John Prescott and Bulimia

Well, has John Prescott done any favours to people experiencing eating disorder?   Some have criticised him for ‘cynically’ not revealing this personal problem until he published a book.   That is quite a judgement to make when you can’t know that.  On the basis of that judgement it has been argued that more harm than good has been done to public understanding of eating disorders.  However, I wonder just what IS the public understanding of eating disorders.  I have never had the feeling that there is a public reservoir of goodwill towards those who suffer this debilitating illness, whether anorexia or bulimia, but rather have heard comments expressing irritation, disbelief, and sometimes disgust.   Just maybe his honesty has brought a few to realise that many people are affected by this issue, and to reconsider their previously held views?  I hope so.  I was outraged by some media reportingof this announcement.  The word ‘CONFESSED’ was used in some reports.  What do they mean ‘CONFESSED’?  That word usually (always?) implies admission of a wrong doing and possibly a wish to put something right.   So what is the wrong doing here?  Which takes me back to public perceptions – and the criticisms suggesting cynicism.  Personally I am usually glad when public figures are able to talk about problems they have experienced with mental health issues, and overall feel that such openness probably results in more good than harm.   What do you think?  It would be good to hear from people who suffer this condition, and have their views.

Most Women Have Disordered Eating Behaviors–I’m not surprised.

The following post is from the ‘blog’ oiseaux – if you want to see the whole post then click on this link.

http://dotpanda.wordpress.com/

According to Self Magazine, 75% of women have disordered eating behaviors or symptoms consistent with eating disorders. So why am I not surprised by this?

Women are bombarded on a daily basis by the physical standards society imposes on us. I am very defensive of eating disorders themselves, but I don’t turn a blind eye to the pressure of media. I can’t really. I know it exists, especially because I feel it too. I don’t think the media causes eating disorders and I don’t think society does either. But they often play a role in the course of eating disorders for some people. And even those without eating disorders are frequently behaving as if they do. It’s as if we’re creating generation after generation of sad women who have increasingly horrible and dangerous relationships with food.

If even the AARP’s media is afraid of depicting older women at times, what are women supposed to think? And what are men supposed to think–that once they get older they can’t be seen with a woman their age? Now, I’m not attacking the AARP. They run a lot of ads that are very age-positive and geared towards women. But you must admit, these images are ridiculous.

Objectively, we all know that the subtle messages images like these give us are absurd and impossible. Nevertheless, they are difficult to ignore when they are in your face all the time. And I don’t believe the media invents these things: I believe they reflect attitudes and perspectives of the majority.

What these images tell me is that it’s okay for men to age, and that they, in fact, age rather gracefully even if they happen to lose their taut, youthful bodies. Women, however, must maintain flawless skin, a thin physique and a youthful face. Naturally (and even artificially) this is impossible for anyone.

One of the biggest hurdles for me in my struggle for self-esteem is throwing off what I have always believed, which is based on what these messages and other people have said about me. And I believe that is something that all people (women especially) must do.

I believe the majority of young women would rather die or be terminally ill than gain 50 pounds or look “too old”. Sad but true.

 I am pleased to be able to bring you this post by http://dotpanda.wordpress.com/ but want to say that altho I acknowledged its source and provided a link I should first have sent an e-mail to the author informing them of my interest.  I apologise for that oversight (new things to learn every day) and am glad that permission was given despite my failure, because I believe it is a very useful reflection.

 

French Bill Takes Chic Out of Being Too Thin

PARIS — In the capital of high fashion and ultrathin models, conservative French legislators adopted a pioneering law on Tuesday aimed at stifling a proliferation of Web sites that promote eating disorders with “thinspiration” and starvation tips.

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Reuters

The death in 2006 of the Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston from anorexia caused soul-searching in France.

Related

Times Health Guide: Anorexia

The bill, approved by the lower house of Parliament, faces a Senate vote. If passed, it would take aim at any means of mass communication — including magazines and Web sites — that promote eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia with punishments of up to three years in prison and more than $70,000 in fines.

The legislation was sponsored by Valérie Boyer, a conservative lawmaker from the Bouches-du-Rhône region in the south of France, and was also backed by the government’s health minister, Roselyne Bachelot. It is one of the strongest measures proposed since the 2006 death of a Brazilian model, Ana Carolina Reston, from anorexia.

