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Blog Roll
Blog Roll disclaimer*
Links
to recommended blogs:
OCD
Wiping The Crazy Off My Face
Incertus - The Weblog of Doubt and Other Disorders
There is a diary included as
part of the following website:
My Obsessively
Clean
Den
Where Justin can be Justin
Agoraphobia:
Agoraphobic
English Guy
Downunder
Bipolar and OCD:
Gail's journal
New!
Disjointed Thoughts
Autism:
Donna Williams’ Blog
Ballastexistenz
A Blog from Another World
Attention Deficit disorder ADD:
Living with ADD
A
personal selection of Interesting Blogs not related
to mental health or conditions of any kind:
The Action Blog:
Save an
endangered species, protect human rights, save a
forest.
Gristmill: The environmental news blog |
This blog is part of
Grist Magazine's
website, a magazine dedicated to environmental
issues.
Positive Attitude Quotes, Free Happy Positive Loving
Messages, Popular Motivativational sayings.
A
good selection of interesting quotations
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August 1st
Last
night's thunderstorms have cleared the air, although
we now have a dull overcast sky the recent heat wave
has been unbearable. Although it was great to see
the sun, it is such a good mood enhancer for
everyone not just those of us who suffer with mental
health problems such as depression and anxiety. But
for me there is a dilemma, the sun boosts my mood,
increases motivation but is a detriment to my
migraine and tension headaches, a bright blue
cloudless sky can be overwhelming even if I only
have a mild headache and the intense humid heat adds
to my difficulties when I am out making me feel more
fatigued.
Yes I know
I do complain rather a lot, I am almost an habitual
moaner but I do have a lot to complain about and
I rather think that I may be more sensitive to pain
and discomfort in my body that others are perhaps
not aware of or do not give perhaps as much
attention to. But just now for me it seems that
there is some ache or pain, and migraine of course
is a significant detriment in its own right and a
significant pain unlike any other.
I find it really difficult to think of anything of a
positive nature to say, after all OCD is not a
positive condition anymore than any other
malady of either the mind or body, particularly when
experienced on a daily basis and of course even
chronic physical illnesses eventually effects the mind and
brings about depression. Even without the OCD my
migraine and other conditions would most likely
result in depression.
In order
to add something a little more encouraging I try to
include something positive from the net or elsewhere
and the other day I came across a very inspiring
story from Charity Focus's Daily Good
section about Frank Calloway. Frank who is now 112
years old
has been institutionalised for half is life with
schizophrenia, since the mid 1980s after
taking drawing classes he has revived a brilliant
talent for drawing things from his past to produce
some remarkable artwork. Proving that it is never to
late to try to make something of your life.
Please take a few
minutes and read the articles linked from this
website and View his incredible drawings.
DailyGood: The 112 Year-Old Artist
August 5th
It has been a while since there have been any
updates, new items added to my website. My life is
very difficult these days in one way or another and
I am feeling very overwhelmed. In addition as I have
already mentioned I am in the throes of
redesigning this website and creating another.
Headaches are also becoming an increasing problem or
at least my ability to cope with them seems to be on
the decline. The weather is hot and humid and this
makes it more difficult although it seems I am now
so sensitive to any adversity and it is increasingly
difficult to function.
Nonetheless I have managed to include a few new
additions. In the gallery I have included in John's
photographs section six new photographs for desktop
wallpaper and also Two new poems from Shirley a
sufferer of OCD.
Sometimes I think that people nowadays in general
expect too much of themselves and set to high a
target and consequently fail to achieve it and are
left feeling discouraged and of low self esteem. I
think that those of us with a mental illness can
feel this way simply due to the limitations that our
conditions impose upon us and somehow we try to
struggle on and expect to achieve the same standard
as a well functioning person. Society generally
really does not understand mental health conditions
and often we receive no sympathy, understanding
or support concerning the difficult lives we have. A
mental health condition is a serious disability, a
soul destroying condition as it effects you as a
being, as a person, it touches your very soul and it can effect
so many areas of your life and your ability to
function and can be quite pervasive. Sometimes
I think that society's attitudes and lack of
understanding can actually effect us so much so that after
a while we are even less understanding and tolerant
of ourselves and see oursleves as not having a real
illness and as failures. This however is not the
case. We do have a significant and incapacitating
condition for which we need help, support and
understanding yet oftentimes notwithstanding our
disabilities most of us with such conditions struggle on often
with mounting adversity to try and live normal lives
.
