Equilibrium Magazine Issue 37

www.haringey.gov.uk/equilibrium
EQUILIBRIUM
Haringey’s magazine for wellbeing
Death of the Pub
Mind over Mind
Best Summer
books of 2010
Alistair Campbell
Opens Up
Sunday the New Monday?
Radicals on Living
with Voices
Showcase on
textiles
& jewellery
FREE
ISSUE 37
SPRING
SUMMER
2010

Patron:
Dr Liz Miller
(Mind Champion 2008)
We are now on the web!
www.haringey.gov.uk/equilibrium
Coming up in Issue 38:
q Angela on the evolution of Equilibrium:
looking back to the beginning
q Wellbeing Day at Canning Crescent
q Include: Film and Culture Day at the Clarendon.
q Ritalin expose
q Personality Plus event at the National Portrait Gallery
Web alerts:
Please email us at:
equilibriumteam@hotmail.co.uk if you
would like an alert each time our
magazine is published on the web:
(www.haringey.gov.uk/equilibrium).
Equilibrium is devised, created, and produced entirely by team
members with experience of the mental health system.
Photo copyright remains with all individual artists and Equilibrium.
All rights reserved. 2010
Design: www.parkegraphics.co.uk
Front cover:
original image (see left): Ian Stewart
digital rework: Anthony Parke
EQUILIBRIUM 2

Contents
4 -5 Ceramic signs at the
Clarendon Centre made by
ervice users; Bulletin
6-7 Book Corner; Screen Printing
and Mental Health First Aid.
8-9 New Beginnings
Conference Liverpool and Alistair
Campbell Un-spun.
10-11 Streetwise Opera and web
cast.
12-13 On Reflection and
Creative Writing
14-15 The Open University
experience, online therapy, and
News and review.
16-17 Oiling the Brain; the Omega
3 Connection and Living with
Voices; stories of Recovery. Glad
to be mad and Meet n’ Eat.
18-19 User network Launch,
Disorder at the Tate, and
Opinions
editorial
This spring summer edition of Equilibrium is all about new
beginnings. As the flowers come out for summer England
has welcomed into power a new coalition government
under David Cameron and Nick Clegg. What the future
holds is unclear but what we do know is that change has
happened.
Change was also the theme at the New Beginnings
Conference in Liverpool. Equilibrium was there to report.
The issue has a wealth of topics from conferences to
nouvelle vague looks into all aspects of mental well being
as well as developments in the Mental Health area; how
people are dealing with life in general along with some
breakthrough stories and reviews of recent mental health
literature and issues.
contributions
Wanted: contributions to Equilibrium! Please email us with
your news, views, poems, photos, plus articles. Anonymity
guaranteed if required.
contact us
Equilibrium, Clarendon Centre, Clarendon Road, London, N8
ODJ. 02084894860, equilibriumteam@hotmail.co.uk. We are
in the office on Wednesday mornings 9.45-11.45, but you can
leave a message at other times and we’ll get back to you.
the team
Facilitator: Polly Mortimer. Editorial team: Pumla Kisosonkole,
Angela, Siham Beleh, Ian Stewart, James Spear, Tracy dos
Santos, Michael O’Connell. Graphic design: Anthony Parké,
Editorial coordinator: Ruben Wilberg. The views expressed
in Equilibrium are those of the individual authors and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial team.
advertisement
If you wish to advertise in Equilibrium email us using the
contact details above.
EQUILIBRIUM 3

&
Textiles Jewellery
Brightening up a corner
of reception at the
Clarendon centre is a
cabinet displaying some
of the very professional
looking work the textile
group have been doing.
Sharon Williams - who runs
the group - explained that
the brightly coloured
cushion was made by
Chan and the hen - which
is a doorstop - and is
called ‘Dorothy’ was
made by Nora. (It was
filled with sand to give it
weight). Other examples
by different members are
on show too and took 2/3
weeks to complete. An
interesting group -
especially for those with
nimble fingers. Check
it out! Also a sample of
jewellery items that have
been made by the
jewellery group in silver.
Ian Stewart
Clarendon art tutors:
Alison Ibbs: Jewellery
Mike Amorelli: Screenprinting
Carolyn Tripp: Ceramics
Sharon Willliams: Textiles
EQUILIBRIUM 4

Bulletin
Celeb spot 1: Anthony our
designer appears as a hand
in the new 3D film Clash
of the Titans. Variously slammed,
‘progrockers in stick on beards’.
Celeb spot 2: Elevator singsong:
Equilibrium team member Polly sang
in a lift at the Festival Hall with an a
cappella group.
Conference – June
2010. Open Up
conference. A challenging
discrimination conference
Jury’s Inn , 245 Broad St , Birmingham
B12 2HQ. 14 June 2010 openup@
mind.org.uk for details
Arts and Culture
Shed Men: a recent World
Service programme looked
at how 400 community sheds
in Australia are tackling issues of
depression, suicide and isolation
among the older male population.
The sheds focus on chat over shared
tasks. Some men, from Aboriginal
backgrounds, are still coming to
terms with their forced removal from
their families as children. Some men
had lost their homes in last years fires
and are building a community shed.
Manufacturing
Depression:
The Secret
History of a
Modern Disease
by Gary
Greenberg.
Watch out for
our review in
next issue of
Equilibrium.
The great outdoors
A new project outside
Glasgow called Branching
Out helps people with mental health
difficulties by treating them with
fresh air and exercise. Sometimes
it’s chatting, sometimes chopping
down trees. After people graduate,
after twelve weeks, with a certificate,
some go on volunteering and others
go on courses.
Dr Khoosal from the Royal
College of Psychiatrists says: Being
outdoors ‘changes how people
approach themselves, It almost has a
neutralising effect… on their mental
health problems.’ Some are making
baskets from withies and others
maintaining forestry paths.
A training programme and
national seminar are planned.
From the Guardian
archives: April 1956
‘A far from tranquil view is
taken of the way in which family
doctors are prescribing the new
‘tranquillising’ drugs, before the
value has been properly assessed
by experts. Dr William Sargent
writing in the BMJ says that drugs
like chlorpromazine, reserpine and
their successors are now being
widely used to reduce anxiety and
tension in patients suffering from
physical complaints, and even to
treat depression in others who have
nothing physically wrong with them.
That is the result of these drugs being
extensively advertised in the medical
press and of the shoals of circulars
about them that come in through
the doctors letter box.’
Get Together scheme
Get Together scheme piloted
in Westminster: If you’re
lonely you sign up for a phone group
on a topic that interests you – music,
politics etc, then you join six others
and a moderator for a chat. The
organisers aim to bring those who
live near each other together.
Southwark Circle is a good idea
too – skill sharing and visiting. Giving
as well as receiving. They pay a
fee and become members then
can offer services as well as get
them (hedgetrimming, setting up
Freeview, texting grandchildren etc).
No age limit either way.
Psy micro-review
An excellent performance
throughout… Some
amazing and talented acrobats!
Amusing lots of the times. A very
entertaining and exhilarating
show! A great laugh…Fantastic
choreography; an experience not
to be missed!!! Siham Beleh
There is a new group on Arts and
Culture to be announced soon.
Participants will visit exhibitions of
their choice, theatre shows and
music events around London. These
events can then be discussed in
informal talks and participants can
say, for example, what it was that
moved them about a particular
painting or piece of music. You can
sign up at the Clarendon centre if
you are interested. Sounds good.
If, however, you are thinking of
taking part in something creative
then there is a writing group at
St Anne’s library, Cissbury Road,
N15 between 2.30-3.30pm every
Wednesday.
The Clarendon also offers classes
in Music Technology and Ceramics
and details of all these activities can
be found on the notice boards in
the Clarendon centre - or talk to a
member of staff.
Ian Stewart
PRA: (Psychiatric
Rehabilitation
Association) have published
A Better World – a collection of their
poetry and short stories.
Available from PRA services, 1a
Darnley Rd, E9 6QH for £2.50. They
have opened a gallery - the Et
Cetera Gallery – at the Darnley Rd
centre. It’s available for hire.
Please ring Greg Morter
on 020 8985 3570
EQUILIBRIUM 5