“We have noticed,” Ms. Boyer said in an interview with The Associated Press, “that the sociocultural and media environment seems to favor the emergence of troubled nutritional behavior, and that is why I think it necessary to act.”

But the proposed law was criticized by the French Federation of Couture. Didier Grumbach, the federation president, told The Associated Press that it was impossible to legislate body weight. “Never will we accept in our profession that a judge decides if a young girl is skinny or not skinny,” he said. “That doesn’t exist in the world, and it will certainly not exist in France.”

With the proposed law, the French legislators are seeking to tame a murky world of some 400 sites extolling “ana” and “mia,” nicknames for anorexia and bulimia. Since 2000, such Web sites have multiplied in many languages, offering blunt tips on crash dieting, bingeing, vomiting and hiding weight loss from concerned parents.

The bill would make it illegal to “provoke a person to seek excessive weight loss by encouraging prolonged nutritional deprivation that would have the effect of exposing them to risk of death or endangering health.”

Critics from the French Socialist Party complained that the bill was vaguely worded and rushed through the lower house by the U.M.P., the conservative party of President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Eating disorder experts also expressed doubts about whether such a law would help victims or create even more demand for the sites by publicizing them.

“Ultimately, I think it’s a mistake to ban them because I think that you’re going to be hard pressed to demonstrate in a very clear way that these sites have a direct negative affect,” said Michael Levine, a psychology professor at Kenyon College in Ohio whose specialty is eating disorders and the mass media.

As written, the proposed French law does not make it clear who would be ultimately responsible for the content of such sites — the content creator or the Internet service hosting the site.

An aide to Ms. Boyer, the lawmaker, said the U.M.P. expected the proposed law to be amended to address those questions. He added that the idea was to focus on institutions that promote eating disorders, noting that “we cannot exclude fashion shows if there is a problem of health” or the death of a model.

                                                What do YOU think?

 

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New Page – Readings for Dark Moments

Last evening I was looking up some of the tags to our blog when I came across a piece of writing titled ‘The Edge’.   I felt that this article, and others in the same website, could be of help to some of our readers, particularly when things seem to overwhelm.  I e-mailed the writer for permission to use this piece and to make a link to their blog – and received a reply and permission very quickly.  The writer turned out to be author and academic Joely Black, and the following is part of her description of herself – taken from her blog.

Isabel Joely Black is a writer living in the UK. She has been working on Amnar, a fantasy fiction series, for the last four years. Currently, she divides her time between freelance academic writing, podcasting and working on her latest book in the Amnar series. Vivacious, frenetic and talkative, she also enjoys music and running, but doesn’t like having to write descriptions like these. In 2006, she began promoting Amnar and Distant Ground, a semi-autobiographical account of her struggle with anorexia and depression during the 1990s, doing readings at a variety of literary festivals. 2007 was a break year, but this year she is working on a podiobook of Amnar: Book One and discovering the joys of reading her own fiction out loud. She can mostly be found at a Starbucks or a bar in the city centre where she lives.

Over the next few weeks, she is going into the studio to record an audiobook version of her first novel, Amnar: Book One. The blog and Facebook Page will track the progress of the recording all the way from the first production of the scripts to the final release on March 1st, 2008. From then on, the book will be available to download in weekly segments from iTunes and her new website. For more information, check the blog for updates.

Contact information: You can follow Isabel Joely Black’s work and communicate with her through her Facebook Page, or for fans of Amnar, you can join the Group.

You can also access the blog directly through this link:  http://isabeljoelyblack.wordpress.com/

Thank You Joely for allowing us access to your writings and your blog. and hopefully make use of them to support others. 

  

Wallich – Young Person’s Handbook and Useful Contacts

The Handbook and Useful Contact list supplied by the Wallich Trust have been placed in the 16 – 21’s ( and a bit older) page of this blog.   Open the page, click on the YPH link – and be a bit patient while it loads as it is a large file!  The Support link is below the handbook link.

Mental Health Services in Gwent.

