.  This is a monthly offering available for download.

For some reason I’ve fallen behind with my listening, so I’ve just heard a recording from early this summer featuring an interview of Mental Health blogger Seaneen.  She has written her blog “Mentally Interesting: The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive” for several years, recording her experiences of Bipolar Disorder and the Mental Health system.  The reason for the interview was that her blog had been turned into a play for Radio 4 called “Do’s and Dont’s for the Mentally Interesting”

New Link Category

Whilst reading Seaneen’s blog and clicking through a few of the other blogs she links to on her site, I thought that this is really a resource we should be looking at more closely.  Many of the articles I’ve read are very personal in nature but they are also very valuable in helping others to understand what is going on.  There is a wealth of personal experience documenting advice tips, explanations of procedures and theories about how services can be developed and improved.  This, combined with the personal feelings and emotions involved makes compelling and educational reading.  I’m sure it could also offer comfort and support to others experiencing similar emotional roller-coasters.

So, I’ve started a Blogroll in the traditional sense.  A list of blogs written by people with a “Lived Experience” of Mental Health problems or possibly people with experience of the Mental Health system that have something to say about that experience.

I don’t want to censor or discriminate.  If you know of a blog you feel should be on our list, let me know and I’ll add it.  Give me your reasons and I’ll try to add an article too!

New Course – Open Access

Stress Control

After the success of the last Stress Control course run at the Brunton Hall in Musselburgh, my Psychologist colleagues are getting ready to run their second course.

What’s The Deal?

As the advert says, the Stress Control course will be held over 6 Friday mornings at Prestonpans Library.  As it’s just down from the school, it should be possible to drop off kids and then pick them up again after the course.

The course is designed to help anyone that’s struggling with day to day stress.  Lets face it, stress gets the better of us all at times, this course will help you deal with it a little better.

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to come along, so if you’re interested, all you have to do is pick up the phone and book a place.  No need to visit your doctor first, you don’t need to be referred.

Click here for more information.

Questions?

If you have any questions or want to book your place, just phone 0131 536 8101.

**Update**

Unfortunately this course has had to be cancelled due to low interest.  It will run again soon, so please get in touch on the number above to find out more and register your interest.

The ELPsych! site has been in need of a makeover for quite a while now.  I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to do something about this whilst trying to keep the site’s content available to those that wanted it.  This led to a bit of a mess, but I think I’ve finally managed to tidy it up a bit!

Much of the content remains the same at the moment because I’ve been concentrating on presentation.  I have made quite a major change to the Link Directory though, bringing it into the main site rather than running a “sub-site” just for the directory.  Hopefully this will make it a bit more accessible.

Of course, the tweaking never really stops but the next job is to add some of the content that’s been suggested to me over the last couple of months.  Please remember to let me know about anything you’ve found useful on the web.  If it’s good, lets tell as many people as we can!

As part of the improvements to ELPsych! I have adjusted the way that links are shown on the site.  Previously, the link directory was a separate website with Directory software installed.  This attracted far too much spam as companies tried to get themselves listed.  Since almost none of them had anything to do with Mental Health, we didn’t really want these links on our site.

The Link Directory is now part of this website making it much easier to manage.  However, I still want suggestions to be added.  If you have come across a website or internet resource that you have found useful, please let me know so that other can benefit as well.

You’ll find the Directory Here.  Use the comments section at the bottom of that page to add your suggestions.

I couldn’t resist a comment on a foodie theme that has emerged in the popular press over the last few weeks.

The NHS Choices website has published an article referring to pieces in the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph both extolling the benefits of salt as a treatment for Depression.  The Mail’s article goes into a bit more detail than the Telegraph’s but it’s probably the NHS site that explains the theory the best.

What the NHS missed though was an article in the MIrror.  They published an article in February listing 1o Top Tips for dealing with Paranoid Psychosis.  Number 4?  Eat more Lettuce!  Apparently it contains a Morphine like substance that aids sleep.