Right now I do the best I can do, as do many in my
position and without giving up the fight against our
conditions we should sometimes I think accept that
life is more of challenge for us than for other
people, and we are not going to be able to do
whatever endeavour to the same standards as a person
who does not suffer as we do. For anyone with any
chronic and pervasive condition whether mental or
physical life can be a huge struggle and we should
perhaps accept
what we can do rather than lament over what we cannot.
John's desktop wallpaper
Shirley's Poems
August 7th
Had a dreadful time
trying to sleep for the last couple of nights or so, a
relatively mild case of tinnitus which I have had for a few
years now appears to have become much worse with pounding in my
left ear just awful. It is less noticeable in the day time
and I hope it remains this way. The thing is I have two types of
noise, one which goes through the centre of my head from ear to
ear, a noise rather like the wind whistling through telegraph
wires. The other as mentioned above is in my left ear and become
a problem a couple of years ago, it started out with an
intermittent sound rather like Morse code but now it is a
pounding pulsating sound.
Is it just me and I am
unlucky but there always seems to be something wrong and life
seems just so difficult. Tinnitus can be a misery but
added to headaches and migraine it is awful, it disturbs my
sleep and drives me crazy. It is 4.20 and I can stay in bed no
longer as the noise is more noticeable lying down, the drone of
my computer is masking the noise to some degree. My husband has
tinnitus he never complains though as I do, but we are all
different, some of us can cope better than others. I am very
sensitive to noise and to have this internal noise of which I
can do nothing is a nightmare.
A change of theme now
as I must try not to allow this to take over my life as the more
I focus on the problem the worse it becomes.
A new banner below
will take you to the UK's largest animal sanctuary where you can
adopt a farm animal. Really heart rending stories. I know this
has nothing to do with OCD as such and in time hopefully I will
have a website specially for this campaign of mine, although I
will still feel the need to include a few similar links now and
again as this is an important issue for me and is now a part of
my life. I am very impressed by the work of the Farm Animal
Sanctuary and their compassion towards animals and I hope that in
some small way adding a link to my website will be of benefit to
this charity and to the animals they care for. I am really
passionate about the plight of farm animals and working
frantically on my website which concerns this issue. It is also
for me a good distraction and gives some purpose and I think as
sufferers of OCD or other mental health problems we need to
focus our attentions on other issues. Often overwhelmed by our
own suffering we can feel we can do little to help others, but
there are often small actions we can take even if it is only
sharing and promoting a cause and hopefully getting people to
think differently, which is the intention of my new website. I
am sure many more people would become vegetarian if only they
knew about the dreadful cruelty which takes place on farms all
over the world and don't forget even in the best of farms in the
end the fate of the animals is certain and premature death in
the slaughter house. So there is no compassion in farming as of
cause bringing about the death of any creature is not an act of
compassion. There is much suffering in this world and if we can
do something to alleviate it all the better. Please click the
banner below which will take you to the home page of the Adopt a
Farm Animal section of the Farm Animal Sanctuary.
Also clicking the link below, which is included in the website above but
is not too prominent and could easily be missed, will take you to the
Animal Farm Sanctuary's main website which give you further information
about the animals and what you can do to help.
The Farm
Animal Sanctuary home page
August 21st
My family and I have recently returned from a few days holiday to
Somerset, staying in the town of Glastonbury from where we visited
Exmoor, Lynmouth Bay, Bath and many places through out Somerset and
Dorset. Glastonbury is a favourite destination of ours. It
was rather a last minute decision to go. Holidays are traumatic for me
regardless of my natural desire like anyone else to enjoy a break away.