BookCorner
fact
Mood Mapping
Author: Dr Liz Miller
‘Mood Mapping: Plot your way to
emotional health and happiness’ is
a book written by Dr Liz Miller (Mind
Champion of the
Year) to help people
manage their
moods. She sums
up her target audience
as ‘those of
us who know what
we should be doing
but can’t always
manage it, because we simply don’t
feel like doing it’. I found this book
extremely helpful as I was very much
a slave to my moods and often felt
controlled by them rather than the
other way around. If nothing else,
the introduction alone is worth a
read, as the author describes her
experience of personally grappling
with mental health as well as the
stigma and discrimination she experienced
of having a ‘sectionable’
mental health problem. In addition
to the general stigma attached to
mental health, Dr Miller, like other
medical professionals, experienced
heightened stigma and discrimination
due to the expectation that
doctors can ‘heal thy self’. The
ability of Dr Miller to draw on her
personal experiences of managing
her moods as well as her scientific
/ medical knowledge is what sets
this book apart from other self-help
books.
This book is more a ‘manual’ for
achieving good mental health as
opposed to a book to read cover to
cover – a little bit like a good classic
recipe book that you can dip in
and out of. The book is arranged as
a 14-day plan, where each chapter
is a day are. However, as recommended
in the ‘How to use this
book’ section, the way to get the
most from the book is to read it at
your own pace and to read whichever
‘day’ you feel is relevant to you
at the time. I would wholeheartedly
recommend this book for everyone
but in particular those who feel ruled
by their emotions or at the mercy of
their moods.
Tracy dos Santos
fiction
A book of short stories: A Elegy for
Easterly by Patina Gappah won
the Guardian First Book Award in
December 2009. Most of the stories
have a Zimbabwe focus and below
is an extract from The Asylum
Shuffle: “Emily sees Ezekial shake his
arms and hands around his head.
Ezekial is haunted by the buzzing of a
thousand phantom mosquitoes. They
fly close to his ear; it is always the
same ear, the right ear. He swipes
at them but this only increases their
agitation. He longs to hit one, just
one, and see the satisfying streak of
blood across the wall. Sometimes
he slaps a hand against one, again,
again, but he hits nothing but the
wall and, more often, himself.”
fact
Asylum Shuffle
The Woman Who
Thought too Much:
A memoir of Living
with OCD.
Author: Joanne Limburg
(Atlantic 14.99)
How a library book saved her….
After a miscarriage, the author felt
she had failed as a mother and was
to blame for losing
her unborn baby.
She had always
been preoccupied
with bad things
happening or being
about to happen
and was seized with
extreme anxiety and
fear. When pregnant again, ‘anxiety
about everything is a constant
screaming in my head’. Her lists of
fears included stairs, open windows,
trip hazards, cars, buses, trains, rivers,
terrorists, rapists, dangerous persons,
pavements, choking substances and
things which she would swallow that
may cross the placenta and harm
the baby.
After she gave birth to a healthy
baby boy… ‘the swarm of fearful
thoughts and pictures that had
plagued me through my pregnancy
refused to disperse after the birth…’
‘danger followed me: I was its
creature…’
One day she walked into the
Cambridge University Library ostensibly
to research a novel about a
mother of a baby boy, who loved
her baby so much but didn’t know
what to do with him… who was
dominated by a frightening inner life
that she was afraid to talk to anyone
about…
When searching a book called
Motherhood and mental illness:
causes and consequences …’I
saw a part of myself, the part that
had frightened me so much for so
many years. Mothers with an anankasthetic
(i.e. obsessive personality)
may experience intrusive and
distressing thoughts about their
babies…And that... along with a
case history of a mother who had
been easily treated, simply by
being taught to label the feelings as
‘obsessive phenomena’ ‘stupid irrational
ideas’ and to laugh at them
– was that.
In the course of reading those
two short pages, I felt myself begin
to change.. I ceased to be a failing
and dangerous mother and
became a mother with one particular
mental health symptom, a relatively
minor one at that. In the weeks
that followed, I would learn more
about obsessive thoughts and about
the obsessive-compulsive disorder
from which, unknowingly, I’d been
suffering for most of my lif…e…I
would begin a short programme
of behavioural therapy, and claim
some initial territory back from the
taboos I’d permitted to surround
me…
But if I hadn’t walked into a library
on that day in July 2004, I never
would have started it.’
Review in next issue
EQUILIBRIUM 6

Screenprinting
I have been talking to Mike Amorelli who runs the Clarendon screen printing group about the examples of work
done that are currently on show on the first floor at the Clarendon Centre. Mike has been involved with screen
printing at the centre for ten years and is more than ready for new people to join the group. After talking to
him about the processes, screen emulsion, light sensitive materials etc and seeing the T-shirt he wore with an
example of the art the group can produce, I took some photos of current work on show and was thoroughly
impressed by this process and the enthusiasm he has for passing on his knowledge.
This group is just right for those who want to express their creative abilities or for those interested in channelling
the creative energies within or as a therapy. ( Pictures of screen prints include the old library in Wood Green and
work undertaken by other members of the group). Ian Stewart.
Mental Health First Aid
Mind in Islington has recently run a two
days course on mental health which I
have attended. Many professionals
involved with those suffering from
mental distress were present; including those engaged
with drug and alcohol misuse, service users and ex service
users and people who are related to someone with
the illness.
The course topics were very interesting and several
people, who had little or not enough knowledge on how
to support someone with mental health distress, were
eager to find out more. A friendly atmosphere has built
up quickly within the sessions, focusing on group work.
The facilitators were very well trained, friendly and easy
going.
People discussed their different experiences with
depression, nervous breakdown, anxiety, etc... Some
were personal, others were work related. Many attendees
took part in a role play where the groups were
involved in hearing voices and a job interview was part
of the setting. Many found the role play very useful and
helpful as it gives someone unaware of those symptoms
more understanding on how a person can feel in this
situation.
Also many alternative treatments were presented and
different ways on how to assist someone with anxiety
disorders, panic attacks and post trauma stress disorders.
Towards the end of the training many attendees
shared experiences and felt very content on the
outcome of their learning and approach on mental
health issues. A very informational and useful course to
take part in.
For details of course content/dates & venue contact
Islington MIND on 020 7561 5289
Siham Beleh
EQUILIBRIUM 7

