Archive for May, 2008
A lesson in controlled assertiveness!
May 13, 2008Taken from the Guardian, an actual letter sent by the Inland Revenue:
Dear Mr Addison,
I am writing to you to express our thanks for your more than prompt reply to our latest communication, and also to answer some of the points you raise. I will address them, as ever, in order. Firstly, I must take issue with your description of our last as a “begging letter”. It might perhaps more properly be referred to as a “tax demand”. This is how we, at the Inland Revenue have always, for reasons of accuracy; traditionally referred to such documents.
Secondly, your frustration at our adding to the “endless stream of crapulent whining and panhandling vomited daily through the letterbox on to the doormat” has been noted. However, whilst I have naturally not seen the other letters to which you refer I would cautiously suggest that their being from “pauper councils, Lombardy pirate banking houses and pissant gas-mongerers” might indicate that your decision to “file them next to the toilet in case of emergencies” is at best a little ill-advised. In common with my own organisation, it is unlikely that the senders of these letters do see you as a “lackwit bumpkin” or, come to that, a “sodding charity”. More likely they see you as a citizen of Great Britain , with a responsibility to contribute to the upkeep of the nation as a whole.
Which brings me to my next point. Whilst there may be some spirit of truth in your assertion that the taxes you pay “go to shore up the canker-blighted, toppling folly that is the Public Services”, a moment’s rudimentary calculation ought to disabuse you of the notion that the government in any way expects you to “stump up for the whole damned party” yourself. The estimates you provide for the Chancellor’s disbursement of the funds levied by taxation, whilst colourful, are, in fairness, a little off the mark. Less than you seem to imagine is spent on “junkets for Bunterish lickspittles” and “dancing whores” whilst far more than you have accounted for is allocated to, for example, “that box-ticking façade of a university system.”
A couple of technical points arising from direct queries:
1. The reason we don’t simply write “Muggins” on the envelope has to do with the vagaries of the postal system;
2. You can rest assured that “sucking the very marrows of those with nothing else to give” has never been considered as a practice because even if the Personal Allowance didn’t render it irrelevant, the sheer medicallogistics involved would make it financially unviable.
I trust this has helped. In the meantime, whilst I would not in any way wish to influence your decision one way or the other, I ought to point out that even if you did choose to “give the whole foul jamboree up and go and live in India ” you would still owe us the money.
Please forward it by Friday.
Stammering – request for help.
May 12, 2008About two weeks ago a young person wrote to SpeakEasy in Mons asking for help with stammering. I am sorry to say that I missed replying to that message and now cannot find it. I hope that the writer will look at this ‘blog’ again and find this message.
“You may find the following links helpful and like to have a look at them with your parents. If you want to write to me again, please do, and I will not lose the message this time. Sorry.”
http://www.stammering.org/teensleaflet.html
http://www.stutteringhelp.org/
http://www.stammeringcentre.org/s-How_Can_I_Get_Some_Help
BBC – Mental health – Self harm.
May 8, 2008
Self-harmFriends, relatives and professionals are often so distressed when someone deliberately harms themselves that they don’t know how to help, leaving the person inflicting self-harm feeling alone. James Tighe explains the help available. |
Self-harm is a way of dealing with very strong emotions. For some people it gives the relief that crying may provide for the rest of us. Some self-harming people feel so angry and aggressive they can’t control their emotions. They become afraid that they may hurt someone, so they turn their aggression inwards to get relief.
People who self-harm are often labelled as ‘attention seeking’. However, a person who self-harms may believe this is the only way to communicate their distress, and self-harm can be a hidden problem that goes on for years. It may start as a spur-of-the-moment outlet for anger and frustration (such as punching a wall) and then develop into a major way of coping with stress that, because it remains hidden, generates more stress.
The severity of self-harm doesn’t depend on the severity of a person’s underlying problems. Usually, as time passes, the person who is self-harming becomes more accustomed to the pain they inflict on themselves and so has harm themselves more severely to get the same level of relief.This spiral can lead to permanent injury and serious infections.
