I was just reading about Fred Goodwin’s Knighthood. It is not withdrawn or taken away. A knighthood is stripped. It sounds like slowly ripping off masking tape, bit by bit from raw skin. His career was one of an exceptional rise and fall. He was like Moses to his staff and had, I still think still has such power. Some people really seem to be born with it. The point of this post really is to write about the falls from grace we can have. We all have them. Every one of us has had a fall or some sort.
Fred Goodwin and his fall from Grace; what shall we do with our own falls?
Filed under Celebrities, Patterns, Politics
Depression and the 21st Century
We live in the 21st century. There is more food than we need in the western world. Obesity is on the rise. There are still butter and sugar mountains in the European Union. Food is not the issue it once was. Many more live in homes than are homeless. More are working than are not working. Women do not have to necessarily stay within the strict rules of social behaviour. They can be married, live with someone or live alone. Women are more highly educated than they were at the start of the last century. I remember 30 years ago being told, it was not healthy nor necessary to educate girls.Children now go to school for longer than they used to in the early 20th century. More go to university now than ever did. Yet, depression rates seem to have risen. It makes you wonder doesn’t it? Are we more aware now of depression and what depression is? Or have our expectations grown even more?
Filed under Depression, Depression Patterns
NEW YEARS reSOLUTIONS
Funny thing resolutions; they often get forgotten and then seem to be recycled and used again and again, year after year. It is almost as if resolutions are eco-friendly and have a “Do not dispose of “ sticker on them. What I am going to suggest is that we have not a resolution but to have a “solution”. It is about time to have some changes set in place in our lives. After all, the human race is meant to be an intelligent people. IQ scores have risen over the last two decades. People are meant to be smarter but a new years resolution does not seem to have much staying power. Here therefore is what I propose for your New Years Solutions.
Filed under News, Positive, Thinking Patterns, Uncategorized
Depression, Suicide, Gary Speed and Football.
I was saddened to hear today of a suicide by a football manager named Gary Speed. Gary Speed had the looks, the money, the life and was fit and healthy. Many are left surprised as to how he could have killed himself. Football is often called “The Beautiful Game” and I know many who love the game so much they will watch every match they can. I have many nephews who ardently follow their favourite teams, know so much about what is going on in football, scream at matches and dress up excitedly to see a match in their teams colours.
Gary Speed was 42 years of age, had two children and was married. He was doing well and had also been a successful footballer for Wales. Many of the comments being made in the press and on the news was as to how; it was unexpected, he seemed happy, and it seemed to be impossible to have imagined the man who had everything to have ever committed suicide.
November 28, 2011 · 11:56 am
The Euro, Ireland, Greece, Italy, and the continuing Co-dependency issue.
There has been much on the news about the Euro. The euro is a central and common currency of member states in the European union. A lot has been going on about it because it seems certain states within the union have not been keeping to budgets and have been spending far more then they have. I often see parallels in the psyche and behavior and the outside political and economic world. We are after all only people, whether we are presidents, prime-ministers and royalty. We all are under the same sky and all learn behaviours from our parents and family.
What is the nearest we can find in psychotherapy with the behavior that is going on as regards the euro is what is called co-dependency. Some feel codependency is a form of inverted narcissism. It is really an unhealthy love and a very passive almost manipulative and controlling way of taking care of others. It happens in all sorts of relationships; marriage, partnerships, business, work, and especially politics. Where a person is psychologically addicted to drugs or alcohol and the other psychologically dependent on that behavior. Continue reading
Filed under Co-dependency, Money, Politics
Looking at Positive Reactions to the Riots
There were some positive reactions to the riots by those who were involved and affected by them. These are behaviours and thoughts we can all learn from.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/10/london-riots-youtube-victim-malaysian. A young man named Asyraf Haziq from Malaysia who had been mugged twice. The first time he had been knocked off his bicycle and had it stolen. His jaw had been broken by the punch. He then sat dazed on the pavement. In the video you can see him being brought to his feet and in a display that sinks so low, those ‘good samaritans’ hang about to mug him (his second time experience of being mugged in such a short space of time) of the contents of his back-pack.
It was his reaction that was interesting. He was not angry, nor did he feel aggrieved. His ‘explanatory style’ was far more positive. He had said after the double mugging how he was sorry for the muggers and had been surprised as to how young they were. He seemed to be genuinely sorry for the people that mugged him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FGfZ2ommI0 A positive explanatory style has more positive outcomes for recovery in terms of mental and physical health. Continue reading
Filed under Positive, Psychology, Thinking Patterns, Uncategorized
Why did the Riots occur in the UK? Attachment theory, thoughts and Perceptions
Riots occurred only 500 yards away from where I live. Just behind my home crowds of youths ran into a dead end road and burnt a car. Nearby more cars were burnt. Ealing is usually a very quiet leafy green surburban area and I decided to explore as to why riots may have happened here. It seems there are many possibilities open as to why the riots occurred.
In the New York Times in the photograph opposite various reasons for the present riots were put forward. In an article in the BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14483149
Ten competing arguments on the BBC site are used to explain why the riots occurred. The reasons given have ranged from welfare dependence, social exclusion, lack of fathers, spending cuts, racism, weak policing, gangsta rap and culture, consumerism, opportunitism and technology and social networking. Are there more reasons? I heard of entitlement being a possible reason or even astrology and mercury being retrograde. Maybe more will come to your mind. The point is though, we all choose our reasons and what we choose is also based on our beliefs and perceptions we can take. Looking at things from a statistical perspective, research from the Guardian newspaper has a different perspective and showed that of around 1,000 cases going through the magistrates courts, just 8.6% of defendants have jobs or are students. This then would lead to different opinions and thoughts on the matter.
Filed under Anxiety, Catastrophising, News, Politics
Amy Winehouse and Why Rehab needs to be Really Really Tough
Amy Winehouse
I read the sad news about Amy Winehouse’s death this week. I have felt the pain of working with people who live as addicts and those who love them too.
It is so unfortunate and in the life of someone with an addiction there is always the positive going on. The belief that things will be allright. Often permission giving messages are going on. Thoughts such as “I will be OK”, “Just this one time”, “I’ll stop tomorrow”, “I am in control of it and not it in control of me”, “It helps me create”. These messages and more keep going on. Then there are those who are around them who also unwittingly enable the addiction to continue. Addicts are like children who really want to have their next fix. The brain has surrendered to the substance. Continue reading
Filed under Abuse, Addiction, Addiction Patterns, Celebrities
Columbo and ‘one more thing’ about Disability and Strength
It was with sadness I read as to how Columbo died this week. Peter Falk was often known as the actor who played Columbo and the catch-phrase ‘one more thing’ came up often in his series.He was by now 83 years old and had lived a long and eventful life. I suppose I was sad I never got to meet him. Was there a Columbo fan club? Why had I never set out to meet him? I realised it was because I had at some level assumed he would live forever. TV characters often seem to do that. Continue reading
Filed under Celebrities, News, Positive
Dominique-Strauss Kahn, The IMF ; Does Sex Addiction come into it?
Dominique Strauss-Kahn was the managing director of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and was reputed to have attacked a chambermaid at the Sofitel Hotel in New York. He was due to return to Europe to work on the monetary problems in the European Union but was instead arrested whilst waiting for the plane to take off. I am not sure what the trial will bring up but what has not been mentioned is that Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK) could possibly be a sex-addict. The need to have sex with so many people and in different situations is one of the signs. It has not been a recent habit and he has a history of being referred to as a ‘great seducer’. Continue reading
Filed under Addiction, Addiction Patterns, Co-dependency, News, Politics, Psychology
Dr Yaz Headley 