Back to the 90s

BliiiiiiimEY!!!! Well, yesterday was a glorious reawakening of the spirit of the 90s, i.e. something was done on a whim involving real places and real people and it turned out spectacularly. Yesterday morning me old mate Martin posted a status update on facebook saying "Going to see Sean Lock tonight, yippee!!" Now, having immensely enjoyed Lock's early 2000s sitcom Fifteen Storeys High and subsequently checked out a fair bit of his stand-up on the internet I've been immensely keen to see him. To cut a long story short, what followed was a frantic afternoon during which myself and my friend Theresa desperately tried to get hold of tickets for this sold out show. A couple became available on the ticketmaster website but disappeared before either of us had a chance to purchase them. All the while we knew of some tickets available on e-bay. The seller had 100 per cent positive feedback and said he could e-mail the tickets over straight away if they were bought, but he wasn't answering our questions and had said he couldn't go to the gig because he had a wedding to attend. Eventually he got back to me but time was running out....after a little soul searching I remembered an important something. Earlier that day I had learnt of the whereabouts of my favourite hat in the world ever - a lime green mad hatter type hat with purple spots and fluffy trim that I bought the one time in my life I've ever been to Lincoln and thought I'd lost in a drunken stupour in Bath several years ago. However, a fabulous man named Rob had sent me a message to say he'd only gone and found the hat, which he had picked up that night but we'd never got round to arrange my collection of it. With an omen like that, nothing could go wrong.....could it? I bought the tickets and sent the seller a couple of messages pleading him to send them over ASAP. Time kept on ticking by and, quite at odds with my character but indicating my geordie ancestry coming out, I unleash a volley of colourful language at the computer. I had just given Theresa my e-mail log in so she could print the tickets out at her Uni while I made my way to Bristol when lo and behold, the e-mail arrived. I printed it off and rushed out the door with plenty of time to make the 18.09 train to Bristol. But oh bloody hell, as if I hadn't suffered enough today already I'd forgotten it was Taunton carnival. As the traffic came to an almost standstill on the way into town more choice language erupted from me and I began to wonder if this was going to be the ultimate slap in the face. Somehow though, I made it to the station and ran to the train with a minute to spare, my man Bob complementing me on my speediness.

Now, Bob had decided to come to Bristol as well to see MF Doom at the Academy and then meet up with Theresa and me later. Our train journey was most delightful; we got to witness some rugby players chatting up a woman who had brushed her hair away from her eyes and smiled when Bob and me got on the train thank you very much, some schoolchildren with balloons appeared and then sang 'Who Let the Dogs Out?' at great volume when leaving the train, and we ate some delicious cheese, lettuce and cucumber baps. To cut another long story short, the Sean Lock gig was utterly hilarious; key words are audience battleships, Madonna, wheat intolerance, "Oh, you want to GET that do you? DO YOU WANT AN APPLICATION FORM??? DO YOU???", mince, occasionally feeling like you're driving a muffin.......basically two hours of brilliantly observed sarcastic humour. Afterwards we met up with Bob and headed over to 'The Lab' to check out reggae band Laidblack. How superbly joyous and life affirming they were, how we danced, how the DJs who were on before playing a mixture of reggae, drum&bass and dubstep reminded me of the early 2000s in a good way. It all reminded me that although I still don't know if I could actually live in a city, live music, dancing and such things are a part of who I am and I'm sure they always will be. Oh yes, and I got Russell Branded and Jesused quite a bit. Oh, and I lost the ticket for the cloakroom and had to answer questions about what was in my bag from the cloakroom attendant, whose coat I had complemented earlier. The exchange had gone something like this: -
ME: - "Where did you get that coat? It's awesome."
HER: - "How did I get this coat?"
ME: - "No, where? I'd imagine how you got that coat involved you going into a shop, followed by some kind of monetary transaction."
I didn't think that was bad for off the top of me 'ead.