The most common forms are cutting the arms, hands and legs, and less commonly the face, abdomen, breasts and even genitals. Some people burn or scald themselves, others inflict blows on their bodies, or bang themselves against something. Other forms of self-harm include scratching, picking, biting, scraping and occasionally inserting sharp objects under the skin or into body orifices, and swallowing sharp objects or harmful substances. Common forms of self-injury that rarely reach medical attention include people pulling out their own hair and eyelashes, and scrubbing themselves so hard they break the skin (sometimes using cleaners such as bleach).
How common is it?
About ten per cent of admissions to UK medical wards are as a result of self-harm. Women are at the most risk of self-harming between the ages of 15 and 19; men, between 20 and 24.
Women have higher rates of self-harm than men.
Methods of self-harm vary, but the majority of hospital admissions are for drug overdoses – only five to 15 per cent are caused by cutting.
These figures probably hide another group of people who regularly self-harm to relieve stress. These people have usually found ways to keep their problem hidden and, when they do harm themselves badly enough to need treatment, will often have a story prepared, or will not seek help at all. The result can be permanent disfigurement or a serious infection.
About half the men admitted to hospital for self-harm and a quarter of women have drunk alcohol in the hours beforehand. This is a very worrying figure. A person who has taken a drug overdose runs the risk of the drugs interacting with the alcohol. Both tcould become more potent when mixed, with tragic consequences.
Self-harm paradox
It’s important to make a distinction between self-harm and attempted suicide, though people who self-mutilate often go on to attempt suicide. In the case of attempted suicide (most usually by swallowing pills) the harm caused is uncertain and basically invisible. By contrast, in self-harm by cutting, the degree of harm is clear, predictable and often highly visible.
Many people indulge in behaviour that’s harmful to themselves, such as smoking or drinking to excess. But people don’t smoke to damage themselves – harm is an unfortunate side-effect. The reason they smoke is for pleasure. Yet people who cut themselves intend to hurt themselves. If you self-harm as a way of coping with stressful or difficult feelings, such as anger, frustration or worthlessness, the important thing to realise is that you’re not alone. Many people do this and come through it. There is help out there. The kind of personal exploration needed to resolve these issues is often best done with a mental health professional or counsellor. But this doesn’t mean that people who self-harm can’t take some control of their situation. Most people who self-harm want to stop hurting themselves and they can do this by trying to develop new ways of coping and communicating. However, some people feel a need not only to change their behaviour but also to understand why they have resorted to harming themselves.
There are a number of techniques that can reduce the risk of serious injury or minimise the harm caused by self-inflicted injury. This list is not exhaustive – different people find different things useful in various situations. So if one doesn’t work, try another.
- Stop and try to work out what would have to change to make you no longer feel like hurting yourself
- Count down from ten (nine, eight, seven)
- Point out five things, one for each sense, in your surroundings to bring your attention on to the present
- Breathe slowly – in through the nose and out through the mouth
If you still feel like cutting, try:
- Marking yourself with a red water-soluble felt-tip pen instead of cutting
- A punch bag to vent the anger and frustration
- Plunging your hands into a bowl of ice cubes (not for too long, though)
- Rubbing ice where you’d otherwise cut yourself
If you’re nervous about seeking professional help and wish to remain anonymous it may be a good idea to contact the Samaritans.
Professional help
Self-harm is almost always a symptom of another underlying problem. While the problem can be addressed directly through behavioural and stress-management techniques, it may also be necessary to look at and treat other problems. This could involve anything from medication to psychodynamic therapy.
Most local mental health teams are prepared to see and assess people who self-harm but, where the underlying problems are too complex, may decide to refer the patient to more specialist services.
Self-harm theories
A lot of people say they start self-harming behaviour in childhood, disguising scratches and bumps as accidents and progressing to more systematic cutting and burning in adolescence.
There are different theories as to why people self-mutilate. One is that because victims of childhood sexual abuse were forbidden to reveal the truth about their abuse, they use self-mutilation or self-cutting to express the horror of their abuse to the world.
Another theory is that sexual abuse in early childhood leads to extremely low self-esteem. If very low self-esteem develops, self-harm as an expression of self-hatred is understandable.
One research finding is that self-harmers tend to grow up in an ‘invalidating environment’ – one where the communication of private experiences is met with unreliable, inappropriate or extreme responses. As a result, expressing private experiences is trivialised or punished.
