Category: health

World mental health day

World mental health day and menโ€™s arrogance and reluctance to talk

I just wanted to share a post that was sent to me. Today is World mental health day, and this is one of the most hard hitting, and well formed videos that I think I have ever seen. It was produced by Norwich City football club here in the Uk, and in my eyes it is probably one of the best pieces of film I have ever watched, simply just asking you to keep an eye on friends and colleagues. Simple and straight to the point.

Here in the Uk 40% of deaths in males under the age of fifty, is a result of poor mental health. A horrendously high amount you must agree, and totally avoidable if everyone was just more aware of subtle changes of those around us. Have a look at the video in the link below, itโ€™s hard hitting as the outcome is not what youโ€™d expect.

I have in the last couple of weeks dealt with my 20th fatality on the railway, no one explained in the beginning, on the job description, that my job would involve such horrendous outcomes, and I have witnessed scenes that I would not wish upon anyone. Do I suffer? Iโ€™d tell you no, to your face, but sometimes Iโ€™m in utter turmoil.

But I have a peer group at work, that are there for me, we are all there for each other as we get no support from work to be honest. If we didnโ€™t talk to each other, and offer words of comfort and reassurance, Iโ€™d hate to know where any of us would be now.

Men are stubborn sods full of false bravado, Iโ€™m one of them, and Iโ€™m great at pulling the curtains over a difficult situation. Smiling eyes I might have, my confidence may seem through the roof, but in the quiet periods or the wee dark hours, Iโ€™m asking myself questions i do not know the answers to.

Iโ€™m praying I never attend another fatality, but in reality I know another one is never far away, Iโ€™m lucky that I have the support of my colleagues to see me through, we talk, we drink tea.

Talking works. It saves lives. And lets people know they are not alone.

You are not alone, and will never be. Donโ€™t let those thoughts rule your head, those thoughts need to be out in the open. They are poison, and the poison needs to be let. Talking helps.

Stay safe. You are not alone.

I canโ€™t get no sleep

3am in the morning and Iโ€™m wide awake. Damned annoying as I know what the cause is. Itโ€™s been an issue that has pestered me in excess of 30 years now and itโ€™s called –

Shift work

Says it all

Iโ€™ve been working shifts in my job for about 35 years now and I still havenโ€™t come across a way to get your body to adapt to all the changes that shift work burdens upon you, and number one in that list is insomnia.

Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, and a depressed mood. It may result in an increased risk of accidents of all kinds as well as problems focusing and learning.

Wikipedia

As if you need it explaining to you. Now I donโ€™t suffer from permanent insomniac conditions, mine is purely based around the segment that involves night shifts. My shifts cover 24hrs and are on a five week rolling cycle. They involve three main sets of shifts and those shifts are 0600-1400hrs, 1400-2200hrs or 2200-0600hrs and at weekends they are either 0600-1800 or 1800-0600.

I have just finished a run of 11 consecutive night shifts after one of my coworkers has been taken ill. And thatโ€™s the problem. I finished at 0600 yesterday morning and deliberately did not sleep beyond 11 am as Iโ€™m now having to swing back to daylight timings, as I now have the weekend off before transferring on to the early mornings shifts from Monday. I was suitably tired last night, in fact I was all day, but I resisted the urge to nod off as I wanted to try and fool my body clock in to getting back to normal habits. But my body clock doesnโ€™t work like that and isnโ€™t having it.

Over the years I have tried many ways to try and evolve my body clock to understand when moving from Night shifts to day shifts. Iโ€™ve tried not sleeping at all, but that results in irritation to all those around me, and a general malaise that is unproductive and non conducive to a friendly peaceful atmosphere. Iโ€™ve tried the couple of hours in bed routine but that again is problematic as you fall in to such a deep sleep, so quickly that whoever is tasked with waking you up undoubtedly gets both barrels and you donโ€™t speak for the rest of the day getting labelled as a miserable old git. Or you can just go to bed and wake up when you feel fit to, as I did yesterday and here I am now, in a blacked out bedroom putting my thoughts into this post, quietly as my wife sleeps beside me.

Iโ€™m totally wide awake and ready to go. But I donโ€™t want to go anywhereโ€ฆjust yet.

I know I will pay the price later today by feeling tired and tempted to take a nap, however I have to resist that temptation and try to get back to a normal sleeping pattern tonight.

I must apologise in advance to all those individuals who I will meet today who think โ€œHeโ€™s a miserable old git.โ€ If Iโ€™m nodding as we talk itโ€™s not that Iโ€™m bored itโ€™s just Iโ€™m lacking the one item you have probably had plenty of.

Sleep.

I canโ€™t get no sleepโ€ฆ.(to quote a superb tune)

I canโ€™t get no sleep

There you go. I said it was a great tune.

Peace and plentiful sleep to you all. Stay safe.

Manflu (Common cold for Women)

This is a jest post as all the prompts that have appeared recently courtesy of WP, are repeat suggestions, and there is no point in answering them if nothing has changed.

I know a female who has succumbed to the dreaded manflu (pic: courtesy of Happythreads)

For the last 7 days now me and the good lady have succumbed to a quite nasty cold that we believe was obtained from a trip to the south of Iceland. A couple of inconsiderate souls behind us on the bus were coughing and sneezing throughout the trip and I believe they wanted to share their misery with us. Well it has worked. Thanks for that.

Weโ€™ve been through massive ups and downs in illness this week, and the thing the common cold does brilliantly is to give you the impression you are getting better and then the next day hit you with a more ferocious, and violent second infection. That was on day three and four this week and the second wave was when the sore throat from hell hit, it did give me a lovely husky tone though.

Normally as a couple it is usually only the one of you that goes down with it, and the other partner who signed that invisible contract looks after you and makes you feel more comfortable. That is where the Manflu accusation usually comes in as the Female of the relationship undoubtedly ends up attending to the needs of the mortally wounded male in the partnership. There has been none of that this week as we both Cough and splutter around the house, with zombie like motions both sounding like honking geese with our constant barking coughs.

Now this was a real show of love and commitment and we have both gotten through it.

And the wife has not been able to use the Manflu tag against me once, as she has suffered it too. I may use this post as a reference for her to look back to during any future discussions regarding how this situation developed ๐Ÿ˜‚

I havenโ€™t missed work though. โ€œHow selfishโ€ I hear you say, but you are wrong. I work mainly alone and the only contact I normally have with anyone is when I hand over at each end of the shift. I have contacted my colleagues prior to handovers and these have been carried out as they were in Covid times in the carpark. I havenโ€™t used the office, Iโ€™ve stayed mobile in the van. The last thing I want to do is to pass this on to my colleagues and their families.

Day 7, today we are both a bit better, another day indoors will probably see us well, we have been drinking plenty, eating as best we can, and taking many potions and lotions to get us through. I think we can finally remove the โ€œUncleanโ€ sign from the front door, and ask that guy with the barrow who keeps passing by to stop shouting โ€œ Bring out your dead!โ€ In the grand scheme of things we are fine though and as stated this post is a jest post.

It could be the first documented case of Manflu transmission to the Female species, and I witnessed it first hand. I wonder if our fickle governments should consider a lockdown?

Stay safe and healthy everyone. Have a super day.