So, on the epic trek....well, arduous peregrination back to Theresa's we freestyled songs about inspirational vomit on the pavement, off which the moonlight was reflecting, among many other things. This morning Bob and me managed to catch one of Theresa's housemates just as he was giving a friend of his a lift to the station and we blagged it. In the queue for a crepe van at the station the lady behind the counter was extremely friendly to the people in front but then rather stand-offish to Bob and me. We can only speculate that she disapproved of our beards. Oh, and we told a man that we liked his jumper and brightened up his morning. Oh, and Bob said that the discs the crepes were being cooked on looked like turntables and it seemed like the funniest thing ever at the time. All in all, the lesson to be learned is that when spontaneity works it can be better than the best thing since sliced bread.

The other important lesson is: - "There's a whole world out there for you to explore. Not just on the internet, I mean outdoors."

I Want to Be Well

So yes!! Let me add a new word to all of your vocabularies - the word is 'Smorgasborded.' To be Smorgasborded is to have consumed too large a volume of cheese in too short a space of time for the human body to comprehend. Yes, that's right. My friend Nettle (pictured above) and myself consumed an inhumane amount of cheese this afternoon in celebration of our victorious trek last weekend. We soon wished with every ounce of our beings that we hadn't. Since this very morning our honest answer to the question "What's the strangest thing you've ever put up your nose?" has become "Stilton" and "Crystallised Ginger" respectively. Such behaviour is a sure sign of being smorgasborded. Oh yes, we sat almost motionless for a good couple of hours after the cheese consumption groaning and exchanging looks and words of horror. I commented that the cheese had seeped into my brain and was preventing me from speaking, and had seeped into my heart and had prevented me from feeling compassion. Nettle astutely observed that we had now seen each other at our absolute worst. All the while Nettle's young son Acey shouted at us and attacked us, but also drew us a lovely picture of a robot who was going to look after us. I commented at one stage that a certain illicit substance whose name I cannot possibly name in the interests of decency was nicer than this, and I meant it!! Being utterly smorgasborded is worse than any hangover, any comedown, any ailment.....that's right, we had died and gone to hell. What's more, we'll probably both have HORRENDOUS nightmares. We agreed that we were every negative word beginning with 'h' apart from, of course, hungry. Speaking of hungry, earlier in the afternoon I had told nettle about a day during my travels in Europe when I got a train from Croatia to Hungary and couldn't get any food all day to which, quick as lightning, she responded 'So you were hungry on a train to Hungary?' And we later speculated that this was the reason they made it impossible for people to get food on trains to Hungary, so people could bond over that joke! Thing is though, it would only work for people who could speak english because Hungary is not called Hungary in other languages.

Next Friday we plan to have a 'rawgasbord' to banish the memories of this smorgasbord from our brains. Tomorrow I plan to eat no cheese whatsoever, but maybe I should have a little bit as if I don't wean myself off then I might get the shakes. We are smorgasbord junkies. Throughout the whole of our friendship we have punished ourselves - we walk all day, we eat too much, we stay up too late....if it's not one of these things it's another. What are we punishing ourselves for? I know not, but I do know that we really meant it when we said that there's nothing as bad as being smorgasborded.