With OCD and indeed any mental health problem, and also I might add of
course any physical condition, you simply cannot cast it aside and enjoy
your holiday. Naturally no one expects a person with a physical condition
to do so but it is amazing how no understands that for a person with a
condition like OCD he or she cannot simply set it aside and take in some
R and R, for there is never any respite; OCD does not relent its torment
just because it is a holiday or other occasion considered as enjoyable
just because we think that it should. In fact holidays can be a
particualry stressful time and ones symptoms may be more difficult to
cope with due to circumstances arising from being in a different
location. OCD behaviours which are dealt or coped with at home by
comprise or determination can
become more problematic when one is away
from home. For instance with OCD contamination concerns arriving at a
self-catering accommodation where the carpet is dirty can be a dreadful
experience and can significantly ruin your holiday, although such is not
pleasant for anyone of course.
Sadly this was the case concerning this accommodation and a number of
other problems upon which I will not elaborate. I am still very much
effected by this and the problems arising from this have spilled over
into my life now and continue to do so several days after arriving home.
I will not go into detail but although there where or could have been
some enjoyable moments these where marred by OCD and the conditions that
I am told arise from the anxiety and depression that is part of OCD, a
number of physical illnesses, namely, CDH, migraine, IBS and the aches
and pains which I continue to consider as fibromyalgia. IBS was quite huge
problem that greatly effected my holiday, it is a difficult condition at
the best of times for anyone but for a person with contamination OCD the
necessity of having to use public toilets with such frequency adds to
what is a very wearying and stressful condition.
On the day of our arrival we and the residents of the entire town of
Glastonbury where subjected to the most awful noise of a rock concert,
staged in the open, in the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey. The usually
tranquil and peaceful atmosphere of this historic place was shattered
with a volume of noise I have hitherto never been subjected. Usually
with Glastonbury we have to be careful to avoid the music festival.
However unbeknown to us there was a rock concert staged in the ruins of
the Abbey. You have never heard anything like it in your life! The noise
was horrendous you could hear it over the entire town, it was unbearable
to be out of doors, even in the cottage where we stayed it was so loud
it drowned out the TV, which we put on hoping to mask the noise, there
was no escape in any room. It lasted three hours until 10.15 pm at this
volume before being turned down to a lower level for a further few hours.
I cannot imagine how anyone who actually attended the event could not
have sustained damage to their ears. The next day not surprisingly a
nasty headache spoilt my trip to Bath. I was angry, I cannot imagine how
on earth such an event was, and apparently is annually, allowed to be
staged in the precincts of a residential area.
I am not a kill joy, a rock
concert staged in a building designed for this purpose is fine by me,
after all we should be allowed to make decisions concerning our health
and if people are willing to risk their hearing than that is their
prerogative to do so as it is the purgative of a person who smokes to
continue to smoke. However the unwanted influence of smoking it seems is
not tolerated, and extreme, and in some case utterly ludicrous, measures
have been implemented to stop people smoking in public because of the
effects of passive smoking. Yet it appears not to matter about the
effects of a high volume of music being inflicted upon the general
public without their permission. I am not exaggerating the noise was
beyond belief! However like many laws in this country there is one law
for some and a different law for others
Anyway on to more positive things. I will not share with you a daily
account as I did a couple of years ago but include for your interest and
use - some of photographs may be used as desk top wallpaper - a number
of photographs taken during our holiday both in Somerset and during our
trip to Llangollen, a stop off we made along the journey which we did
over two days. Most of the photographs where taken by our son Kevin:
Kevin's art
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The ruins of Valle Crus Abbey
founded in 1201 is situated
Nr Llangollen North Wales in a peaceful
beautiful valley with steep sided mountains. I can well image
what a tranquil place this must have been in medieval times, an
ideal place for contemplation. An exhibition explaining
the history offers an
interesting glimpse into medieval monastic life
. |
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This photograph was taken
while we were travelling along the Horse Shoe pass in north
Wales a little further on from
Valle Crus Abbey. Unfortunately a very overcast day as were many days
during our holiday. |
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At the summit of Horse Shoe pass there is a stop off, a cafe and
souvenir shop. Here sheep are very friendly and will approach
