Walk a Mile in My Shoes

It was hard to decide what to call this episode of 'Fucking Mental'. The High Intensity Network's, Serenity Integrated Mentoring scheme was a punitive, coercive, pseudo-behavioural scheme, endorsed by the NHS, primarily to save money by blocking access to essential crisis services for thousands of individuals - usually young women with a label of Borderline Personality Disorder, threatening them with court action and potential imprisonment should they fail to adhere to this 'voluntary' arrangement. 

In this episode, I want to highlight that HIN and SIM aren't anything new. They were part of an existing system of institutional prejudice and coercion against this vulnerable group. Coercion that will continue unabated if the Royal College of Psychiatry's Mental Health Treatment Requirement gets the funding they're calling for.

During the podcast, I talk about suicidal ideation and behaviour - so please be warned if you feel that kind of content might be triggering for you. 

As promised, here are some of the links I used when putting this episode together

A Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Position Statement on customising community sentencing for offenders with mental disorder

RCPsych calls for urgent and transparent investigation into NHS Innovation Accelerator and AHSN following HIN suspension

Thousands of people with a mental disorder sent to prison when they need treatment

I'd be delighted if you'd share this with...well, anyone really.

Remember to get behind the new catchphrase, 'There are no Fucking Services'

Until the next time,

Walk a Mile

D’you know, I’m really hacked off it’s ‘Disability Pride Month’. No, not because I’m a fascist oppressor of the proletariat – but because you’ll all be thinking I’m interviewing the Coventry Youth Activists in response to that. Those of you who know me will be aware that I hate awareness days, weeks and months, because, the question has to be asked, what are you doing for the rest of the year? I’ll tell you what you’ll be doing – you’ll be forgetting – because nobody’s telling you to be aware or proud…

I had no idea it was disability anything month – how we support the most vulnerable folk in our society reflects on all of us. Every day should be disability pride day. 

Anyway, in preparation for this podcast with the fabulous folk who are Coventry Youth Activists, or, CYA for those in the know, I gathered together all kinds of information about prejudice, discrimination, and hate crime, both on and offline, against people with disabilities. I was so dedicated to my task that I almost…although, not quite, forgot to walk a mile in the shoes of the fabulous young folk I met on screen for the first time, while they welcomed me, a complete stranger, into their world with open arms. 

This was the first time I’d interviewed more than one person at a time – and it was an absolute privilege to speak with Amanda, Joey, Chloe, Tom, Eli, Kirsty and Molly. 

They’re currently running a campaign for Social Media Platforms to do more to reduce the online abuse of folk with disabilities - take a look here - they need 100,000 signatures - you can find them on Twitter @Covactivists or on Facebook - just look for Coventry Youth Activists

You can see what else they're up to here - I'm really looking forward to having a seat on their CYA Sofa.

As ever, please subscribe, rate and review the podcast, it leaves me with the warmest and fuzziest feelings inside. If you’d like to share your story, please get in touch on Twitter @walkamileuk, by email at [email protected] or you can join our lovely Facebook group here 

Until the next time,

I’ve been Chris Young and you’ve been rather fabulous,

Walk a Mile

This is essentially the second episode of Fucking Mental, a kind of spinoff from Walk A Mile in My Shoes, where I explore some of the remarkable shortcomings in Mental Health Services in the UK today.

Here are some of the links I used in making this episode 

Professor John Read's thoughts on ECT after a meta analysis of the data

The Daily Mail's article on the lack of information given to patients prior to being given ECT

The Royal College of Psychiatry's Information Page on ECT

The Mind page on the possible short and long term side effects of ECT

There's more - look up Professor John Read and ECT for further links

Here's a blatant plug for what I consider to be the first episode of 'Fucking Mental' where I talk about my belief that the implementation of the new categorisation system (The International Classification of Diseases 11 or ICD 11) for folk labelled with personality disorder will galvanise existing institutional prejudice, deny services to thousands and cost lives.

Because I'm a bit sweary throughout, I've given this episode an explicit rating. 