He Doesn't Know Why

Well, I decided to stay off the internet all weekend because I'd come to the conclusion that perhaps spending too much time on it lately was going against everything I'd worked out some time ago about how best to be healthy in my bonce. So overall I've done pretty well on that score; have been for a decent length walk for each of the last few days, except for today, because I plan to go on quite an epic stroll tomorrow. Have eaten healthily, drank plenty of water, gone to bed at a reasonable hour and in the time I haven't been on the internet have read two and a half books. More on that in a minute. Basically though, I've just been reminded of a quote from Blur bassist Alex James' autobiography - 'Intimacy does not spread itself thinly.' There are way too many words to explain my full understanding of that phrase for now, but let's just say Facebook is useful for keeping in touch with people and is nice for sharing photos and the odd blog and things, but if you spend too much time on there you're basically living in a false reality and your brain gets scrambled. During some recent mental health first-aid training I took part in an exercise designed to demonstrate what it's like to live with schizophrenia, in which I tried to have a conversation with someone while a third person was talking in my ear. Needless to say, it was rather disorientating. This is exactly what facebook chat is like. Besides, the whole thing is really just a virtual approximation of real contact and real conversation, and is no substitute. Therefore, (I may well not stick to this for long as this is the way of a scatterbrained peldrigude like myself but) I have decided that from now on I will stay off the internet for as much of every weekend as possible. During the week it is pretty unavoidable as I have the computer on for a variety of real-life related reasons, including my charity work, and being that close to facebook without going on it is not easy. Besides, if you check your e-mails, as I must for my charity work/real life stuff, you get notifications anyway. I just want my life to be much more grounded in reality from now on, and coming from someone with a sense of humour like mine that may sound baffling, but really I'm just someone who loves nature, wants to be nice and wants people to be nice to me, and hates intolerance.....unless it's done for comedic effect, and even then I have to be pretty sure it's for the right reasons. I'm quite a normal guy really underneath it all, whatever that means.

So anyway, these books. This week I have read the autobiographies of Stephen Fry and Russell Brand, as well as the latest novel by Mike Gayle. Fry and Brand are two highly witty men who love language and have seen their fair share of the darker side of life. Apart from their both being men and all the other screamingly obvious similarities, that's largely where the similarities end. I found both of their books highly entertaining, and both in parts fairly moving. Brand's book I must admit was a mild disappointment. Large sections for it were lifted almost word for word from his live shows, which I felt was a bit lazy, and I felt there were some topics he banged on about just a little too much. By the end of it I was beginning to think "Yes, Russell, I get it...." but then the cheeky sod swerved me right at the last stretch by the genuinely lovely way he described his falling in love with Katy Perry. Similarly, the way he described his meeting Kate Moss at the beginning of the book was extremely evocative of experiences from my own life (no, I've not met Kate Moss and am not bothered that I haven't) and showed that Mr Brand is a sensitive soul at heart, but like many such people I know, myself included at times, has a self-destructive streak that flares up quite spectacularly when he least expects it. In Stephen Fry's book he made frequent references to his incredible lack of self-esteem, and described the way he comes across to people being radically different from what is going on under the surface. This is true of myself, perhaps of everyone. In his book he expresses wishes that this is true; not to wish feelings of inadequacy upon others, merely hoping he can justify his own self-doubts through them being a common trait to all humanity.

I feel I've run out of space in which to talk about the novel (maybe next time.) However, the end of the last paragraph brings me nicely onto my final topic. Basically I was thinking yesterday about whether stereotypes of people from different nations are true to any extent. This was from a flashback to when I was thirteen and took the absence list into Australian art teacher Ms Berry's classroom. I strolled up to her desk and placed it down in front of her. Without looking up she screwed up her face and said "What the hell is this??!!" This is an example of the straight-talking that I have found pretty much all Australians I've ever met to possess, even the shyer ones. During my travels I've learnt that the two most commonly held stereotypes of English folk worldwide are football hooligans and Hugh Grant. Maybe to people from other nations we do fit into one of these two camps, who knows? It's all a load of nonsense really isn't it? Anyway, I have a ridiculously busy week lined up and am hoping that by the end of it I'll be able to have a rest. Gawd bless ya!