NewBeginnings
The Reader: New Beginnings Conference. Liverpool March 2010
Hard to bag up all the emotions
that I went away with after this
awesome day in the company of
forensic psychiatrists, therapists,
punters, librarians, students, profs
and all those who believe in the
transforming power of words to heal.
Tears, laughter and empowerment
come to mind.
Organised by the turbo-charged
Jane Davis, founder of Get into
Reading in the early 00s, she told
of her school days as a disaffected
teenager who hid in order to read
Happy Days by Samuel Beckett.
‘You let go of attitude and ego’
She left school at 15, and through
grit and hard graft, ended up with a
PhD and a university teaching job.
Through persistence and passion
she managed to embed her vision
and ‘framed the idea’. This idea has
pupated into Get into Reading – the
setting –up of reading groups where
the text is read cover to cover out
loud and the group get involved all
the way along as much or as little as
they like. And quite tough reads at
that – Hard Times, Silas Marner, short
stories of Malamud etc. There is a
suggestions area of their website for
facilitators stuck for ideas.
‘It’s from the inside out,
not the outside in’
The appeal is multifaceted – one
of the strengths is that it is natural
and no-one is doing anything to you.
People are working together on an
equal footing and working together.
Blake Morrison , poet, chaired the
panel – a great range of participants
and GiR coordinators, a ll united by
a passion for what they are involved
with. Louise who is autistic hated
Shakespeare, and now dives for the
Shakespeare shelf in a bookshop.
Others live for the group - for a carer
of his wife with dementia, the Get
in to Reading group was oxygen
for the soul. Others went on to start
groups up and seek funding – there
were testimonies from Lancashire,
Cumbria and Sussex. The participants
in groups were so enthusiastic and
one said it was’ better than any kind
of therapy or medication’. People
listen. There are no boundaries. It
is ‘such a laugh’. Now the readers
are so much more confident and
‘addicted to reading.’
There was talk of a reader in
residence at a women’s prison
throwing ‘pebbles in water’. The
group coordinators were eloquent
about what they do , and how they
apply for funding. Penny in London
made me cry when telling about
how she woke one morning and saw
an email which was granting her 95k
to fund the London
arm of the project.
The workshop on
Get into Reading in Ashworth Special
Hospital was extraordinary. Two
psychiatrists Celia Bell and David
Fearnley set up a total of seven
groups on the wards. The average
stay in the hospital is 8 years.
It works very well as a forum for
building up tolerance and engaging
with skills. Some patients taught
themselves to read in prison, and
haven’t reached their potential.
One said he ‘feels happier’. The
patients put on a different voice
when they are reading speech and
build their concentration up – which
is the first thing that goes. They
prompt and help each other.
People are not inhibited about
stumbling over words. They speak
more clearly – hearing their own
voices. There are bunches of
groups of younger patients who one
week decide the group is cool, the
next not. To catch their attention the
facilitators use graphic novels, audio
books and film of the book. There
are also people not in the group, but
they are aware of the groups – there
is an infectious atmosphere.
Fabulously Ruskin and Eliot wards
were runners up in the Penguin
Orange Readers group prize. There
was also a literary festival with the
Bluecoat in Liverpool and Brian
Keenan came in to the hospital.
There was a real resonance among
the patients with him. They voted for
their favourite poem – If by Kipling,
- and book – Oliver Twist. Different
books go down well – Michael
Rosen’s poems, limericks, short
‘Not another bolt on
initiative’
adaptations of longer books, War of
the Worlds.
There have been fewer problems
on the wards since the groups
started.
David Fearnley made the
point that culture is squeezed out
when people enter hospital and
an artificial culture is created. It
is adverse and censorious. The
conditions make it hard to listen
to music or read. I remember my
heartbreak on my first admission to
a psych hospital (I had brought in
a suitcase bulging with T.S.Eliot etc)
and was told I couldn’t bring them
in. Books were (and still are) oxygen
to me. I had to make do with a
rickety trolley of WRVS-type books.
David Fearnley also described the
sessions as therapeutic. People get
used to talking about emotions,
feeling vulnerable and sharing
experiences and deciding what
‘You go on a journey
of meaning’
to disclose. At least one patient on
return to prison has started a Get
into Reading group there.
After a glorious lunch, I went to
a session with researchers and a
facilitator and a GP about sessions
run in a doctor’s surgery. A voice
synthesis expert had broken down
the speech patterns of attendees
in two groups and how people
interacted and interjected etc. It
illustrated how participants ebbed
and flowed and how the group
takes its course. Finally there was a
great roundup and a valedictory
reading from Jane. What a day,
what a buzz! I met my Uni of
Liverpool daughter in a local café
and blasted her through tea and
bagels with all the fizzing thoughts
and ideas I came away with.
I can’t wait for the next conference.
Polly
EQUILIBRIUM 8

One in Four
Open up
One in Four is a magazine specialising in mental health.
The conference was set up by an organization called
Open Up which is part of an anti stigma campaign
called Time to Change. It was a conference designed
to communicate sensitively about mental health.
All the speakers have experience of mental health,
and working in media. Fortunately this was a free event.
Some of the speakers there
included Alistair Campbell,
Sue Caro – Senior Diversity
Manager, Shaun Crowe
Regional Co-ordinator for
London Mental Health and
Employment Partnership.
Alistair Campbell was
present at the conference He
used to be a journalist and
was an advisor to Tony Blair
for ten years. Alistair Campbell
has depression and has talked
openly about his experiences.
He finds the support of his
family beneficial, enjoys
exercising and likes to keep
active. The film Cracking up
and All in the Mind won a lot
of praise from mental health
charities e.g. Mind and One
in Four for helping to break
down the taboo surrounding
mental health. His books were
on sale, The Blair Years, All in
the Mind, and Maya.
Different matters were
discussed like, how mental
health is discussed in the media for example Frank Bruno
was described as ‘Bonkers in hospital’ The soaps have
dealt with mental distress health for example Stacey
and her mum in East Enders.
The speakers felt that how mental health was
portrayed in the media had to change. The way black
people are portrayed in the media has changed in a
more positive way. Mental health in the media is slowly
changing. The campaign against discrimination called
Time to Change is supported by Stephen Fry and Ruby
Wax.
The conference was very interesting and I enjoyed
talking with the people present at the conference.
Angela
EQUILIBRIUM 9

