I'm still alive!

Apologies for the long absence.  Life has been a little hectic, with Christmas parties, the third anniversary of my 21st birthday recently and the short arrival of Christmas.  I may not be able to post much up until February as my husband and I move out of Londinium to the Garden of England in January.

If that is the case I would like to wish everyone a wonderful and a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2014.

How to stay happy and healthy during winter

 The long, winter nights can bring on a lull in all of us, whether we suffer from a mental illness (especially Seasonal Affective Disorder – or SAD) or not.  I become quite apprehensive of the winter months when autumn sets in, more so because of the short days rather than the miserable weather and cold that comes with it. 

The reason why the long nights affect our mood is because when it becomes dark our brain produces a hormone called melatonin, which makes us sleepy.   When sunlight hits our eyes this triggers the production of melatonin to lessen, to make us more energetic.  This is why you may feel sluggish and tired by six or seven in the evening in December.  There are other theories as to why peoples’ moods are affected and why people suffer from SAD, like the over production of melatonin and disruption in our body clocks.

If you feel that the long nights are affecting you, whether it’s your mood, sleep or overall health, then the following tips can help you to elevate the symptoms.

• Wake as the sun rises.  It’s important to get as much sunlight as possible.  If you are a particular late riser then it may be beneficial to wake up earlier, even if it’s by an hour or two.  The sun rises around eight in the morning during December.
• Keep active.  Even if it’s laborious housework, a stroll to town or gentle exercises at home, exercise releases endorphins which are known as a ‘happy hormone’.  This will make you feel generally better about yourself, as well as giving you more energy.
• Purchase a light box.  Light boxes emit a light wave similar to the sun that helps to reduce the production of melatonin.  Depending on the manufacturer and instructions from health professionals a session of thirty minutes a day is enough to help relieve symptoms.  Bear in mind that there are debates whether light therapy does work.
• Eat healthily.  It is easy to munch on mince pies and chocolates, especially around the festive season, but it is important to maintain a healthy diet.  Consume the recommended amount of vitamins and minerals, especially fruit and vegetables.  Alcohol should be avoided, or at least reduced, as it is a natural depressant.
• Go out during midday.  Midday is when the sun is at its highest and strongest.  Having a twenty minute walk outside will expose you to enough sunlight to help reduce the production of melatonin. 
• Take breaks outside.  If you work inside, especially during the small hours of sunlight, then ensure that you take some of your break outside to expose yourself to sunlight.  Same reason as above.

If you start to feel worthless, guilty, tearful, difficulty concentrating, irritable, have sleeping problems, eating problems, and so on then please see your doctor as you could be suffering from depression.  Once recognised it can be treated.

We Still Need to Talk - Report and petition from We Need to Talk campaign

We Need To Talk is a coalition campaign for better access for talking therapies for those who need it.  Mental health charities, Royal colleges, service providers and professional organisations have come together with a common belief that talking therapies are effective for treating mental illnesses.

Recently, the campaign published the report We Still Need To Talk.  It explains how people feel regarding the current state of referral, waiting time and quality of talking therapies under the NHS and how beneficial talking therapies are.  It reveals shocking statistics, like ‘One in five people with severe mental illness are waiting more than a year to get psychological therapies’ and ‘58 per cent of people weren’t offered choice in the type of therapies they received’.  Whilst the NHS provides a choice of treatment and place of treatment for patients with physical illnesses this is still not happening with those receiving treatment for mental illness, one survey responder saying ‘We were referred to a bi-weekly full day group therapy programme almost 50 miles away from home. This is not do-able.’

I am a firm believer that increasing the availability of talking therapies would greatly help those to stay or to return to work.  A better mental health means less days off sick and better productivity.  The report showed these statistics:

‘In 2008, it was estimated that £1 billion in economic benefits could be achieved each year by extending NICE-recommended treatments to all those with depression, with treatment costs vastly outweighed by higher government revenues and reduced welfare payments, as well as wider social benefits.’

                www.rethink.org/media/869903/We_still_need_to_talk.pdf, p10

I urge people to read the report (link below) and to sign the petition to introduce a waiting time for talking therapies – from time of referral – to 28 days, or sooner in serious circumstances.  It is appalling that the NHS has no target or maximum waiting time for talking therapy or treatment for those with a mental illness.  With an introduction to a target or maximum waiting time treatment for those who desperately need it will become more available, having a much lesser effect on peoples’ personal lives and employment, as well as avoiding the risk of developing a serious, and more long term, mental illness.

Report: http://www.rethink.org/media/869903/We_still_need_to_talk.pdf

Petition: http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=32&ea.campaign.id=24068

*All statistics and information gained from the We Still Need to Talk report.

The importance of proper breathing

A lot of symptoms of panic attacks and anxiety are induced by shallow breathing.  Symptoms include dizziness, impaired senses, pins and needles and more.  Without medicalising this too much the reason for these symptoms are an imbalance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood, caused by hyperventilating and shallow breathing.

