Childhood memories: sibling bonds run deep and the trauma of losing a loved one can last a lifetime.
I lost my brother last year, aged 61. He had been diagnosed with terminal myeloma - a devastating cancer of the bone marrow - but by the time I discovered his illness, he was already in a coma. I was therefore denied the spiritual healing of a final conversation with him. Many bizarre symptoms have followed this event. Even though I now live in another country, far away from where my brother spent his whole life, I have recently ‘seen' my brother walking past the car as I drove along. The build was the same, the clothes similar - he was even carrying the unusual multi-striped golfing umbrella he always used - and his ‘eyes' red-rimmed. It is truly chilling when such an experience happens. The brain is an amazing organ.
Losing a close member of the family, particularly when they are still relatively young, is very difficult to deal with. In my case, there was a long-running family saga which meant that my brother and I had lost touch for many years.
Posted by: Gillian Green in Untagged on
Jun 29, 2009
The minute summer arrives, everywhere we look the media tell us it's bad news. We should all stay out of the sun for fear of skin damage, food-poisoning, hay fever, eye damage...so the list goes on.
How refreshing, then, to hear that a leading professional - Professor Steve Field, Chairman of the Royal College of GPs - says that summer is a time when "health advantages far outweigh the disadvantages".
Hear, hear!
Posted by: Gillian Green in anger management on
Jun 17, 2009
Bitterness is a common occurrence, ranging in strength according to the reason for it. As two extremes, think of how the Jewish people viewed the Nazis during WW2, compared to a person today who harbours feelings against a bank who has refused him a home loan. At one end of the scale, a traumatic event can make a whole people angry, pessimistic, aggressive and hopeless. For most, though, it is a fleeting emotion, one that slips away as readily as any other as the hours progress and new thoughts seep in to push out the bitterness.
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) generated a measure of incredulity recently by debating whether bitterness should be labelled a bona fide mental disorder. They've even come up with a new name for it: post-traumatic embitterment disorder (PTED), stating that it could be due to a chemical imbalance in the brain.
But, is it a mental illness?
I agree that there's certainly a lot of anger and bitterness in the world at the moment. From global issues to personal financial meltdown, there's no lack of things to feel embittered about. ‘Why me?' is the constant refrain.
Posted by: Gillian Green in depression on
Apr 29, 2009
No-one can really understand how difficult it is to move into our British culture until we listen to those who have tried it. Sometimes life can be so overwhelming that mental health issues can crop up where there were none before - even in the relatively young.
Read the following story and let us know if it ‘rings any bells' with you. Have you experienced anything similar in your life?
Anawara, 39, a British Asian, has had periods of feeling sad and tired throughout her life but until recently was too ashamed to talk about it.
Posted by: Gillian Green in Untagged on
Apr 27, 2009
My father once said to me: to be famous you need to say the right thing at the right time to the right person. How difficult this must be if, added to this, you also suffer from a mental health problem.
I Dreamed a Dream
Watching the YouTube video of Susan Boyle - from the ‘Britain's Got Talent' TV show - brought this home to me. Here was a middle-aged woman, who walked in front of an audience and got the typical reaction: laughter. How dare someone so old, plain and out-of-fashion, as well as having a slight mental condition, have the effrontery to think she was a star?