The meeting being held on 11th March (see below) is important and was originally requested by the service users and carers in the Monmouthshire Mental Health Forum.   At a Forum meeting held in the Autumn of 2007, during which members held an open discussion with Rhian Lewis, Patient’s Panel Co-ordinator and the Chair of the Panel, seven Forum members volunteered to become panel members in order to represent mental health interests.   Following that meeting this one (11th March) has been arranged and will be attended by senior members of the Gwent NHS Trust.  All mental health carers and service users are strongly encouraged to try to find time to attend.  Places are limited (25) and if you are a carer or service user who has been, or still are receiving services, and who has a view on what needs to be done to improve these services, then you need to attend.  If you pass up this chance then you may well be ‘kicking’ yourself in the months ahead as new changes take place.  Is a member of your family about to move from children’s mental health services to adult services, or an adult member about to move to older adult services – and do you have worries about this?  What do you feel about mixed wards and facilities?  About services for Eating Disorders?   Do you self harm – and how have you been received and treated in A&E?    There are many issues for discussion – go along and have your say.   Phone Rhian for help with transport or anything else that you need, and you can also phone or speak to Jen Pearce or Tony Rigby if you prefer.  01291-673728   What is important is to fill those 25 seats and take the chance to talk with those who make the decisions.           

MDF – Bipolar Organisation Cymru

DO YOU NEED SUPPORT WITH:
Bipolar Disorder, Mood Swings, Mania & Depression

Or do you support anyone with any of the above ?

We have Self help Groups in
Monmouth
Abergavenny
Newport
We offer support, help and advice to anyone affected by Bipolar Disorder
For further information contact

Sue Wigmore
MDF the Bipolar Organisation Cymru
08456-340 080

Britney Spears, young celebrities and mental health.

The latest news about Britney Spears, and her loss of parental responsibility for her two children, is not only a story of personal tragedy – but also an indictment of the failure of the United States’ politicians to develop effective child protection for working ’celebrity’ children.  We are well aware of Spears, and also Michael Jackson, and there are others who come to mind including River Phoenix, Drew Barrimore, and Judy Garland.   And is it just the United States that is at fault?  No, it has happened in the UK as well; some of us will remember Lena Zavaroni and the incurability of her anorexia – resulting in her early death, and I am sure there are other ‘celebrity’ young people that we can think of, including Jack Wilde, from the past and the present, who suffered greatly from the pressures they experienced at a time when they were unable to cope with them.     Why are these people of interest in a Mental Health ‘blog’?  Well, because many of these celebrities, and also other individuals who started out as so called child ’stars’, have ended up in very obvious need of mental health support and services for their circumstances, and for public understanding.  It doesn’t seem to matter whether they were involved in acting, music, television or whatever – for many of them the end result has been mental instability and relationship breakdowns, often coupled with drug and alcohol experiences.   And where and when did those experiences start?   Reading people’s biographies are a good starting point, and many are available in full or synopsis on the internet.  Some tell of being supplied with ‘medication’ – usually speed – to help them through the demands of the film or theatre role, and of their inability to give up the drugs as they grew older.  When you consider the obvious physical fitness of individuals like Madonna, and the lengths they have gone to as adults in order to maintain that fitness -then it is hardly surprising to hear that much younger ’stars’ – maybe in their teens – needed to be given ‘medication’ to enable them to keep going on stage or while recording.   And what of the developmental conflicts forced on them by adults wanting to persuade the public of one virtue or another of their child/protegy – Britneys public statements about her chastity and virginity come to mind, as does the ‘clean’ image of the Jackson family.  What WERE the adults around Britney thinking of?  It’s hardly surprising that she seems to have gone seriously ‘off the rails’ since being able to make her own choices.

