Hello, everyone! This is Seeking Myself, author of the eponymous blog about depression, psychotherapy and recovery and avid Guardian reader. I must apologise that half of the stories in this week’s round-up come from my favourite newspaper. I have honestly tried to look elsewhere, but with limited success!
Please be warned that this post discusses some potentially distressing police restraint techniques.
On Thursday, The Telegraph reported the harrowing story of a man with Alzheimer’s who was tasered by police as they sectioned him:
An Alzheimer’s sufferer, Peter Russell, was shot by police with a Taser during a struggle because he refused to go into care, it has emerged.
The 59-year-old farmer was shot several times with the stun gun after struggling with three officers who were trying to help section him under the Mental Health Act.
In response to this, Mark Brown from One in Four magazine writes about the need for UK police to have better training in sectioning people with mental health problems:
The case of Peter Russell [...] was horrifying. It’s hard to imagine how it would feel looking on as a loved one was acted against in that way, but beyond the shock, it is always worth asking: what could be done instead? Why, in 2012, is our treatment of people with severe mental health or cognitive difficulties still so entwined with the apparatus of policing? The answer, from the point of view of mental health services at least, seems simply to be “it’s a dirty job and someone else is going to do it”. But this doesn’t go far enough.
Sectioning, or taking away someone’s right to freedom so he or she can be taken for treatment or assessment, is one of the most challenging areas in mental health. To be physically restrained at a time of great personal disorder, desperation or distress is never going to be a good experience, and as such it requires a sensitive and thoughtful approach.
Another aspect of mental health treatment that’s often considered to be distressing is electroconvulsive therapy. However, in The Guardian Lucy Tallon shares her very different experience of ECT:
What happened to Carrie Mathison in the final episode of Homelandwasn’t real. I’m not referring to yet another plot twist. Or even to the broadly admirable portrayal of an intelligent woman with bipolar disorder. I’m talking about the traumatic electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) scene. It’s actually not a big deal. And I should know – I’ve had it several times.
Staying on the subject of treatment, The Guardian also discusses the government’s plans to tackle postnatal depression by reforming perinatal care:
Mothers will receive one-to-one care from a named midwife during labour and birth as part of government plans to combat postnatal depression.
Women who have a miscarriage or stillbirth and parents who are forced to cope with the death of a baby will also be offered increased support from the NHS.
Meanwhile, in Australia, new research shows that mental health carers – many of whom are under 16 – are struggling to cope. ABC News reports:
A survey has found a high number of children under the age of 16 are caring for relatives with mental health problems, and many of them are struggling to cope with the burden.
More than 1,000 Australians were interviewed for the Wesley Mission report, which found 90 per cent of relatives of people with a mental illness are suffering physically, mentally and financially.
Three quarters of respondents said their role as caregivers had adversely affected their relationships with family and friends, and 57 per cent said their financial situation had deteriorated.
Similarly, in the UK, government cuts are having a devastating effect on carers, as The Guardian shows:
As politicians shrink the state, Rose Fernandes’s life choices dwindle. Her day is sandwiched between caring for her autistic 25-year-old daughter Crystal and her 83-year-old mother, Maria, who suffers from dementia. But since 2010, she has been caught in a whirlwind of cuts, reducing her life to a series of arguments – in and out of lawyers’ offices – to preserve her way of life.
The Independent reports that over a third of people with autism have been bullied or discriminated against at work:
Meanwhile, 43 per cent said they had left or lost a job because of their autism, the poll by the National Autistic Society (NAS) concluded.
The NAS said the findings highlight the lack of support for people with autism in the workplace, and the lack of awareness of the condition among employers and colleagues. The poll, released for the charity’s 50th birthday this week, found just 10 per cent of adults with autism in paid employment receive support from their employers, despite 53 per cent saying they would like it.
If the last three stories have driven you to despair, here’s one that might give you some faith in humanity. The Guardian writes about how music and dance are helping people with dementia in Germany:
At the Dance Cafe Wilhelmine in the south-eastern Berlin district of Kreuzberg about 20 elderly people – the oldest is 98 – have been brought together to escape for a few hours the dementia that shapes their lives, trapping them in a sequenceless limbo.
“Music is like a silver bullet for those with dementia,” says Christa Matter, psychologist and manager of Berlin’s Alzheimer’s Society, which hosts the dances every month. “People with dementia are constantly being told they can’t do this, they’re doing that wrong, but when they’re dancing they can suddenly move with much more confidence, they know the steps, the music triggers something in them. They might not remember the names of their spouses or children any more, but they haven’t forgotten how to dance.”
Finally, still on the topic of dementia, the US government has pledged more funding for Alzheimer’s research, BBC News reports:
The US says it will seek an effective treatment for Alzheimer’s by 2025, as it faces an ageing population and spiralling health costs.
Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the goal as part of the first National Alzheimer’s Plan.
An additional $50m will be added to research funding during 2012.
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* No cats were harmed in the writing of this blog post.
