Part 1 of a blog series on Mental Health Disorders.

 A huge study conducted by the World Health Organisation came up with the ten leading causes of ill mental health; in developed countries people affected mentally are majorly within the 15 – 44 age group, the progressive disorders closely linked and are the following:

1.       Major Depressive Disorder

Also knows as Clinical Depression or Unipolar depression; Patients diagnosed with MDD also suffer from insomnia are unsociable and can also be suicidal. With low moods, no self confidence and being unable to enjoy general activities and can also suffer from self neglect.

2.       Alcohol use

In terms of substance use, alcohol abuse has a higher statistic rate of sufferers than those with alcohol dependence or those abusing drugs. Long term effects are the psychological well being with adverse reactions to the brain. Sustained alcohol use creates severe anxiety and depression which in most cases creates prolonged abstinence

3.       Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Abbreviated PTSD is an anxiety disorder is triggered as with most mental disorders by an extreme psychological trauma, this could involve the death of a loved one, unwanted sexual act or even a physical injury. Re-occurring flashbacks and difficulty falling and staying asleep, fear of losing control are all typical symptoms

4.       Schizophrenia

Is a mental disorder that is described as one person’s abnormalities in trying to grasp on to what is reality to what is just a play of their unstable minds. Schizophrenia also affects the five senses sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Hallucinations and paranoia play a major factor in the characteristics. All which can be offset in early adult hood. Life expectancy to those without the disorder is 10-20 years less.

5.       Self inflicted injuries

The deliberate infliction of self harm, tissue damage, alteration to the body which also includes those with eating disorders usually aimed at relieving unbearable emotions or sensations to a non existing reality of numbness, listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders as a borderline personality disorder

6.       Bipolar Disorder

Commonly referred to as manic depressives, bipolar sufferers tend to experience mixed episodes of hypomania. Moods have a mix of high and low. The disorder has been divided in to three different types Bipolar I Bipolar II and Cyclothymiacs. Also seen as a genetic disorder can be a long term and devastating or creative, goal driven and positive achievements.

7.       Drug use

Depending on the type of drug being used it can lead to many health problems inducing symptomatically which resembles mental illness, some cases psychotic symptoms can occur long after detoxification, such as prolonged Psychosis or depression.

8.       Obsessive Compulsive Disorders

A typical OCD sufferer vague obsession can involve a disarray or tension that ones life cannot proceed as normal if an imbalance remains. It is an anxiety induced disorder of intrusive thoughts bought on by repetitive behaviour. Most sufferers of OCD can admit to their problem it is usually the realisation of their problem that causes further distress.

9.       Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Mainly occur amongst children who suffer with the impairment of functioning in everyday settings such as schools, relationships and in the home. If not treated could have long term adverse reactions later on in life.

10.   Borderline Personality Disorder

Characterised by persuasive instability in moods those suffering with BPD have instability in their sense of self-identity, high rates of self harm and suicide but can be treated and improved over time.

More support programmes and better care needs to be available to patients as well as carers. It can be emotionally draining and stressful without any support. Different disorders have different symptoms but many are volatile, argumentative and sometimes sufferers are unable to control their physical reactions. Some almost as if they are helpless children, need to be bathed and general day to day activities need to be done for them.

There are a few funded organisations and charities who offer help. The leading organisation in the United Kingdom at the moment is MIND, National Association for Mental Health who is a charity and dependent on donations. Their campaigns help provide information and advice to promote the protection of good mental health in everyone.

Sima Rahman

It’s been just over six months since I joined Restless Beings and thereupon visited the  proposed site for a rehab centre and home for the needy yet awesome street kids of Dhaka.

• The safety of having a roof over their head and a place they can rest at night
• Three meals per day to rid the children of malnutrition
• Full medical care and assistance to ensure the children are immunised against major diseases
• Psychological counselling to ensure that any sensitive issues or abuse cases are handled and help the children to overcome their ordeals (including self harm and substance misuse as well as physical and sexual abuse)
• A manageable education, where the children are taught according to their capabilities
• An array of life skills lessons that will empower the children with real vocational ability that they can use. As an organisation we believe in a holistic approach to developing these young people, and the key here is to encourage autonomy and confidence
• Creative Nourishment & Growth: A programme which involves the development of key skills and talents of each child to promote creative growth, which may open the doors to opportunities that these children would not normally have

Tariq -  2009 - Restlessbeings

It was yet another cold winter’s evening in London, the sky was overcast with clouds, the scent of foredooming rain could be picked out of the breeze, amongst the hundred other aromas London is well known to possess. But a particular aroma that one rarely comes across was soon to fill the air in front of the India House, that of burning candle wax.