You can find me on Twitter @walkamileuk , email me at [email protected] or join our Facebook group here

Thanks, as ever, for listening

Walk a Mile

Chris

Welcome back to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m your host, Chris Young, and over the next bazillion years or so I’ll be giving you the opportunity to walk a mile with a whole host of different folk…with an occasional solo reflection on the state of the mental health system in the UK today…

In this episode though, I speak with the delightful Rosie Cappuccino, Mind Media Award winner for her ‘Talking about BPD’ (that’s Borderline Personality Disorder – not the Boston Police Department) blog, and the author of the upcoming book, ‘Talking About BPD – a stigma-free guide to a calmer, happier life with BPD’.  You can find her on twitter @TalkingAboutBPD 

I’d be delighted if you’d get in touch, I’m always on the lookout for guests – if you’ve got a story to tell, then I’d love to hear from you. You'll find me on Twitter @walkamileuk or email me at letswalkamile.org.uk. If Facebook's more your thing, then you can find our rather lovely group here

As ever, please subscribe, rate, leave a review, comment on twitter or Facebook…it really does leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling inside

Until the next time

I’ve been Chris Young, and you’ve been rather lovely

Walk a Mile

Yesterday, I was contacted by Clare Simms, the managing editor of View Magazine, a quarterly publication that tells us it’s “for women with conviction, dedicated to our children, families, supporters, legal teams and the charities and NGOs that strive to keep us together when we are falling apart.”

It’s a magazine written for and often by women with experience of imprisonment which they provide free to prisons, prisoners and ex-prisoners. They sent me 3 editions for me to have a look – and I can say, from what I’ve seen so far, it’s a quality production.

Clare has put her weight behind a woman she’s got to know through her work, Farah Damji, who’s raising awareness of the absence of mental health provision for women in prisons through her own case against Central and Northwest London NHS Foundation Trust, who, she explains, failed her while she was in prison. Farah hopes that her test case will support and change the circumstances for the thousands of women who are denied mental health care in prisons today.

Since there are only a few days left in their campaign, I’m posting my conversation with Farah today in the hope we can help them reach their £5000 target.

£5000 isn’t much in the grand scheme of things, especially when you consider that imprisoning a person for a year costs anything between £44 and £75 thousand a year – as more private prisons are being constructed – the prison population in the UK has nearly doubled since I became a social worker in the early 1990’s – crime is falling – we need to ask, ‘Who are we sending to jail?’. While billions are being pumped into these huge penal systems, community mental health provision is at crisis point. Depending on what statistics you choose to look at, anything between 25% and 80% of women in prison report having mental health problems – nearly 60% of women interviewed recently by the prison reform trust report having experienced domestic violence, while 53% said they experienced childhood emotional, physical or sexual abuse.

As suicide rates increase in women’s prisons, Is it time to defund these institutions, and put the limited money we have into timely, preventative, community mental health services?

You can find me on Twitter @walkamileuk, email me at [email protected] or join our Facebook Group here

Walk a Mile

This is my response to Dr Mike Crawford, talking about the upcoming ICD (international classification of diseases) 11, and the changes to how people with the label of Personality Disorder will be treated within that new system, on the 'Wrong Kind of Mad' podcast. I'd encourage you to listen to it here. A podcast with homework? Whatever next? 

I was so gobsmacked - still am, if truth be told - at what I feel to be his othering attitudes towards people who've been given this label, I get a bit sweary at times, so I've given this podcast an explicit rating.

I mention his study on the comparison between lamotrigine and a placebo in my podcast. You can find that here. 2 pieces of homework? Yeah, get over yourself!

Please share this with everyone you can think of. The new ICD 11 that will be implemented next January, will increase institutionalised prejudice and stigma which will mean fewer people will have access to the services they deserve. It will cost lives. 

You can join me on Twitter @walkamileuk or, if Facebook's more your thing, you can find our rather lovely group here. 

If you, or anyone you know, has a story to tell, or if you'd like to talk about any of the stuff in the podcasts, please get in touch - you can email me at [email protected]

Walk a Mile

Chris

Gandhi said

‘THE TRUE MEASURE OF ANY SOCIETY CAN BE FOUND IN HOW IT TREATS ITS MOST VULNERABLE MEMBERS’

When Dee got in touch with me on Twitter, as with many of the walk a mile in my shoes episodes, I really had no idea what to expect.