The problem with these theories is that (in the case of the sexual abuse theory, for example) not everyone who’s been sexually abused starts to self-harm, and not everyone who self-harms has been sexually abused.
Another theory is that self-cutting triggers release of the body’s natural opiate-like chemicals to reduce the pain. Perhaps self-cutters have become addicted to their body’s heroin-like reaction to cutting, which is why they do it again and again. They may also experience withdrawal if they haven’t done it for a while.
Drugs used to treat heroin addicts may behelpful with self-cutters, but mostly for those who describe a ‘high’ after they’ve cut themselves.
Another theory, which inpatient units often use, is based on the psychological principle that all behaviour has consequences that are somehow rewarding. Cutting usually leads to a sequence of behaviour – increased attention, for example – that may become the rewarding reason to repeat the behaviour.
Staff in specialist units are specially trained to ensure that no consequences follow from an episode of cutting that could be rewarding. Instead, when the patient stops cutting themselves they’re rewarded with increased attention from staff.
Self-harm culture
It’s essential self-harm is destigmatised so that people seek help early on. Modifying our bodies is part of contemporary culture, for example piercing, cosmetic surgery (breast enhancement and nose jobs), hair removal, skin bleaching, hair straightening and tattooing.
This article was last reviewed in September 2006.
First published in June 2000.
If you would like to comment on this article from the BBC, then please send your comments to:
http://oberon92.wordpress.com I will be very pleased to hear from you. Oberon.
Self Harm Inquiry.
May 8, 2008
Self Harm Inquiry
Launched at the House of Commons in 2004, the two-year Inquiry has heard evidence from over 350 individuals and organisations, and most importantly listened to the voices of young people who have experience of self-harm.
The campaign calls on the Government to launch a UK-wide initiative to develop better and more appropriate responses to young people who self-harm, starting with an awareness campaign targeted at professionals, parents and young people.
More information about the inquiry at www.selfharmuk.org
Suicide and the internet.
May 7, 2008The following is an abstract of the full article in the British Medical Journal. If you would like to read the article then e-mail susan jennings (below).
Abstract: Media reporting of suicide and its fictional portrayal on television are known to influence suicidal behaviour, particularly the choice of method used. Indeed, epidemics of suicides using particular methods have occurred after media portrayal of their use. As some methods of suicide are more likely to cause death than others, such influences may affect the outcome of suicide attempts and national suicide rates.
For the full-text of this article please email: susan.jennings@lancashirecare.nhs.uk
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training
May 7, 2008Mind Cymru is offering this training, and if you are interested please click on the link which will take you to the site of Mind Cymru for more information.
The challenge
Every year more people die by suicide than from all the armed conflicts around the world.
In any year as many as 6 per cent of the population have serious thoughts of suicide.
How can Mind Cymru prevent further deaths and injuries?
How can we support people to choose life when something prevents them from seeing a way forward?
The workshop
Mind Cymru now provides the internationally recognised Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), which is already well established in Canada, USA, Australia, Norway, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
ASIST provides practical training for caregivers seeking to prevent the immediate risk of suicide.
Participants often include:
- people concerned about family and friends
- natural helpers and advisers
- emergency service workers
- counsellors, teachers and ministers
- mental health practitioners
- workers in health, welfare and justice
- community volunteers
http://www.mind.org.uk/About+Mind/Mind+Cymru/ASIST/index.htm
Cutting the Risk
May 7, 2008is a book published by The National Self Harm Network on Self Harm, Self Care and Risk Reduction. It is one of many books and dvd’s which you can borrow from our library in the Resource Room at Usk. If you want to know what is available, give us a call on 01291-673728 and we will help. You can also come and look for yourself and read or watch items while you are here.
A reader reviews the book as follows: “Easy to read book. Gives lots of suggestions about safer ways to self harm and how to treat injuries. Plenty of coping strategies and ways to stand up for yourself”.
“The National Self-Harm Network (UK based but available to everyone from ANY country: forum topic) has been a survivor-led organisation since 1994. We’re committed campaigners for the rights and understanding of people who self-harm.”
Click this link to access the site: http://www.nshn.co.uk/ Front page of the site does contain a caution warning. If you find the site helpful please let us know.