I was walking to Southbank from the top of Aldwych, taking pictures for my portfolio and going to meet some friends at a Christmas market. I noticed a few police officers standing near India House, and considering what had happened just a few days ago this didn’t surprise me. But that there was a very small crowd of twenty people in the square of India house, in a circle, sporting white armbands did. On approaching the group I eaves dropped that they were holding some sort of manifestation, and asked a young man by the name of Oaisim what was going on. A spontaneously organised candle light vigil for the dead of the massacre in Mumbai was being organised, by friends, relatives and concerned Indian citizens.

I left these volunteers and driven individuals to their organising, since I had a rendezvous on the other side of the Thames. Upon my return the whole square was packed with people, holding candle in their hands, the wax dripping on their bare skin, cupping the flame of almost 200 dead from the chilly wind that threatened to blow it out. Most of the faces in this crowd were blank, a few hid their tears well, as if they were still under shock from what happened. Although the mood was not sober, it was more one of impatience, this was not a public mourning; it was a vigil and a call to arms from within the Indian community in London.

The many speakers that came forth presented their thoughts, raised several points and expressed their sorrow and disgust for what happened in the best ways they could. Speaking words of passion and lost love, and not of hate or restlessness, some struggled to raise their voices so that the whole congregation could hear, but all passed on their thoughts through action. Through being together, on a cold winters Sunday, as the foreshadowed rain started to drizzle down, none moved.

There were a couple of press photographers and a reporter present, marauding the crowd with their camera clicks and high intensity flashes. They were there to bear witness for the rest of the city, absent and unknowing of this occurrence, much like I would have been if I had not stumbled upon this scene and enquired about what was happening. I personally took some snap shots, available for all to see on my profile, for the benefit of recording this event and tracing its story. These members of the press were asked to join in on holding hands together in silence, but because of professionalism they had to refuse. I seemed to have been the only one, with camera in hand, to have held a candle, said a prayer under the rain, and held hands with fellow brothers from another nation under the gaze of the bronze bust of Jawaharlal Nehru, towering over the square. I simply felt the need to be part of this, and not just to be a spectator, as I signed the guestbook that was being passed around, Nicola Lazzari, Citizen of the world. It is with this in mind that I wrote this article, and added the pictures to facebook, hope it gave you a glance into something that happened, but you probably never would have known.

My greatest condolences go to those who have lost loved ones in these attacks, and as always I shout out to the world; LOVE LIFE AND PEACE.

- All thoughts and pictures: © Nicola Lazzari, alias Speaking Aperture

The morning rush – hour is undoubtedly the worst part of my day.  It is actually worse than waking up still feeling tired.  I mean of all the places that you want to be at 820 on a Monday morning, the platform of a tube station waiting to be packed in like a sardine, is not anywhere near my ideal.  The worst part is watching the digital clock slowly reaching to the point whereby you are no longer waiting for a train to the point where you are praying for a train to come quickly.  And then it arrives, on your platform, and you are faced with a choice of either squashing someone else and dislocating their shoulder, or awkwardly positioning yourself between a human body and a steel door and dislocating your own shoulder.  Inevitably, its always my shoulder that gets dislocated, because worse than having a bad morning myself, is making someone else’s morning bad too. 

Apart from rambling on about public transport for a bit, the reason why I wanted to introduce my rush hour journey, was to tell the story of an incident I saw unfolding in front of my eyes a few days ago.  Basically, after watching 7 central lines go without being able to get on them and seeing the clock tick from 8.19 – 8.49 (8.42 is the point where I am guaranteed to be late), I finally made it onto the train and as has become statuary, dislocating my shoulder so as not to hurt anyone else.  The normal, sudden stops that the driver thinks is funny as about a million people come crushing into one other occurred, and my attempt to sleep standing up was broken time and time again.  By the time I had got to Bank station, the train had emptied out a little and I was relieved to be able to feel my toes again after someone had decide to stand on my foot the whole journey.  As people were departing, I noticed from the corner of my eye, that a young lady was tipping to one side, and before my brain could process what I was seeing (I am not slow, it was like, a millisecond) she had feinted and made a heavy thud contact with the floor of the train.  One angry commuter in fact forbade a concerned commuter from ringing the bell as he was ‘F**king late anyway’. 

In fact the lack of support and help from my fellow passengers shocked me, and it was another woman and myself that had got some water for the girl and were helping her to slowly come around.  I couldn’t help but notice that the young lady’s ring on her wedding finger had slid off as she fell to the ground.  It was quite apparent that she was in shock and very quickly she was struck with overwhelming panic and she was no longer responding to questions and completely fazed out.  Angry, concerned, reserved, late, worried passengers all looked down at the girl and she looked back up at them.  The mere act of a few of her fellow passengers to crouch down to her level seemed to be too painful.  She was ushered off by underground staff shortly afterwards so she could regain her awareness.