Don't be Afraid, You Have Just Got Your Eyes Closed

First let me tell you about a rather baffling dream I had in the early hours of this morning. Basically I was driving slowly in some country lanes and then tried to pull over into a lay-by, only to realise that my brakes had stopped working. The handbrake didn't seem to be working either, and so my car kept rolling back and forward (I don't know why it didn't just roll in one direction) until finally I steered it into a hedge and it came to a halt, but not before several other cars had nearly crashed into me. My thought process in the dream went along the lines that I would just have to take whatever job I could to get the money together so I could get my car fixed. I had seen some 12 hour factory shifts advertised in the newspaper, and was thinking that these could well be the way forward. In the dream it was very early in the morning and so I couldn't yet call the garage, but I met another wayward soul strolling in the lanes. He told me that he'd recently had a problem with his car in the same location but had come off the road and gone into the water, leading to he and his passengers having to swim to safety.

Now, it doesn't take a dream therapist to work out that this dream probably relates to a perceived loss of control in my life. It's fairly obvious that this is to do with signing on again, and so most likely having to take a job that goes against my principles and, please nah mate, might interfere with my work for Mind. Of course I don't have to take the job, but right now I could really do with a bit of money and so it would be in my interests to do what the job centre ask of me, at least for a little while. One job I have applied for is as a Christmas casual for Royal Mail. Basically this involves helping to sort the Christmas post, is something I did three Decembers running earlier this decade, and was pretty enjoyable. What's more, I do feel that I'm contributing to something worthwhile. Of course I might be helping death threats, hate mail, rejection letters and the like to get to their intended recipients, but I will also no doubt he helping people to receive a number of letters, cards and parcels that will brighten up their day. On balance I'd say it's something rather delightful. Back to the dream though, I often find that after peculiar and troubling dreams unwanted events occur in my life, so am hoping that it won't be the case this time. I remember a strange occurence from a few years back; apparently if you dream of losing a tooth, or a number of teeth, it indicates that you may soon lose a loved one. When I was thirteen one of my front teeth got knocked out when I fell off my bike, due to some superb dentistry it was put back in my mouth and stayed there for another thirteen years (I never really thought about the significance of the unlucky number before) but then the time it finally gave up and had to come out again coincided with my realisation that my girlfriend at the time was not all she seemed. I should have taken this as a sign to end the relationship but I believed her lies and we staggered through another eight months before she ended things. Admittedly it wasn't all dreadful, but I often wonder how differently things may have panned out if I'd finished things when I should. Would I believe in myself more now? I wonder.


Anyway, enough of that random speculation throughout the nation, smoking crack in a petrol station. Next week is going to be one very busy week in the life of me, and upon its completion I will probably be ready for the most relaxing week since sliced bread, although I very much doubt I'll get it. Would you go all the way to Bristol to buy a cheap ticket for a gig that you'll have to come back to Bristol for two days later, when staying in Bristol in between is not an option, but you fear the gig may sell out and you can't buy tickets online? This is the rather perplexing choice that Bob and myself are faced with. It's all good though, in the absence of blissful stability there's nothing like a bit of adventure.

He Would Have Laughed

Ok, so today I must talk about a subject that is rather political, and quite a grey area to be honest. It's likely to provoke debate and opinions on the subject will differ wildly, depending on a number of factors. However, this is my own take on my own experiences today at the job centre. The main thing that struck me was how no-one who was there wanted to be there. The people looking for work all looked thoroughly miserable, as did the staff. It just goes to show how much of modern life is based on lies, but then the film 'The Invention of Lying' shows how skewed things would be if everyone was brutally honest the whole time. Anyway............

Due to some risks I took earlier in the year failing to pay off I've had to apply for a bit of financial support from the job centre in trying to search for paid employment. The thing is, I already have a job but it's a voluntary role and for a charity who have recently had to deal with substantial cuts from the government to their funding. Can anyone explain to me how it makes sense to remove the funding for vital projects that many find a great help in maintaining their emotional well-being, and allow people who are marginalised by society to gain confidence in themselves and meet other people who understand exactly what they're going through, when quite a number of people in the UK have far more money than they actually need? Well that's a different argument, but the point is that I need a source of income. However, when you try and explain to the job centre how important your voluntary work is to you, and how much other people may gain from it, and so you wish to have one day free during the week to make sure you can continue this they just swat away this (I believe) perfectly rational argument and tell you that, not exactly in these words but pretty much, surely you can fit your stupid, meaningless voluntary work around a paid job?