An Open Mic Night
With Streetwise
Opera
admiration for all who stood in front of the microphone
grew as I listened to those who’d come to Streetwise
and experienced a birth of creativity, or simply found
that singing could help to rebuild their sense of who they
were. At The Connection, pianist Siobbain O’Higgins,
has helped one client to compose and perform his own
songs, encouraged another to extend his range and
others, quite literally, to find their voice and, in group
sessions, provided a means of expression for those not
yet ready to take centre stage.
Rapturous applause greeted each performance, and
we – the audience – joined in enthusiastically whenever
we were given the chance and emerged warmer and
happier than I’d have thought possible. Another rousing
chorus from ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ equipped us to
brave the cold outside once again. How moving and
rewarding it was to experience the thrill of watching and
hearing those with apparently so little yet able to give so
much. Encore and Bravo!
Annie Norton
Bulletin
If, like me, you’re wary of singing in front of an audience
– opera at that – then think again. On a bitingly cold
January evening I found myself at The Connection at
St Martin’s-in-the-Fields (a centre in central London that
works to offer specialist services and support to those
experiencing homelessness or difficulty in their lives).
Surrounded by members of the public, supporters and
service users we were all exhorted to begin the evening
by warming up to an excerpt from Mozart’s ‘Marriage of
Figaro’, led by Streetwise Opera’s Artistic Director. In an
instant, we were as one, learning phrase by phrase, then
singing our hearts out, in tune or not, and I realised how,
quite literally, singing can be good for you as a comforting
glow from smiling faces swept around the room.
Streetwise Opera, founded in 2000, runs weekly
sessions at various venues in London and around the
country, using music to help people who have experienced
homelessness regain self-esteem, confidence
and motivation so they can move forward in their lives.
It’s proved a powerful tool – as I was to experience for
myself.
The evening produced some wonderful solos from
Streetwise Opera regulars, the professional singers
who run the workshops and 1-2-1 sessions, and even
members of the public, who songs ranging from contemporary
pop and musicals to folk songs and operatic
arias. Everyone was challenged to have a go, and my
Poverty
The 2010 European Year for Combating
Poverty and Social Exclusion was launched on
21st January at a high level event by the European
Commission and the Spanish EU presidency and
gathered together more than 300 representatives
active in the fields of poverty and social exclusion. Its
aims are to advance the fight against poverty and
social exclusion by providing a platform for promotion,
networking, knowledge-sharing and partnerships with
public and private stakeholders.
See website:2010europeanyearforcombatingpovertyan
dsocialexclusion (And for European newsletter on-line)
Oliver James:
Nature v nurture debate rumbles on
‘In Darwinian terms, it has always made much
more sense that we should be born plastic. Obviously
genes confer fundamentals…but how much and
how we express these is in response to our particular
family situation, for which we need flexibility, not
predetermination. If genes play little part in how our
children turn out, that is incredibly good news. Unlike our
DNA, we can do something about them…’
www.selfishcapitalist.com
EQUILIBRIUM 10

Detail from: The Asylum at Saint-Remy
Equilibrium went to the
Real Van Gogh exhibition
at the Royal Academy
Startling exhibition – huge rooms of
vivid, clean, bright canvases, and
poignant letters to his brother Theo
illustrated with tiny pen and ink
drawings of farm workers, Pollarded
willows, landscapes etc. The
exhibition grows darker as it nears his
hospitalisation and subsequent death.
His talent never left him – it became
more and more urgent especially in
his last months. These are works of
supreme beauty and meaning.
GOOD WEBSITE: www.
experienceinmind.co.uk
Mainly for young people –
generated out of Brighton. Lots of
events, happenings and schemes.
Scandal in the USA
New Scientist reported that
a four year old girl died of
an overdose of psychotropic drugs.
She was diagnosed with ‘juvenile
bipolar disorder’ at 4. The number
of children diagnosed with this
condition has increased out of all
proportion. In 2003 it was 1:100,
compared to 1:4000 in 1995. Her
mother was convicted for second
degree murder.
The American Psychiatric
Association (APA) announced
after the trial result that a newly
defined condition called ‘
temper dysregulation disorder
with dysphoria’ (TDD) would be
better suited to those children now
diagnosed as bipolar.
Rebecca Riley was on quietapine,
valproate and clonidine.
Psychiatrist Allen Frances has
already accused the association of
‘creating a new monster’. Frances
argued that TDD ‘would be very
common at every age in the general
population and would promote
a large expansion in the use of
antipsychotic medications’.
A coalition of charities
recently launched:
The Children and Young
People’s Mental Health Coalition will
seek to influence policy and practice
on a range of issues and in the first
year will focus on four streams: The
Early Years – to include equipping
parents with the knowledge and
tools to improve their children’s
mental wellbeing as well as their
own Building Emotional Resilience
– to resource children with self
awareness and resilience to meet the
challenges of growing up and enjoy
good mental health.
Reaching Adulthood – to ensure
adequate provision of care and
flexible services for those entering into
and adjusting to adulthood
Seldom Heard Voices – to ensure that
minority groups are able to access
good quality support from services
Mental Wealth – a student
initiative run from Leeds – has
been shortlisted for the Leeds
for Life Award – good luck to them!
Their website is: www.mental
wealthuk.com. Student-led and
vibrant, this organisation aims to
raise campus wellbeing and help
those in distress. Newsletters, events
and other stuff. Leeds based.
WORLD CUP 2010 –
watch at Ally Pally
Big screens, BBQs, music, pundits etc
worldcup@alexandrapalace.com
Get into Reading
On the 12th of April I went along
to the ‘Get into Reading’ group at
Hornsey library. As a member of the
Clarendon team I wanted to get a
feel for the group, with the view of
possibly setting up a future group
in association with the centre. Paul
Higgins (from Get into Reading)
facilitates the group; we were a
gathering of approx 10 people. I
found the atmosphere warm and
inviting. The text being read was
George Elliot’s Silas Marner. Paul
starts off reading aloud, and anyone
who fancies takes over. I hadn’t
read the book and the group was
three quarters of the way of the
way through, but thanks to a humorous
summary given by Paul and
other group members, about the
characters, their quirks, values and
life situations, I was able to follow
and really become involved in the
story. The reading provoked much
discussion on topics from ‘ a sense of
community in London’ to women’s
rights. Individuals also spoke openly
about feelings that the story evoked
for them personally. Paul had also
brought along some poems which
linked with some of the themes.
Including Brecht’s ‘Everything
Changes’. I had come to the session
tired and a bit fed up and I left
more awake and inspired with plans
to buy a copy of Silas Marner and
put the Brecht poem on my fridge
(which I have). The reading group
is held on Mondays’ 2-4pm and is
open to all.
(see conference report on page.8)
Ruth
EQUILIBRIUM 11