Some sufferers of panic attacks develop a habit of shallow breathing, which creates these symptoms during and in between attacks.  This is similar for anxiety sufferers, who practise shallow breathing during periods of high anxiety.  Once recognised the sufferer should begin practising proper, abdominal breathing which, in turn, can reduce anxiety and panic symptoms.

Before I move onto proper breathing I will give you a quick biology lesson on why proper breathing can reduce anxiety and panic symptoms.  Our nervous system is broken up into two systems:  peripheral and central nervous systems (PNS and CNS respectively).  The PNS is broken up into more systems, one being the autonomic nervous system (ANS) which is what controls the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems (SNS and PSNS respectively).  The diagram below should help with the ordering of these systems:

The SNS is what reacts during the fight-and-flight response.  This is what is responsible for your symptoms of anxiety, stress and panic.  When the threat has gone the PSNS is responsible for rest-and-digest and feed-and-breed, meaning it relaxes the body and takes it off guard.

When anxious or panicking in a situation that has no danger to us (like shopping) there is no use to us for a guard to be up, so to switch off the SNS and switch on the PSNS.  Although everything in the ANS is controlled subconsciously (like digesting our food and reflexes) we have an indirect control over our SNS and PSNS.  To reduce the symptoms of anxiety and panic proper, abdominal breathing can bring our heart rate down, resulting in other symptoms to reduce, i.e. sweating and dizziness, and eventually stop them.

Now you understand how important it is to practise proper breathing let me explain how it is done.  Proper breathing is deep, slow and rhythmic.  Whilst hyperventilating is concentrated in the upper chest proper breathing concentrates in the abdomen.  Breaths in cause the abdomen to expand outwards and retracts when breathing out.  Placing your hand on your abdomen you can tell if you are breathing properly.  Different organisations, groups and people give different breathing rates, some say breathe in for five seconds, out for seven, three in and three out or two in and five out.  I will not give a specific number as people have different lung capacities, one method could cause over breathing for some or it could cause under breathing for others.  Experiment to see how long you prefer.  Remember to pause during breaths.  Here is a step by step process:

• Relax and untense yourself, sitting somewhere quiet
• Breathe in, feeling your abdomen expand outwards
• Hold for a few seconds
• Breathe out, feeling your abdomen retract
• Hold for a few seconds – and start again

It is most beneficial when you practise proper breathing at home.  Set aside some time to practise your breathing, preferably somewhere quiet and comfortable, and practise for a few minutes.  Once the fundamentals have been learnt this can be done in front of the television or on the bus.  That way you prepare yourself for when you need to regulate your breathing and it has a higher chance of working.  Do not be disheartened if it does not work the first time, like many techniques it takes practise.  As this becomes second nature you will find symptoms like chest pains and dizziness will start to lessen and subside.

Intrusive Thoughts

Intrusive thoughts can be very distressing to the sufferer, as their mind creates images and ideas relating to harm, violence, blasphemy and cheating.  They can become so distressing that the individual will avoid people, places and situations that are related to the thoughts.

The vast majority of the public are unaware of what an ‘intrusive thought’ is, many probably experience them and dub themselves as evil and psychopathic.  An intrusive thought is a thought of the individual committing a horrendous act, such as physically or sexually abusing somebody, saying something or reacting very inappropriately to a situation (for example, laughing when somebody has said they have lost their job) or doing or saying something blasphemous.  These thoughts are linked to people who suffer from anxiety, OCD, depression and PTSD, although those with no apparent symptoms of these conditions can also suffer from them.

Many people will get these thoughts and dismiss them as so.  But when they become constant and distressing to the individual it can disrupt their quality of living.  Those who have these thoughts of harming a relative may avoid coming into close contact with them, despite the fact that they would never act upon the thoughts.

Whilst people are now becoming more comfortable talking about mental illnesses those suffering from intrusive thoughts will very much keep the thoughts to themselves, or if they do disclose them they do as with minimal detail.  I’ve seen many topics of discussion on internet forums regarding intrusive thoughts (mainly those asking for advice, rather than a discussion) and some begin to believe that they are a cruel person and a psychopath for even conjuring up these thoughts.

But these thoughts are a clear demonstration that those who are repulsed and or distressed by them are in fact sympathetic people.  A person who is diagnosed as a psychopath does not possess the ability to sympathise or empathise with others but themselves.  If somebody with an intrusive thought can feel distressed by them then they do not exhibit psychopathic qualities.

What we must remember is that these thoughts are not created independently or voluntarily.  These thoughts are very fleeting and can feel very sudden and out of the blue when they arrive, feeling very much out of the control of the individual.  If they become distressing enough to reduce one’s quality of living then treatment should be sought, usually in the form of CBT, exposure therapy or medication.

If you suffer from an intrusive thought then take it from me, you are a normal, loving human being.