you even following you around hoping you have some tasty titbits
with which to feed them. They display none of the inhibition or
timidity usually characteristic of sheep. |
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A medieval street in Ledbury a quaint old town near the Welsh
boarder which we visited along the way |
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Glastonbury Tor and St
Michaels Tower. These photographs where taken on one of the
few sunny mornings we had during our stay. Everyday there was some rain and it was
chilly for mid August. It' s quite a climb to the summit but
well worth doing so, as you were rewarded with a magnificent
view. |
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Lynmouth
bay situated on the Exmoor cost North Devon and surrounding
areas are places of outstanding scenic beauty even on a dull
cloudy day, but on a sunny day such places are even more
splendid. On this particular day the weather was mixed and
we were able to enjoy a little sunshine |
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A
rainbow, after one of many showers and heather are
splendid sights in Exmoor. |
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The two Photographs above are of
a mare and her foal, they are amongst the herds of wild
horses which roam the Quantock Hills in the country of
Somerset designated as an Area Of Outstanding Natural
Beauty. They where first introduced to the area for
conservation purposes. It is an absolute delight to see
these handsome creatures in a natural environment.
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August 24th
This and
the above entry might be the last this month, this and next month are
busy months for me as I will need to change the name of this website as
my subscription for my domain is due in October and I want a new name
rather than the awkward one it has now. But a decision has to be made
now, at least in the next couple of weeks or so in order to allow you
plenty of notification. I have considered OCD Plus and this will most
likely be the name I will have to settle with although it really is not
adequate to explain the nature and purpose of my website which not only
concerns OCD, although the Plus in OCDPlus is meant to convey this, at
least I hope so, but it is vague. In addition it does not give adequate
indication concerning the creativity aspect of my website which few
seem interested in but which I feel is important in order to add a
little positivity to what would otherwise be a rather negative
depressing website. However to include so much in a short name which
people will remember is not easy and so far proves impossible. My
website not only concerns OCD but also other anxiety disorders such as
agoraphobia and specific phobias, and related disorders such as eating
disorders and ASDs and if time permits I would like to include more on
these, particualry ASDs.
It may
appear that this website is solely about OCD, and this is probably becasue OCD is my primary condition.
Particularly in my blog I tend
to write mostly about my OCD and perhaps this is because I see this as I
do other aspects of my
existence in the light of OCD thinking. However I have other anxiety
disorders such as GAD which I believe is a common co morbid or secondary
condition for people with OCD as is hypochondria which seems to coexist
with all anxiety disorders. I have a variety of other specific phobias
and social anxiety which may well be Aspergers syndrome or social
phobia, although I rather think the former rather than the later, all of
which you will find explained in my website in great detail. In short
the website concerns a whole range of conditions which I believe have
something in common with one another, which I guess is the point I am
trying to make before going off in a tangent about my theories and ideas
which if you are a regular visitor here you will have come across
before, if not well its all here on my website. What I am trying to say
is that I believe these conditions have something in common and it is
important to include them and other mental health conditions therefore I
do not wish it to appear that the website is OCD orientated.
Moreover
I wish to convey that those who sufferer with these conditions often
display, albeit hindered by their respective disorders, a creative
skill of some kind. Not easy therefore to find a short name that people
will remember and which search engines will bring up when anyone
searches for information about the numerous conditions included on this
website. The Name OCDplus of course appears to give more emphasis to OCD, the plus bit
being rather vague inasmuch as it could refer to absolutely anything but
right now nothing else presents itself. Anxiety Plus another name I
considered really does not
have the same ring to it and still does not cover the entire purpose of
my website and seems even more vague. So it is not easy. I know that the name does not matter to some
degree and many websites have odd names not really relating to the
purpose of the website and search engines search the page content rather
than just the page or website title when search key words are entered
into the search field. Nonetheless a more appropriate name is needed, at
least a shorter one than the present name and right now OCDplus is the
best I can do.
