HALLOWEEN TRICK GOES WRONG

So both Tesco and Asda have apologised for putting on sale fancy dress outfits designed to portray people with mental illness as a danger to the public. One item used a strait jacket and included a meat cleaver.

Unfortunately this apology is too late. The deed has been done and much damage will have been done to sufferers who found themselves the target of a marketing campaign designed to make fun of these distressing conditions. Thank goodness for people like Alistair Campbell who speak out for this marginalised community. It is indeed the stigma that is harder to fight than the actual illness, something he made very clear.

The truth is that people suffering from depression or other mental health illnesses are less likely to harm others than they are to harm themselves. This type of activity which pokes fun at people in their lowest moments will be more likely to lead to suicides than to murder.

It is clear the items should not have passed  stringent tests that should be in force. We have codes and guidelines for baby toys and electrical equipment, for example. The two companies concerned have marketing departments which should be adhering to a code of conduct. Some bright new spark obviously thought he or she would make their mark in the company with this atrocious idea. What is more worrying is that the chances of the designer of these outfitters being a young person would seem high.

On a positive note today's news has brought about much debate in the media and many posts on Twitter where tweeters post their photos and say 'this is what a mental health patient looks like.' Good for them.

We cannot always choose whether we suffer these illnesses but we can choose where to shop and I, for one, will be boycotting these two stores from now on.

BIRTHDAY TREAT

Last week I celebrated yet another birthday. I would prefer not to count them but see them as an excuse to do enjoyable things and treat yourself for one day of the year, although in my struggle with depression, I have got much better at having 'treat' days and doing things I enjoy doing rather than the things I feel I ought to do. We all have things we have to do like the washing, ironing, washing up and shopping but now that I practise Mindfulness even these tasks provide pleasure.

Following a trip to London for Proms in the Park I have been bothered with a pain in my shoulder and have woken in the night with pins and needles in my arm and fingers. I have had this before after carrying heavy teaching and assessment materials for considerable distances on a college campus so I immediately linked it to this trip.  We decided we could do without our wheelie cases and survive with a back pack each. The weather was unpredictable so my backpack filled quickly topped up with lots of goodies for the picnic in Hyde Park. In London we found our hotel in Bayswater was not as convenient as we thought and we walked long distances with back packs attached.

On my birthday I decided another broken night was one too many and telephoned my local therapy treatment favourites (The Bay) to see if I could have a massage that day. Unsurprisingly they were fully booked up but they managed to get an independent complementary therapist to come in half an hour early to see me at lunch time.

Mindfulness teaches us not to live in the past or future but to live 'in the moment' and focus on the present. It does include planning for the unexpected so we are not 'thrown' by events. I therefore decided I was just having a back massage and did not expect to be relieved of my painful shoulder, which the googling told me was a trapped ulnar nerve. Lowering expectations is known to relieve stress, depression and anxiety.

This was the best 30 minutes I have spent since becoming ill last April as Allyson persuaded me to return to yoga and emailed links to local yoga classes. I have now cleared my lounge rug to a yoga-friendly zone and undertaken some independent practice prior to tomorrow's class. She was also exceedingly understanding about a mental health illness I have had for 24years.

Allyson is prepared to 'mix and match' her therapies so she can, for example, combine some Reiki with a back massage which I have not always found with other practitioners.

You can look at her website
www.equilibriumholistics.com, email her on Allyson@equilibriumholistics.com
or phone her on 07977 519141