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| More seeds planted |
As well as the regular crops I've decided to give a try to Tea and Coffee, the Tea is actually Camomile and the coffee undefined.
Much as the British explorers brought seeds from abroad in the Victorian age modern gardeners are often not content to grow what they know our climate supports and push at the edges - so I've also got a packet of various Cactus seeds from when we holidayed in the Canary Islands recently.
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| The kit box |
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| Soaking seeds |
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| the pots with seeds |
Oddly enough I saw a little bit of an old QI (on Dave) and pictures of what various drugs did to the brain were shown - one of the stimulants that had what looked like a worrying effect was coffee.
On the subject of the brain -I got a chance to revisit an area that interested me yesterday (some time ago I went to talk at The Royal Society on research into the causes) I attended a presentation giving an overview of mental conditions.
One of the few things that Liberal Democrats might feel a little pride about is being part of the move to put mental health on the public agenda but to be able to take part in debate around this you need to know some of the terminology - here's a little of what I picked up.
Mental health conditions appear to beon the rise in the UK, there are (of course) questions around this phenomenon, is it that we're now more keen to diagnose? Are we saying normal reactions to the rough and tumble of life are 'Mental problems'? And do drug companies have a monetary interest in the medication that follows?
In the UK Mental Health is diagnosed according to ICD -10 which is broadly speaking a classification tool.
Conditions:
Schizophrenia is a serious condition which is accompanied by both Negative and Positive symptoms.
An example of the positive symptoms include Thought Broadcasting.
Treatments - often Medication which has side effects that can require further medication - some medication gives patients Parkinson's disease like symptoms and severe weight gain.
Therapies - CBT is often used to help sufferers and is favoured by the NHS in the UK
Social - There are networks that support Hearing Voices Network is an example.
Bi-Polar Disorder - this has some high profile sufferers (Like Stephen Fry) and is associated with dramatic 'highs and lows' these include manic episodes where speech can become extremely fast and delusions are prevalent.
Treatments -Mood stabilisers are the favoured drugs.
Therapies -CBT again can be appropriate.
Social - there's support at BiPolar UK
Depression is probably the biggest mental health issue in the UK and many of us know of people who have this condition, it typically is accompanied by lower levels of activity, self-esteem issues and reduced concentration. Those with depression may have less of an appetite (for food) and can also have reduced sleep.
Treatments- drugs that are used are termed anti-depressants.
Therapies -CBT and other three letter type acronyms abound here CAT, along with IPT and DIT are some of them.
Social - there are Health and Well-being centres around and the Depression Alliance
Personality Disorder - is about how we function in the world Borderline Personality Disorder can be a difficult condition to manage it's associated with Emotional instability and sufferers often have a history of abuse and/or neglect.
The final area I will mention is
Anxiety and Panic Attacks -
Panic attacks - these can often be treated with CBT along with 'exposure therapy' and medication includes anxiolytics - simple measures like breathing adjustments may bring some calm
Social - there's a group called Anxiety UK
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