It is now
obvious that I cannot complete the new format and design of my website
in time for the name change therefore other than the name you will
notice nothing different. I am working on a second website and this will
need to be completed before I continue with the design of this one so it
will be many many months distant. I will also need to contact everyone
who links to me and send them the new link and this in itself is
exhausting and can be frustrating at times as is the need to send the
new link for inclusion on search engines. However the design is only
superficial and is rather more about my interest in designing websites
than anything else. The content is what is important and I have to
consider my health and not pressure myself too much, website design and
creation is a huge task, it consumes hours and hours and can be
frustrating at times when things go wrong, as they do with any activity
on the computer, and it can be a misery and a depressing activity generating its own kind of
anxiety and stress. It took eight months to get this website ready
for publication and it will mostly likely take eight months to do the same and perhaps
longer for my new website, which I need to get on-line before continuing
the redesign of this one.
So I have
to remind myself that I should not pressure myself to do the impossible,
"Rome was not built in a day" as the old saying goes, an expression we
hear rarely these days as so many people in our society are constantly
under pressure to accomplish
the impossible in an increasingly shorter space of time,
the work place being the most obvious example, although their are many others.
Concerning work often employees are required to achieve more with fewer co workers to share the load.
Education is another example when younger and younger pupils face an
increasing pressure to accomplish so much. And
often the pressures of society spills over into all aspects of ours
lives and you might find yourself feeling under pressure all the time
even if you are not a student, retired or unable to work; when other people are not pressing you to do this or that in
as quick as time as possible you find that you are applying similar
pressure to yourself to accomplish an unrealistic target and if you are
not well, as I have mentioned before, and you are not mindful of this
you may become even more frustrated and depressed by the limitations of
your condition.
Also after A holiday it takes a
while to get back into a routine. The weather has done little except
rain every day. I have still not caught up with the heaps of cloths
which need washing left over from our holiday and with my OCD, which makes me more
likely to change cloths more often than most, still today a considerable
pile needs laundering. The problem is cloths simply will not dry
outside, I know a problem for everyone but after returning from a
holiday and having OCD this difficulty considered by most as a most
minor annoyance is, like so many things in my life, accentuated by OCD.
The cloths are hung out to dry, it rains, if I can't get them inside
quickly enough I have to rewash them. When they are inside they are hung
on cloths horses and after a time they begin to smell of damp because
the house is cold and they do not dry quickly enough, so they are washed
all over again and the whole procedure begins once again from scratch.
It is a bank holiday weekend this weekend and the
sky is again overcast dreary and very chilly. Oh I am dreading the
winter with rising utility bills in our old damp house that needs
heating on a regular basis. The summer has passed so quickly, the
weather has not been good and I feel it has gone without it having
arrived if that makes any sense.
*
Disclaimer :
No responsibility is accepted for the content of external links
including blogs:
Concerning blogs : Although I have initially looked through the
recommended blogs in my blog roll I have not read every single entry and
have selected each on its overall merit: interesting regular entries .
However the comments and opinions of the respective blog owners do not
necessarily reflect my own opinions.
*
Contact
I will endeavour to reply to all e-mail, however please bear in mind
that I have a number of quite debilitating illnesses and there may be
times when there will be considerable delay. Also I will not
publish anyone's comments, as appears to be the procedure
with blogs, without permission of the author : If you would like me to
publish your comments please indicate clearly at the end of your e-mail.
All comments are welcome including polite constructive
criticism and difference of opinion. However I reserve the right not to
publish anything that I consider would be offensive or in any way of
detriment to anyone particularly those who sufferer with the illnesses
included on this web site.
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