Edd China’s motorized sofa
Fiction: The Day
Began Badly and
Got Worse...
It was a Tuesday morning in early May,
Tony got up late for work he didn’t
have enough time to shower his job
was important to him so was angry with
himself for getting up late. Tony worked
for a scaffolding firm he lived in a flat
in Harrow on his own but within walking
distance of his girlfriend Claire he was
seeing her later on so skipped shaving
and thought he’d shave after work. He
liked to drink one cup of coffee in, the
morning, if he was in a rush he usually
left half a cup and gulped it down
when it was a bit cold. It was a warmish
day Tony thought he’d ring his boss
Adam to see if he could be picked up
on route, Adam got annoyed when
Reflections
people did this but he’d be more
angry if he didn,t get in contact and
the lads that worked for the firm were
kept waiting and would expect him
to buy a few beers each for them
after work Tony wanted to see Claire
not get pissed at the pub.
Trying the office number and
two of the firm he muttered shit he
couldn,t get through already dressed
looking at his watch it was 12 minutes
past seven hurrying out of the door
dressed in T Shirt and Jeans he kicked
over two milk bottles , annoyed
because they must have been left
for his neighbours .One smashed the
other he picked up the flats were
part of a house conversion he was
annoyed that the milkman hadn,t left
them at the side rushing back in to his
ground floor flat to get a dustpan and
brush... (to be continued)
James Spear
1,8,11 (April) - are very significant to me in family terms, just as 9/11 has become a
significant Western World global date. These dates are in the same month - April -
they were significant to my very immediate family – siblings and parent. However,
they have all passed away.
What a transformation of a part of the year where, within the 1st quarter of a
month, it was once jollification within a single family – and now, it is remembrance
and wistfulness. Even though many years have passed I guess its still the expectation
of how, in the previous month I would have celebrated my own solitary event
(was it the more lavish one – or was it because I was the youngest?!) Pumla
Sundays used to be a day of rest...
Sunday used to be a quiet day before Sunday
Trading was allowed in 1992. I remember when
all the shops used to be closed on the High
Street and you could enjoy some window shopping.
Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest
because God rested on the seventh day. As a
child I used to go to church twice on Sundays.
A van would pick us up with our friends to take
us to church in the morning, then the van would
take us home. We would have dinner and then
it would take us back again. I find the church to be a relaxing environment, and
while you are in the church you are forgetting the stresses and strains of life.
On a Sunday I used to have a lie in and enjoy a long hot soak in the bath.
My mummy would cook a brunch and then Sunday roast with all the trimmings.
I use to do the ironing while I watched the Sunday film. If we went to
visit somebody on a Sunday we would go to see a member of the family,
for example my auntie. We would have dinner, with jelly and ice cream for
desert. Then the next week her family would come to our house.
We are now living in a stressed culture. I have noticed that as the traditional
Sunday has disappeared, so the stress levels have gone up. And books
on how to combat stress are flying off the shelf. I think its good to have one
day off a week.
Angela
Reflections
& Rain
These are some pictures I took
mostly from the windows of the
bus going to and from work,
between the City and Stoke
Newington, when the weather
was horrible. Lots of poets have
used rain as a background
for misery. To Benny Anderson
and Bjorn Ulvaeus of Abba,
it added to the dreariness of
commuting: “and still I’m on
top of this I’m pretty sure it must
have rained - The Day Before
You Came”. It rained in the
heart of poet Paul Verlaine “as
it rains on the town”. Boudleaux
and Felice Bryant nicked
that line for a pop song called
“It’s raining in my heart”. Seal
couldn’t stand the rain against
his window. But I agree with
60s popsters The Lovin’ Spoonful.
When it’s raining outside
it’s cosy inside: “You and me
and rain on the roof/You and
me underneaththe roof of tin/
Pretty comfy feelin’ how the
rain ain’t leakin’ in/We can sit
and dry just as long as it can
pour/Ihope it rains some more.”
And in Dora Sigerson Shorter’s
poem The Comforters she talks
of “the kind little feet of the
rain” that ran by her side. I think
of all these things when it rains
– and even hum the songs.
Lucy Fisher
EQUILIBRIUM 12

EQUILIBRIUM 13

illustration by Michael O’Connell
Open your mind with
The Open University
Last summer (2009)
while surfing the web I
came across a page
for The Open University
and since then the
experience with the O.U.
is helping me to change
my life. At the time I was
spending practically all
my time indoors with little
contact with the outside
world with no interest in
talking to anyone. Even though I wanted to be left alone
I was aware I could not go on day after day in the same
fashion as I was very unhappy and I needed some thing
to focus on to make life worthwhile
When I came across the OU website I was curious
to know what it was all about so I followed the links to
see what was on offer and was surprised by the choice
available to people who wanted to study part time,
such as law, politics ,languages, economics and
psychology to name but a few.
Over the next few days I returned to the web page a
dozen times wanting to know more and more, how the
courses worked, what was involved and maybe (perish
the thought ) I could do it!!. I say this because having
left school without any formal
qualifications and because of
my age I was of the opinion a
university degree was beyond
my reach. In reality, (a place I
often lose contact with) I was
looking for an excuse to return
to my mundane existence
and to live within my comfort
zone unhappy as it was. The
problem was this time there
was no problem. I had a PC
at home and was connected to the internet, if I wanted
to do a home study course I could, nothing was stopping
me except myself, it was up to me .
The O.U. offers support to over 9000 students with
disabilities including mental health problems, it also offers
financial support and with this in mind I sent away for
an application form filled it in and returned it still feeling
very apprehensive. At this point I think the fear of being
accepted was greater then the fear of rejection. In the
first week of last September a letter arrived informing me
I was now a part time student and my course materials
would arrive shortly wishing me luck with DD101 (course
reference). Within a week my materials arrived and I this
point I began to realize the significance of what I had
done, there was no way out I had to go through with!!
The course material these days consists of various
learning formats including books, CDs, online activities
and files you can download on to an mp3 player so you
learn while going about your daily routine and needless
to say this is a very flexible way to study. It can also be a
bit confusing for someone who has never done it before
so I decided I needed some guidance.
The O.U. holds tutorials across London for its students
approximately every three weeks.
During the academic year, although they are not
compulsory because I needed some advice I decided
to attend and brought along a friend for support (this
you are allowed to do).I have to admit I did feel very
nervous at the start but after half an hour I was so en
grossed in the instructions we were being given I felt
completely relaxed. I met other students who, like me
wanted to do something constructive with their spare
time and on the whole were a very nice people.
When I met my tutor she reassured me that she would
support me throughout the year and I could contact her
by phone or e-mail if I had any questions or difficulties
relating to the course, and I must say her advice and
constructive criticism when needed has proved to be
invaluable. I am now nearing the end of my first year
and I am very satisfied with my progress so far. The
course has helped me in my quest to reconnect with
society and made me question many preconceived
opinions I had regarding academic learning. I look
forward to next year and to the next level.
M. C.
FearFighter
FearFighter is a new computer-aided Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy (CBT) available on-line for sufferers
of panic attacks, debilitating anxiety or phobias.
Developed by Professor Isaac Marks MD - an
internationally recognised authority on the treatment of
phobia and anxiety…research indicates that it improves
anxious or phobic services users as much as face to
face therapy giving sufferers a real alternative to drugs
and face to face treatment. Available to service users
even with the most limited computer literacy the nine
steps take typically 8-12 weeks and essential support is
provided over the phone.(Typically 6 calls over no more
than an hour over the period mentioned) The correct
support is necessary to benefit fully from the service and
is provided by qualified professionals. www.FearFighter.
com. Ian Stewart
EQUILIBRIUM 14