There are a variety of reasons why she may have feinted.  Being me, with a hyperactive imagination, I had convinced myself that she must have had a barney with her husband in the morning, skipped breakfast and got on the train without him.  In truth, she probably was feeling a bit hot, a bit claustrophobic and a bit sleepy.  The point is, that at some point she will have the chance to call her husband and explain her trauma of the morning commute.  Despite, looking up and seeing disgruntled, angry, concerned and worried faces and feeling like she was an inconvenience and beneath everyone else on that morning train, she would have the chance to either joke about the whole escapade or be lent a shoulder to lean on by her husband.  Either way she has someone. And so do we all.  If we don’t have parents, we have siblings.  If we don’t have siblings, we have friends.  If we don’t have friends, we have colleagues.  If we don’t have colleagues, we have our local newsagent.  We have someone. 

Some have no one. Some have nothing.  And I guess the reason why the whole train thing stuck with me, was because as I leant forward and told the young lady to sip on the water, I remember having the same dialogue with a little boy I met in Dhaka, nearly a year ago.  Most of you guys reading this will remember that image of a little boy with what he thought was a balloon in his mouth.  As I passed him on the rail track last December, I noticed that in fact that balloon was the used contraception of a seedy visit to a ‘working girl’.  I too leant over to him, his name was Akbar, told him to wash his mouth out and sip on water.  He had no one.  I suppose that thought of being alone either in the young lady’s [position or Akbar’s would be scary.  What is scarier is not having someone to talk to about…. 

Blogger – Mabrur Ahmed

I don’t know how many readers will relate to this but I grew up as a sly brown guy absorbed into an all-white world and the only black people I knew were Andi Peters and John Barnes (that most prolific of football players),  the only  exposure I had to my forefathers’ world was the odd trip to Bangladesh and the regular rantings and ravings of my mother in her mother tongue.

Unless you’ve chosen to be on a very remote island it would be difficult to elude the global credit crunch and bailout fiasco which has dominated the media. This is not the place to provide the financial theory behind this all but more to articulate some fleeting thoughts on surrounding issues.

One thing to mention early on is that many investment bankers and hedge fund managers are awesomely intelligent, have created wealth and opportunity for countless others and can be fantastically generous,

But this whole episode does take me back to the very first principle I ever learnt in finance – high risk can lead to very high returns (which it did for a while), and can potentially lead to disaster (which It has). It also takes me to another principle I have learnt via observation – that success is addictive and can make individuals both arrogant and oblivious.

Described by one commentator as ‘fantasists in porsches’ some of these guys illustrate the vulgarity of our society. All these risks for what? greater and greater returns, and why?

Too many people in our world define their lives through earnings, possessions and appearances; this can make people miserable as it impedes their ability to meet their fundamental needs. Fundamental needs? What are they, it’s a tough one but this is what me reckons:

Emotional/material security:

Emotional? Being at ease with oneself and one’s situation, it’s always too easy to compare and want – ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife’.  

Material? Okay, I have discussed the evils of pointlessly seeking ‘greater and greater returns’. However, to an extent money is definitely important, important for the whole ‘food, water and shelter’ thing, but also for fulfilling another need – the pursuance of passions.

Passions:

I guess this can mean different things to different people and contradicting my last point, enjoying them can be free but for me it definitely means money - Arsenal FC and street dance (Danceworks: £6 members/£10 non-members)

Friends and family:

As for friends, not talking the fickle FaceBook type but those who we genuinely can trust, share with and look out for. And as for family, I needn’t say more…….

A feeling of competence and self-worth:

We all have gifts and most of us need a level of recognition, even a feeling of authenticity.

Masters of our own destinies:

A feeling of some control over our lives and our futures, an ability to pursue our needs (as opposed to our wants).

So here I am, preaching about happiness and fundamental needs? I’ve got it all sussed right, always as happy as a sand boy? How do I currently rate on the ‘happiness index’?

Well, I am still on a Ramadhan-high (for those readers who don’t know, this holy month has just ended in which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset). This level of sacrifice does give one a new perspective and convinces me (not that I needed convincing) that spirituality (of any kind) goes a long way….

However, my luxuries have become my regular needs (one session with my trainer could feed a family in Congo for a long long time), and although I certainly don’t ‘covet my neighbour’s wife’ it can be easy to desire what some have.

Okay, so I’m nowhere near, but who in our world has stumbled upon the elusive secret to eternal happiness? That’s a hard one and I’m not sure anyone knows the answer, but I do want to refer back to my last blog re my work with Restless Beings, when describing the street children I encountered at Kamlapur train station (Dhaka, Bangladesh) I did describe how disgusted I was at their situation and I am not too sure how many ‘fundamental needs’ they meet, but something I did go on to say:

‘It is wrong to generalize the whole community as distressed, many of the kids seem happy with their own ‘habitat’ and are perhaps emotionally richer than many of us in the West.’

Tariq

Restless Beings

p.s

1) But some of these street kids would be so much happier if we could provide them with a rehab centre.     

2) Whilst writing this, am pursuing another passion, namely X-factor (watching, not performing). My fave’s Laura, a cheeky Northerner with a real unique tone, and Daniel Evans (in particular his life story) will bring a tear to your eye every time (guaranteed)…