I made a video a few months ago in which I talked about precisely that, and was pretty angry then. I'm not angry now, just resigned to the fact really that the job centre don't actually care in the slightest about individual circumstances. By that I mean those who make the rules - the lady I spoke to actually seemed quite apologetic, and maybe even agreed with me behind those well-rehearsed lines and regretful outlining of the policies. It still makes no sense to me why people who do voluntary work can't claim a small allowance when there already aren't enough jobs to go round but many people still get money every fortnight to look for them. The bottom line is that in the coming weeks I'm going to have to apply for a lot of jobs that I don't remotely want, will probably contribute far less to society than my voluntary position does and if I get will have to leave after about six months anyway for my own sanity. I had to fill out an application form for TK Maxx today and I mean not the slightest disrespect to the shop or anyone who works there (a friend of mine works there after all,) but if I had been completely honest in my application my prospective employer would no doubt have spluttered on their coffee. For example, to the question 'Why did you leave your last position?' the honest answer would have been 'Because it made me feel dead inside.' Don't think for a minute I mean I think I'm too good to work in a place like that - I'm a lesser individual than anyone who can, because the truth is I am just unable to overcome the feelings that if I worked there forty hours a week for any amount of time I would be wasting the glorious gift of life. This is something that many who are in such jobs must feel, but most people are able to rise above it. I can't. Can't or won't? Can't. There was a time when I could, and I've tried since but I just don't have it in me any more. Either that or I am truly wise in making the decision to forego a guaranteed wage in the hope that if I take enough risks they will one day pay off and I am able to make a living whilst doing something that matters to me.

Anyway, I will still be continuing my voluntary work come what may. Let me finish with yet another amazing coincidence, of which there appear to have been a number in my life lately. Today I got a message from my man Bob to say he was told earlier on my the job centre he has to attend an extra employment search session at 9.30am on Wednesday, and while he was typing the message he was listening to the new album from the band Deerhunter and was up to track four. Guess where I have to be at 9.30am on Wednesday, and which album I was listening to as I read his message.....yes, the very same. And I was up to track four. This would be terrifying if I wasn't so overjoyed that Bob and me can laugh about the horror of Wednesday morning. Horror it will likely be, for we plan to attend a gig in Bristol the night before and are almost certain to only be able to grab two or three hours' sleep by the time we get back. So yes, I know there are people who will probably read this and say 'A job's a job and I should be thankful for whatever I can get with things as they are.' To an extent I agree, but to a loveless soulless renegade (Anil, 2002) like myself you only got one shot so make it count, make of that what you will.

Dispensing wisdom to da youth

Thursday presented a somewhat perplexing vision of my past; I had attended Somerset College of Arts and Technology's Freshers Fair to represent Time to Change. I must admit I woke up that morning wondering what I had let myself in for and expecting very few college students to want to talk about mental health, but this is what the Time to Change campaign is all about. No one should be afraid to talk about their own experiences of mental distress, and it shouldn't be seen as a taboo subject but the truth is that it still is by a number of people, evidenced in some of the embarassed reactions I got when trying to engage with the students, but perhaps that was just my beard. On the whole though, most people were more than willing to talk and some even shared their own experiences of depression. There was a mental health quiz for people to fill out in order to be given a mood ring, which went a little something like this: -

1. What does it mean to maintain good mental health?

a). Having a constant feeling of contentment
b). Generally feeling like your life is Ok
c). Not hearing voices

Here the answer was b), as you will not feel constantly content in your life but maintaining good mental health is about having effective coping strategies for when things do not work out as you hoped they would, or when unexpected occurences make us unhappy.

2. Who is most likely to suffer a mental health problem?

a) Old people
b) Children
c) Adults
d) Teenagers
e) Anyone

The answer is e), no particular age group are more likely in themselves to suffer mental health issues than any other.