The ‘media’ of course  – (a generalisation I admit) -  grasp the opportunity for reporting (and fuelling?) a ‘good’ story, and rarely find time to research and examine the root causes of these very public failures.   Why?   I am sure there are many reasons, including business income, but I think they are missing a ‘trick’ here.     These are stories that need to be told; stories of the steady decline of individuals into mental ill health and sometimes an early death.   Research into how many others, who maybe never reached ‘celebrity status’, experienced the same ’support systems’ and ended up on the scrap heap of human failure.   But of course, it wasn’t failure - these children and teenagers weren’t obtaining and administering these items themselves – they were being given them – as some of them record.   I find it a contrary world to have laws and strict regulation about the hours of work for paper boys and girls and for school age shop workers, based on the assessed psychological and physical effects of such work and the young persons’ need for free activity, regular education, etc., and yet to allow – admittedly with regulation – young ’stars’ to commit to hours of rehearsal each week, and hours of performance even if eased by shift rotas.   And then there may be be world travel; performing before world Personalities, and then the let down when precocity is replaced by normal physical development, and earning power drops.  How can this be right?  I am not impressed by smiling faced twelve year olds telling the news cameras of their delight in their stage roles and how much they are enjoyed.  I am even less impressed by the parents who think that this is a suitable childhood for their children.  Am I a cynic to think it is probably about money and short term futures – because many of these young people are never heard of again in any major roles?   And then, sometimes – all too often it seems to me – we do hear of them; and like Britney and Michael Jackson, and Jack Wilde and River Phoenix, and Lena and Drew and Judy Garland; it is a story of tragedy, emotional pain, dissolusion, relationship difficulties, huge professional treatment fees, and serious mental ill health.  And sometimes self harm and death.  All these individuals were owed the duty of safe parenting, and if that was not there for them, then they were owed the duty of state intervention.  It is too late for Britney; although the state has intervened to protect her children, it did not protect her when she needed it.   And the same for the others.

If you have a similar experience in your own life – of unreasonable expectation and possibly exploitation, then write and tell me.  It may not be to do with the stage, or performance arts, but to do with academic and personal expectations and what happened when they were not achieved.  Did you follow the ‘wrong career’, shack up with the ‘wrong partner’,  or were you just made to feel a failure?  Are you willing to share these experiences with the readers of SpeakEasy?   

         

World Aids Day update – Friday 30th November.

World Aids Day is officially tomorrow, Saturday 1st December, but then some people have to be away from Cardiff for various reasons.  So, despite the generally terrible weather, this group of ‘braves’ managed to find a weather window around 12.30pm, near to the Senydd, and ‘make’ this picture.  The shape wasn’t quite that of the red ribbon, but then the photographer was high in the air on a Cardiff Fire Service aerial platform.   Wonder what that felt like in the wind!  He was shouting instructions to the group many feet below – so it was hardly surprising if they became difficult to act on.    Still, it is good that a group of people, from different interests and employments came together.  City Councillors were also present and addressing the group – but apparently no-one managed to make it the few hundred yards from the Senydd.   Wonder why that was?  Perhaps they didn’t have anything red to wear, tho’ that shouldn’t have been a problem for the Labour AM’s.   Hey Ho, and to think that Wales has rising numbers of HIV infections for both men and women.   The report of the Health Protection Agency, supported by the National Public Health Service presents the following key findings:

KEY FINDINGS

Rates of HIV continuing to increase in Wales

‘Particular concern’ is continuing transmission among men who have sex with men

This group at risk of an overlapping HIV, syphilis and hepatitis epidemic emerging in Europe

Most cases of gonorrhoea and chlamydia occurring in young heterosexuals

Across the UK, heterosexual women account for 35% of new diagnoses of HIV – nearly twice figure in 1996

Heterosexuals represent 54% of new HIV diagnoses, with 85% infections acquired outside UK

Source: Health Protection Agency

 

Hmm, seems to me that some AM’s should have made the effort to join the awareness raising demonstration to show their concern about these findings.

What is meant by ‘domestic violence’?

    Facts & figures

Although domestic violence is chronically under reported, research estimates that it:

• accounts for 16% of all violent crime (Source: Crime in England and Wales 04/05 report)
• has more repeat victims than any other crime (on average there will have been 35 assaults before a victim calls the police)
• costs in excess of £23bn a year
• claims the lives of two women each week and 30 men per year
• will affect 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men in their lifetime

This is the link to the Home Office website where you can read this and other information for yourself.   http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/reducing-crime/domestic-violence/

The following entry is from Australia, where it is stated that domestic violence will affect the lives of 50% of Australian women in their lifetime.

Sydney, Australia – November 2, 2007 – White Ribbon today launches its 2007

national campaign with a call to action for all political parties to pledge their commitment

to develop social policies to end violence against women in Australia. At the launch of its

annual media campaign White Ribbon asks Australia’s politicians to remember that

almost half of all Australian women will be victims of physical or sexual abuse in their

lifetime, and implores them to bring violence prevention strategies higher up the political

agenda.   To read more click on this link:-

http://www.whiteribbonday.org.au/