Bulletin
A coalition of charities
recently launched:
The Children and Young
People’s Mental Health Coalition
will seek to influence policy and
practice on a range of issues
and in the first year will focus on
four streams: The Early Years – to
include equipping parents with the
knowledge and tools to improve
their children’s mental wellbeing as
well as their own Building Emotional
Resilience – to resource children
with self awareness and resilience to
meet the challenges of growing up
and enjoy good mental health
Reaching Adulthood – to ensure
adequate provision of care and
flexible services for those entering
into and adjusting to adulthood
Seldom Heard Voices – to ensure
that minority groups are able to
access good quality support from
services.
Teachers and
depression:
42% of teachers
had experienced
depression in the
last two years.
63% put it down to
work, and 33% to
work and personal
issues. The high
incidence of
depression is a sign
of the level of stress in teaching.
Pressures include being measured
and inspected constantly, and
concerns about pupil behaviour
and the fear of violence.
44% of those who took part in the
survey said they did not speak to
anyone about it in case it was seen
as a sign of weakness.
There is a fear of letting their class
down, or having to get cover for
the class. Some schools make the
teachers feel guilty about being ill.
The way schools deal with mental
illness varies widely. Some ease
strain, others bully staff.
Stress is a main cause of the high
drop out rate among teachers. 40%
of university trained teachers left the
state system within six months.
Symptoms included trouble
sleeping, mood swings, headaches
and lack of concentration. 40%
experienced panic attacks and a
quarter chest pains. Causes of stress
need to be addressed nationwide,
not just talk about alleviating the
symptoms.
More info: www.teachersupport.info
Jabbok Support
Services. Jabbok Support
Services is a non-profit organisation
based in Islington. It was founded in
2004 by Naa Lanfermann. Jabbok
Support Services is a helping hand
to women excluded from society…
Unfortunately, due to their experience
of mental distress; many of
those vulnerable women have
fallen into the criminal justice system
to become ex-offenders. Several
women have themselves been
victims of crime, violence, domestic
violence, many have had a drug
and alcohol or sex related issue.
Jabbok is a chance for those
women to transform their lives by
supporting them with those challenges.
The organisation offer
women the opportunity to volunteer
and gain some new skills in order to
build their confidence and move
forward. Also, some training, such as
ICT, can be arranged to fulfil each
individual needs. Volunteering with
Jabbok has enabled me to meet
different people and learn more
about the difficulties and issues
that women suffering from mental
health issues have to face. Also, Naa
Lanfermann and I introduce the
organisation and I was involved in
some outreach meetings
If you would like to support Jabbok
Support Services, you can in many
ways. Naa Lanfermann can be
contacted for an interview if you
wish to volunteer. Also any donations
or any form of contribution would
be greatly appreciated.
Please contact: Jabbok Support
Services, 6-9 Manor Gardens,
London N7 6LA. Tel: 020 7272 2625.
Email: info@jabboksupportservices.
org.uk. www.jabboksupportservices.
org.uk. Siham Beleh
Another gold for Gail
Hornstein (author of Agnes’
Jacket – Equilibrium passim).
She spoke passionately and expansively
at Hornsey Library to a select
bunch about Agnes, her jacket, the
need to be heard, the desperate
ways that people in mental institutions
tried to tell and chronicle their
story (using blood, stubs of pencil,
secret embroidery etc), There was a
lively discussion from the audience –
including members of the Clarendon.
Gail’s first book also sounds like a
nonmissable read. ‘To redeem one
person is to redeem the world- the
life of Frieda Fromm-Reichmann.’
Available from Other Press.www.
otherpress.com
‘…Just when we need it most,
Gail Hornstein vividly recreates
Frieda Fromm-Riechmann’s vision of
psychiatry as a healing art. The story
of this remarkable woman will inspire
patients and families struggling with
mental illness and anyone else in
need of Fromm-Reichmann’s
greatest legacy – hope.’ Polly
EQUILIBRIUM 15