3. All mental health issues are incurable
TRUE
FALSE

The answer is FALSE - many mental health issues are curable, all are generally manageable.

4. Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are classed as mental health problems
TRUE
FALSE

The answer is TRUE.

5. What is schizophrenia?
a.) Having a split personality
b.) Seeing 'little green men'
c.) It can manifest itself in a number of ways

The answer is c) - this question in particular is designed to challenge stigma in the media. The term 'Schizo' means dual in Greek, and so this is an outdated term. Schizophrenia and Split-Personality Disorder are not the same thing.

6. Which of these is the correct term for manic depression?
a) The blues
b) Bi-polar affective disorder
c) The ups and downs

The answer is b) - this condition has been in the media quite a bit lately with Stephen Fry making a powerful documentary about his experience of the condition and a couple of characters on Eastenders trying to manage the condition in their daily lives.

7. People with mental health issues are more likely to be violent
TRUE
FALSE

The answer is FALSE - again this question is designed to challenge peoples' beliefs that may have arisen from the perception in the media of people who suffer mental health issues as being violent.

8. What causes depression?
a) Difficult events in your life
b) Not getting enough sleep
c) Your personality
d) Being anxious

The answer is that any of these factors can cause depression, which goes to show that anyone can get depressed and there can be a number of reasons why.

9. What is seasonal affective disorder?
a) Being sad about getting the socks for Christmas again
b) Sadness that comes from not having a lot of sunlight or warm weather
c) (can't remember)

The answer is b) - seasonal affective disorder is not generally thought of as a form of mental distress by people but is very common and should be recognised as it's important that people try and look after themselves during the winter.

10. Which of these famous people have had a mental health problem?

Beethoven
Michaelangelo
Kate Winslet
David Beckham
John Lennon
Johnny Depp
Uma Thurman
John Lennon
Stephen Fry

The answer is that all of these people have suffered some form of mental distress at one time or another, and this question was designed to highlight how common mental health problems are. Also, John Lennon was on the sheet twice. This was a mistake but of course I made the obvious joke to everyone that it was because he had split personality disorder. He actually suffered depression.


Overall the quiz was designed to get people thinking about what the campaign is aiming for, and to challenge peoples' preconceptions about mental health. A lot of people I spoke to were quite surprised when I revealed the answer to question five in particular, with many thinking of Schizophrenia as a Jekyll and Hyde personality. One of the more prominent symptoms of Schizophrenia is hearing voices and during some mental health first-aid training on Monday I took part in an exercise to demonstrate how disorientating this can be. Basically you would have a conversation with someone while a third person spoke in your ear, and I must say after just a couple of minutes of this I was beginning to feel rather confused and was unable to concentrate on the conversation. Now imagine what it's like to have to deal with this on a daily basis. However, one of the most common misconceptions about Schizophrenia is that it makes people violent; people with the condition are not more or less likely to be violent than anyone else, even though it can make the world seem like a very confusing place. Even more so, rather. A lot of people were also very surprised when I revealed the answer to question ten that all of the celebrities listed had experienced some form of mental distress. By the way, David Beckham has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - this is the one most people were unsure of.

Now, the reminder of my past came when I ventured outside to hand out some 'inspirational thoughts for the day' to the students. There was a drum & bass DJ in a caravan with a number of extremely intoxicated-looking students dancing away in the light drizzle. I wandered among them dispensing pieces of paper with inspirational thoughts, some of which being: -

- People who drink to drown their sorrows should be told that sorrow knows how to swim.
- If the eyes had no tears the soul would have no rainbow.
- Courage is not to have no fears, but to face them.