The key things you need to know is they live in Dubai, they’ve recently been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and they live with their family.

I often say it’s important to ask ‘What happened to you?’ and not ‘What’s wrong with you?’ when we consider folk with this diagnosis.

With Dee though, their abuse is happening now...today. I’m not afraid to say I cried after we recorded their episode, I felt so sad and helpless and angry about their situation.

it was an absolute privilege to speak with this vibrant, courageous and intelligent young person who reached out so their story could be heard.

Since this episode is potentially triggering in places, I’ve given it an explicit  rating.

The whole idea behind the Walk a Mile in My Shoes endeavour is to allow you to share a piece of life’s journey with someone you’ve never met. You can be the story teller, or you can be the listener - both roles are equally important.

I can’t thank Dee enough for reaching out and telling their story. It was an absolute privilege speaking with them.

Remember, if you have a story to tell, please get in touch. You can find me on Twitter @walkamileuk, or if Facebook's more your thing, you'll find our rather lovely group here or you can email me at [email protected]

Until the next time,

I’ve been Chris Young

And you’ve been rather lovely, thanks for being there

Walk a Mile

The disability union, I was so impressed, I bought the company...er, actually, no I didn’t...but after this conversation with their founder, George Baker, I joined up. Welcome to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast, I’m your host Chris Young and in this episode, among other things, we talk about the benefits of collective action. You can find them on Twitter @DUnionUK or take a look at their website here

As usual, if you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe, rate and comment, it really does leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling inside

You can find me on Twitter @walkamileuk , email me at [email protected] or, if Facebook's more your thing, you can find our rather lovely group here

Remember, if you, or someone you know has a story they’d like to tell, I’d love to hear from you.

Until the next time

I’ve been Chris young and you’ve been rather fabulous

Walk a mile

Welcome, dear listener, to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast – a podcast where, unsurprisingly, my guests give you the opportunity to walk a mile in their shoes. I’m your host, Chris Young, and in this episode, I speak with the actor, presenter, director and facilitator, Chris Connel.

‘Magnificently disturbing!’ The Guardian

‘I’ve rarely seen a more intimidating performance’ The Evening Standard

No, these aren’t reports of me growing up in Corby…these are reviews of Chris, who Denise Welch of Loose Women and Corrie fame describes as, ‘The best actor you may never have heard of.’

Check out his website, or take a look at his brilliant solo performance in Sarah Tarbit's 'The Whale Washed up on Christmas Eve' 

As ever, please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast, that way we can get more people involved in the conversation.

On that very subject, please get in touch if you’ve got a story you’d like to share, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] 

You can find me on Twitter @walkamileuk or you can join our lovely group here if Facebook's more your thing

Until the next time,

I’ve been Chris Young

And you’ve been rather fabulous,

Walk a mile

Welcome to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast, I’m your host, Chris Young, and in this episode, I’ll be speaking with Marina Cantacuzino, an award-winning journalist who in 2003, in response to the imminent invasion of Iraq, embarked on a personal project collecting stories from people who had lived through violence, tragedy or injustice and sought forgiveness rather than revenge.

In 2004, she founded The Forgiveness Project, a charitable organisation that uses real personal narratives to explore how ideas around forgiveness, reconciliation and conflict resolution can be used to impact positively on people's lives. In 2012, Marina spoke at the UN General Assembly about the work of The Forgiveness Project and, in 2015, she was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Dalai Lama Centre for Compassion. Take a look at her books, The Forgiveness Project: Stories for a Vengeful Age and Forgiveness is Really Strange, you won't regret it.

Remember, if you enjoy the podcast, subscribe, comment, rate and review, that way we can get more people involved in the conversation. 

You can join up with our rather lovely Facebook Group here. If Twitter's more your thing, you'll find me @walkamileuk

Until the next time,

I’ve been Chris Young and you’ve been rather fabulous,

Walk a Mile