The Omega3
Connection
by Dr Andrew L. Stoll
Andrew Stoll
is director of
the psychopharmacology
research
laboratory at
the McLean
Hospital in
Boston and
also assistant
professor of
psychiatry
at Harvard
Medical
School. In 1999, he was lead author
of a study that suggested abundance
of fish oil could dramatically
improve the course of severe bipolar
disorder (also known as manic-depression)
and ADHD sufferers. Fish oil
and flax oil are notable for being the
major dietary source of the hottest
fats of all, the omega-3 essential
fatty acids.
Dr Stoll’s wide research focuses
on the importance of a good diet
which can have a major impact on
our mental wellbeing and behaviour.
Following his analysis and observations,
he came to the conclusion
that a shortage of omega 3 oils can
cause stress, anger and hostility…
Furthermore, in recent studies,
alcoholism and violence in males
aged below twenty were linked
genetically doubling their likelihood
to incarceration for criminal violence
and quadrupling their tendency
to attempt suicide according to
Joseph R. Hibbeln (US National Institute
on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)
In one part of his book Dr Andrew
L. Stoll says too “Nearly everyone has
expressed elements of major depression”.
Many studies linking the eating
of large amounts of omega 3 oils
lowers rates of major depression.
During his research, Dr Stoll
suggest that we can maintain
appropriate levels of omega 3 oils
that can help us protect ourselves
from certain illnesses; such as arthritis,
heart disease and any major
physical health including mental
health.
This book is quite interesting for
anyone wanting to understand the
importance of omega 3 oils and
their importance in our body and
mind.
Siham Beleh
Dine for
Depression
A staggering one in five of us will
be affected by depression at some
point in our lives. It’s a shocking
thought – do you know someone
who might be struggling? Maybe
you’ve been affected yourself and
would like to do something to raise
awareness of this debilitating illness
or help others like you.
Depression Alliance is launching
Dine for Depression –a wonderful
way of getting together with
friends and family to cook, eat and
chat, and to get us all talking about
depression. It’s also a great way of
raising vital funds for Depression Alliance,
the leading charity for people
affected by depression.
How it works:
Good diet and positive social interaction
are key features in maintaining
well being and recovery, so what
better way of showing your loved
ones that you care by arranging a
get-together. As the host you take
care of the food, drink and entertainment,
and rather than roping
your guests in to help out with the
washing up, you ask for a donation
to Depression Alliance, with all the
money raised going directly towards
our front line services. So no gruelling
marathons or pestering your
colleagues for sponsorship money
– just a fun and simple way of raising
money from the comfort of your
own home. Whether it’s a many
course spectacular or fish and chips
on the sea front, you’ll be helping
Depression Alliance by lifting the lid
on this much misunderstood illness
and encouraging people to come
together and talk about it. Depression
doesn’t have to be scary but
it is real and it can cost lives. More
importantly you could be directly
helping your friend or loved ones.
For more details on how to get
involved and arrange your own Dine
for Depression. For more information
on depression visit www.depressionalliance.org.
Extract from Waking up in
Toytown
John Burnside
“…It’s a long time
since I wanted to
be normal. I’ve
been there, and
they wouldn’t even
sell me the T-shirt.
Now, I have no
desire to be sane,
partly because it’s
not in my nature
but, mostly, because the generally
accepted definition of sane is hideously
inadequate. If Surbiton – real or
imaginary – is sanity, then I have no
desire to be sane. I have no desire
to be mad either, but I don’t regret
having been mad, once upon a
time. The world is not to much for
me, these days, but it’s more than
enough – and these days, after long
consideration, I have begun to think
that there might be an alternative
to the twin poles of mad and sane,
a discipline somewhat like flying,
or vanishing. On any night of the
year, but especially in the deep
midwinter, when the land is silent
and still, I can sit up alone, listening,
watching, aware of the road to the
afterlife running past my window,
and occasionally, for a minute or
two and sometimes longer, I can feel
like some old-time aviator, rising high
in a bright thermal, floating in thin
air, guided by the crudest and least
trustworthy of navigation systems,
but touched with the holy and unexpected
blessing of the flyer, which
is to be and not be at exactly the
same moment, to be always there,
in the eye of gravity’s needle and,
at the same time, to be always on
the point of vanishing. Moment by
moment, breath by breath, into the
afterlife.”
EQUILIBRIUM 16

Living with
Voices: 50
stories of recovery
By Prof Marius Romme, Dr Sandra Escher and others. PCCS books. 2009.
I read this book while whizzing up and
down from Liverpool to and from the
Get in to Reading conference (see
elsewhere in this issue). This makes
for electrifying and shocking reading,
as well as illuminating extroardinary
personal victories and triumphs against the odds.
Rhomme and Escher are the poster people for revolutionsizing
the whole field of voice hearing and its consequences.
They are the well respected leaders of the their field of
finding meaning in heard voices, and reconstructing one’s
life accordingly, as well as recovering, mainly outside the
psychiatric system.
As they say themselves: ‘It is entirely possible to overcome
problems with hearing voices and to take back control of
one’s life. It shows a path to recovery by addressing the
main problems voice hearers describe – the threats, the
feelings of powerlessness, the anxiety of being mad –and
helps them find their way back to their emotions and spirituality
and to realising their dreams. This book also holds
true for those who have been given a diagnosis of schizophrenia.’
There are 50 accounts from voice hearers from all over
Europe . They have all overcome extreme childhood and
adulthood abuse to be able to write their stories and start
to move on from the shackles of trauma.
Outlining the issues that are paramount in recovery from
the distress of hearing voices, the authors examples range
from giving hope (crucial in all aspects of recovery),
meeting people who accept the voices as real and take
an interest in the voice hearer as a person, changing the
power structure between you and your voices, making
choices and changing the relationship with one’s voices.
‘I was spoken to as a person , I became an identity’. ‘It
was her faith in me that kick-started my recovery’. ‘ I met
another service-user who worked for a charity. It was a
real eye –opener because she also was a user but she
had a job, partner, a house, all things I was led to believe I
couldn’t have, things that were beyond me.’
The testimonies feel very fresh and truly moving. It is
a Sisyphean task for the voice hearer to move beyond
and on from the stigmatised and often medicalised position
they have found themselves in, and often left to feel
hopeless.
Hearers ranged in their techniques from setting their
‘demons‘ tasks, challenging their power by setting
‘them’ boundaries ‘Do not talk to me before eight in the
evening…’, repeating mantras ‘I am safe and I am free’,
realising they spoke nonsense, ‘I looked for solutions in
myself’, ‘I supported the junior (child’s voice) to confront
the Blue voice (the voice of the abuser)..she became
stronger.
A huge step was changing their relationship with the
voices: ‘Instead of bowing to every whim, I embraced
them as friends and welcomed their intrusions... as a
consequence my fear reduced.’ ‘After I set myself up as
self-employed, my relationship with my voices changed.
I think because my self-esteem started to rise. Work gave
me purpose.’
Romme, Escher and others explore the history of the
reporting of hearing voices, from Socrates in 4c BCE, to
Mohammed, Jesus, Joan of Arc and William Blake. They
explore the Western ‘disease’ model, which psychiatrises
voice-hearers, rather than seeing the voices as reactions
to problems in the persons life.
70% of voice hearers have experienced trauma and/
or powerless-making situations. The authors explore ways
of working with voice hearers which vary from the norm
(medication and possible hospitalisation) in the West.
They propose a wish list for psychiatrists– ranging from
giving up the no-hope prognosis, exploring the trauma
that led to the voice hearing, not automatically giving
medication etc.
This is a vital book, though sad and hard to read at times.
The stories within are gruelling and shocking, but these 50
people are finding understanding and help and recovery,
and have not been written off. It is a struggle for them to
get there, but for most of the writers, they are managing
to recover and triumph and heal their scarred minds.
Polly
EQUILIBRIUM 17