I told them that if they'd had a heavy night and were hanging the next day they should think about the phrase on the paper and it might help them. They loved it. How I wish I'd had someone dispensing inspirational thoughts to me back in my raving days. Anyway, within minutes rain of biblical proportions cascaded down upon us all and in the minute or so it took to run back to the conference centre I became utterly drenched. Overall though, on a day when I'd woken up feeling fairly miserable I was bursting with positivity by the end. There's something about educating and inspiring da youth that fills you with a sense that maybe you're not utterly useless after all. Hooray!!!

Go Wild, Stay Well

Something I haven't talked about a lot in my blog yet is the 'Go Wild, Stay Well' project for which I volunteer. I started this blog when I was depressed, and in such circumstances you often have quite a bit of tunnel vision, so my earlier blogs were often all about me. Truth is that I am one of millions of people in the UK who experience any form of mental distress, chances are that every single one of us will at some point in our lives. That's why I feel it is so important to talk about these things. The Go Wild, Stay Well project is a collaboration between Mind in Taunton and West Somerset and Somerset Wildlife Trust, and is concerned with ecotherapy. Ecotherapy is encouraging people to get involved in outdoor activities such as conservation work, gardening, growing vegetables or walking in the countryside as a method of treating mental distress, or complementing existing treatments. In this particular project people are able to take part in conservation work on several nature reserves in the Quantock and Blackdown hills in order to feel the therapeutic benefits of nature, and to gain a sense of achievement from having taken part in something that will allow vulnerable wildlife to thrive in the future. Amber Sharpe has been volunteering for the Go Wild, Stay Well projects at the actual sessions, and I e-mailed her recently asking her to say a few words about what people have gained from taking part in this project, and what she has gained herself from being involved. She had this to say....

Hi Dave

Volunteering for Go Wild, Stay Well has been extremely rewarding for me. It has made me feel fulfilled to see people develop in both health and fitness over the course of the 10 weeks. It is surprising that half a day of conservation work and walking can be so beneficial to some people. I feel elated when I hear people become proud of their day's work and achievements and every week I have been told by someone that they have enjoyed their day, even if it has been quite strenuous.



I think that the 10 week course has allowed participants to be less afraid of doing something they may not normally do, for instance conservation work or even going for a long walk in a beautiful place. I believe it has opened some of their minds to new things and has shown them that they can achieve and gain recognition whilst doing things they actually enjoy. I have liked the fact that although the group's participants are so different, something as simple as Go Wild, Stay Well can bring people together to enjoy similar things. By talking to many of the participants, it is clear that they enjoy the conservation work but after some time, about an hour, most participants are excited to go for a long, relaxed walked where we were all able to learn more about the environment - plants, animals, species - that we never knew before.



Go Wild, Stay Well has been a great learning experience for me as well as, I’m sure, everyone else involved and it has been an exciting, enjoyable and rewarding experience for me. It is great to see that even as the first group to use the Go Wild, Stay Well scheme, everything has gone so smoothly. It has been so enjoyable and there has been a warm bond in the group where everyone seems to respect each other in their own way.



It has been a great pleasure to have been able to volunteer for the original Go Wild, Stay Well and help develop it and establish it for the later groups. I feel honoured to have been a part of the first Go Wild, Stay Well.

Regards,

Amber


My role for Go Wild, Stay Well has been more concerned with the promotional side of things - assisting with the organisation of the launch event, trying to raise the profile of the project within the media, producing leaflets and a monthly newsletter, making links with other projects and organisations and updating the project's facebook page. On Friday just gone I attended one of the sessions, and this was my experience.....




On Friday 17th September I attended one of the sessions for the ‘Go Wild, Stay Well’ project. It seems ludicrous that I had not been to one already, for several reasons. Firstly, having gone through a cloud of depression myself during July and August the sessions would really have been beneficial to me. It also seems strange that I have been working to promote the project and organising the launch event when I hadn’t actually seen Go Wild, Stay Well in action. Project manager Dave Topham had kept me very well informed about the progress of the sessions and also I didn’t want my presence to be in any way disruptive, but last week I decided it was time. After receiving confirmation from Dave that it wouldn’t be a problem for me to be there I arrived at the Mind office shortly before 1pm to find the group congregating downstairs preparing to set off.

One thing that was instantly noticeable was the sense of camaraderie that had been previously described by Amber Sharpe, who has been volunteering for the project. As soon as I walked in and sat down one of the group, Mark, commented that I had rainbows on my head, due to the sun shining through the stained glass on the window I sat beneath. We all had a good laugh about this, several people saying that it was like a halo. I explained how several strangers every day I walk through town note my resemblance to Jesus.

As we set off for Langford Heathfield nature reserve the atmosphere in the minibus was relaxed and chatty. It was participant Sarah’s birthday, another participant Toby’s birthday being three days later. When we got to the reserve everyone in the group who I hadn’t met introduced themselves for me and asked me questions to which I felt they genuinely wanted to know the answer, rather than feeling like they had to ask out of some sense of social etiquette. This alone just went to show how wonderful the atmosphere is at these sessions. They are led by Dave Topham from Mind in Taunton and West Somerset and Sue Habgood from Somerset Wildlife Trust, who both have considerable experience in the fields of conservation and ecology.

The conservation work for the day involved clearing bracken and leaf litter with forks, which is a lot more physically demanding than it sounds. Many commented that this was the most physically exerting session yet, although it was clear that everyone was still enjoying themselves. The initial reason this project was set up was for people who can feel marginalised by society to be able to participate fully in life, and it seemed that this was exactly what was taking place. There is still quite a stigma attached to people who experience mental distress, and from some of the conversations I had that day it seems that day to day existence can be pretty tough for the people involved in this project, but the participants have said that these sessions provide a wonderful respite from the stresses experienced in normal life. If only people who still think of anyone who experiences mental distress as being violent and constantly unpredictable could attend one of these sessions, their perceptions would be shattered in a few hours. The amount of laughter and jokes during the session also brought to mind my previous assertions that depression is not about hating life, it’s about loving life but life not loving you back.

When the work was done we took a stroll round the adjoining woodlands and encountered another volunteer group from Wellington school. I was pleased that this was taking place as I feel it’s crucial that we are taught about the importance of conservation from an early age. The same is true of mental health, and thinking back I don’t really recall any education at school about this topic. Could this be why there is still a lack of understanding in society? It is probably a contributing factor. We sat in a field and discussed a range of topics including musical tastes, our creative endeavours, sport and religion. One thing that struck me was how quiet it was at the nature reserve. Even living in a village I can hear the traffic from the main road when I step outside, and wonder if this provokes a subconscious feeling that makes it difficult to fully relax.

Go Wild, Stay Well is all about showing people what is out there and ways in which mental distress can be combated other than through taking tablets in order to overcome the symptoms, which often ignores the underlying cause. Of course there are some instances when feelings of depression and anxiety can be particularly intense over a period of time and a course of anti-depressants can help to at least get someone over this bump, but an increasing number of psychologists believe that being in the right environment and having people around you who understand what you are going through can be a much more effective method of managing distress in the long term.

One thing that struck me about the ecotherapy session was how good I felt afterwards. I was filled with a sense of well-being, and I think if I had been in a depressive or anxious state at the time it would have given me a massive boost. Several participants have explained how they always sleep better after taking part in one of the sessions, and getting enough sleep is an important factor in maintaining good mental health. Another feeling I had was that I’d love to return the next week and have been told that I’d be more than welcome, so I think I will. Being part of what I was last Friday just highlighted once again how artificial a lot of modern life is, and what a ridiculous pace it is lived at. Perhaps this is a reason so many of us experience depression and anxiety. Overall though, attending the session brought home to me how important it is that projects like ‘Go Wild, Stay Well’ are able to continue in the future. If only the government were able to see this and act accordingly, instead of removing funding from so many vital projects. Perhaps Cameron and Clegg should be invited to one of the sessions in the future.