‘Anti-Stigma’ Film Project
The ‘Anti-Stigma’ film project at the Clarendon Centre is
a project that began about 3 years ago. It was largely
undertaken to inform and educate people about
mental ill health and the stigma and discrimination often
suffered by those with / during an illness. The film was
made by members of the Video Group, a regular group
that runs at the Clarendon Centre and facilitated by the
self-taught film maker, Bhodi.
The film is made up of six short films, each illustrating
personal experiences / views on mental health. Linking
the films is an informative narrative that provides a sobering
backdrop to each account and is a film in its own
right. The unique quality of the film comes not only from
the poignancy of the subject matter but from the range
of methods used, such as poetry, art, animation and
music.
Throughout the film, the often negative and prejudiced
view held by society regarding people with
mental ill health, is explored. Problems such as not being
treated as ‘normal’, of having to leave work or being
man-handled by professionals are sadly experiences
that, three years on, still go hand-in-hand with having a
mental illness. The first protagonist sums these prejudices
up in his observation: ‘I’m sure some people must look
at me and think . . . “what’s his problem?” . . . feelings
mutual, I look at people and they look at me.”
It is difficult to do this film justice in a review and all I
can say is that I was in tears for pretty much the whole
film, with the exception of the last film, which is a tongue
in cheek look at who in our society really needs their
heads checked out!
The difficulties portrayed within ‘Anti-Stigma’ are sadly
echoed by the fact that their have been so many barriers
regarding showing the film publicly. After three years,
these problems are hopefully being overcome and the
film will be viewed widely. This year it has already had
two screenings; at the Wood Green Film Festival and
British Film Institute and it is also being shown at the Haringey
INCLUDE: Film and Culture Event at the West Green
Learning Centre on Friday May 14th (prior to print date).
However, fingers crossed and with some support and
understanding the film may be... coming to a cinema
near you!
Tracy Dos Santos
The pubs are
closing down!
Several pubs have closed in the Haringey area in recent
years, unfortunately because of the Credit Crunch
and fatalities. First of all I’ll tell you about my favourite
pub. It was the Litten Tree in Wood Green. It opened in
1998. It was a nice pub with a dance floor, a restaurant
area, and a big television screen for the football. On
a Saturday night people got dressed up to go to the
Litten Tree. It was always full on a Saturday night. And I
noticed there were always Bouncers at the door at the
weekend. I took all my friends there and they took all
their friends there.
Unfortunately one Saturday night in 1998 a man of 22
was shot in the head. He was dancing very well, another
man got jealous and shot him. What a waste of a life.
He had 2 children. I am surprised as to how the killer got
past the bouncers with a gun.
Naturally afterwards people did not want to go
to that pub anymore. The pub did a lot of things to
encourage people to go back. They had special offers
and they changed their name to the Wood Green
Tavern. But nothing worked, so it had to close.
In Tottenham sadly a young girl of 17 years of age
was shot. She got into an argument with a man and
he went out, came back with a gun and shot her. She
should not have been in the pub because she was
not 18. The customers did not want to go to the pub
anymore. The Swan pub could not pay its overheads so
it had to close.
The Swan pub was part of the community and local
economy. It was a popular pub and a landmark in
Tottenham. Even London Transport buses used to carry
the name of the Swan! The Swan was next door to the
Bus Garage and a lot of the staff used to go there.
Why are people carrying guns and wasting innocent
lives?
I have also noticed that some pubs have closed
during the credit crunch. Five to six pubs are closing
each week in the UK. People can’t afford to go to
the pub a lot, so they are buying m ore drink from the
supermarket and local shops.
I enjoy going to the pub. A drink always tastes better
in a pub. It’s relaxing, a good way to chill out and it
reduces stress. There’s a pub in Coronation Street and
Eastenders and Emmerdale, as a social centre so why
can’t we have ours?
Angela
EQUILIBRIUM 18

Artists talk at
Tate Modern
Personality Plus was set up in
2007, a project that focuses
on supporting people with
personality disorders and
those who identify themselves
by the illness. Tate Modern
organised an event during
December 2009 for some artists
to share their unique talent and
experience of personality disorder. This event attracted
several people...mental health and arts organisations,
service users and ex services users.
Julie Bagwash gave a presentation about her creative
art work; she also displayed a short film she made,
illustrating a bed placed in an aquarium, surrounded by
some mellow music then rapid, a quite fascinating piece!
Though some sad and moving images …
Another artist, Tamar Whyte talked about her art work,
and how it has influenced her after being diagnosed with
a personality disorder. Tamar took the initiative to contact
other people with the disorder and formed a collection
of artwork for the exhibition “Tales of a Borderline”. The
exhibition was held in Gloucester’s Guild Hall featuring her
artwork combined with the writings of others; including
images and video gathered from users of self help BPD
(Borderline Personality Disorder) groups online.
People had the opportunity to participate in two
workshops. One was about exploring and recordings
sessions from experiences with art galleries. Also it gave
the chance to some people to exhibit their work in
galleries from January to March 2010. I attended the
second workshop based on drawings movements of an
acrobat, Sam; a tightrope walker. Julie Beech; an artist
facilitated this workshop. Paper and pencil were used to
draw the different movements and positions. At times we
had to use two or more pencils to draw and then just one
hand. I really enjoyed the workshop…it was very different
and exciting! Looking back at my drawings I was relatively
happy with the outcome, however, I found it challenging
to look at the acrobat movements and drawing them at
the same time. Siham Beleh
Fancy a loan
anyone?... And we mean any anyone!
Logging on to my online bank
account a couple of weeks ago
I was surprised to find that I had
been pre-approved for a loan up
to £6000 and the decision to lend
me this money was based on the
way I had managed my account.
Considering my circumstances i.e. on (income support)
for over five years its not hard to manage money when
you don’t have any!! I was amazed that a high street
bank was prepared to lend me any money, not least to
say £6000. Having caught my eye I decided to take a
closer look and proceed to apply online for £5000 over
36 months. By clicking on the links I realised the only
terms available where over 60 months at an interest
rate of over 26%.I went through the process of applying
online and the loan was approved. At no point did
they ask for details of employment or weekly earnings
and was informed that I could sign online and have the
money in my account in 3 hours This is an extortionate
amount of interest considering the current base interest
and, I believe it is irresponsible of a big four bank to offer
loans to people of limited means who would struggle to
meet the repayments causing them a lot of worry and
stress. Having spent a couple of hour’s day dreaming
of a holiday in Barbados I declined to take the loan.
M.C.
I saw Psy at the Peacock
Theatre on its opening night
at the end of April. I wasn’t
really sure what to expect but
from the start I could tell this
was going to be a groundbreaking
production. The
performance kicks off straight
away with a matter-of-fact
voice informing the audience
of humorous facts and
figures about mental illness as
well as mobile phones and
flash photography. The act is
centred around 11 characters
each with a particular ‘mental
malady’ such as insomnia,
OCD and hearing voices.
Each individual portrays
their ‘illness’ and the ‘suffering’
they experience with a
specific circus technique such
as acrobatics, trapeze and
juggling. We are exposed to
a variety of settings; psychiatrist’s
office, a bustling crossroads
and a bar / club. It is
difficult to pick a favourite
scene as I enjoyed them all,
but one of them has to be the group therapy session and
the addict’s scene with the German Wheel. The rush and
lure of his addiction felt by the audience as he spins in
the wheel hypnotically entrancing us, but at the same
time we see that it borders on the dangerous as he spins
faster and faster, and tries to escape but can’t. This was
a truly magnificent display of the talent and skill of the
performers and it was moving to see mental health being
brought into the public domain in such a creative way.
Tracy dos Santos
Psy Review
EQUILIBRIUM 19

image: Polly Mortimer
Image from Dream On an interactive book installation for the South Bank Centre at the Queen Elizabeth foyer