** Warning ** today's blog is not funny, irreverent, socially or intellectually informed. I am sad and here's why;
Back home from Gibraltar. A much better experience this time round. The Hotel was good, weather superb and welcome friendly. I met some lovely people and I learnt some more history of the place. I had a good talk with the Minister for Culture & Sport and threw a few ideas at him. Culture is my middle name. I know my Degan from Drogba. Though to be fair i struggle on my classics, unless it's a Raleigh Chopper. It was all very positive though and I even enjoyed it in parts. Having said all that, 3 days around 12 men from a security company in the UK staying in the same hotel, going to the same restaurants, hanging around in the same work venues and i was ready to leave. As lovely as they are and they are all smashing blokes I was sick of them and was desperate to leave.
I don't mean to sound harsh or ungrateful but i find it exhausting having to be 'nice', 'on' and constantly make conversation with people you wouldn't normally socially mix with. I don't mind doing it for a bit, but underneath this social character lies a deeply odd isolating weirdo. I hide it well of course, I love being around people I enjoy and feel comfortable with but I have a shelf life of forced conversation. A meal I can manage, even a whole day in parts. But 3 days? Fuck me any longer and I would have been making a break for freedom to Morocco.
Have you ever stayed with someone at Christmas for 2 or 3 days and been desperate to leave? Been out for a Christmas meal with people you'd be happy to say 'good morning' to but that's about it? Forced socialising is difficult. I pity people who have to take clients out all the time. Without alcohol it gets rather tedious.
But you know what? Who gives a fuck. It was 3 days. Hardly a tough gig was it? Not exactly something to moan about is it? I went 5 days without a meeting which made me crabby and my head hurt. The lack of perspective and gratitude is easy to lose and that went long ago. Hence my head.
My mind changed on the plane when I picked up a paper and it made me instantly guilty of being so pathetic. Two stories jumped out and made me sad.
1 - Syria
I don't know enough about the country, the civil war, the politics or the history to make informed comment. I'll leave that to better social commentators. The story was about 2.5 million people have been 'displaced'. Fleeing their homes, their towns to be sheltered in Turkey or crisis camps. Conditions are dreadful, the country is ravaged by war and these poor fuckers have nothing. No sanitation. No fresh food. No hope. And there I was moaning about being around 12 people in a smart hotel. Twat.
I was moved by the images and it made me angry and sad. What can i do? Can i raise £400 for them? make a donation to UNICEF? But what of the Government, what of the millions being creamed off the Aid and the people by corrupt dictators, government figures. That's the real problem, but what does the West do? Piss and moan. If Oil was at stake you bet they'd be in quicker than Jordan is to young cock.
But you know what's the worst thing? Me. I'll be just like any other western liberal wanker and see those images, say 'it's awful', get angry and criticise the local government without knowing enough about it, show that I feel bad for the kids and poor people to satisfy my own guilt and then the next day i will totally forget about it and start thinking about my own problems again. I'm not proud but it's the truth. Hate that about me.
2- 'Catastrophic' Mental Care in the UK
The other story was about how bollocks the care for people with Schizophrenia and psychosis in the UK is. This makes my heart bleed. We've all got things that are close to our hearts. That melt us. That upset us. One of mine is mental illness. Particularly severely mentally ill. It just makes me so sad. Grown adults with a child like simplicity. They are not at fault. They have something that requires care. They are severely vulnerable and it makes me so sad for them not to receive dignified and proper care. Few things make me cry but this does.(and Rocky II)
The crux of the report is that too much attention is put on the end product of secure units and not early stages of treatment to help people live normal lives and not get worse.
The commission, established by the mental health charity Rethink Mental Illness, has called for a radical overhaul of the care system. The report suggests that too much money is being spent on secure care – the most expensive form of care – and more should be invested in prevention and community support
The report states that there should be more widespread use of community-based "recovery houses" and a redirection of funding from secure units into early intervention services.
"It's been over 100 years since the term schizophrenia was first coined, but care and treatment are still nowhere near good enough.
"It is a scandal that in 2012 people with schizophrenia are dying 15-20 years earlier than the general population and that only 7% are able to get a job. Too many people are falling through the gaps in the system and ending up in prison or homeless.
"Developing ideal treatments might take time, but there are things which can be done today which could transform lives. More money does need to be spent – but the funding that already exists could also be used much more effectively.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/14/catastrophic-failings-schizophrenia-care
In a nutshell mental health care is a fucking disgrace. I have been in several secure units (as a visitor)and it's so sad. The whole thing can be organised much better and Government after Government has neglected this. Cutting funding for the past 30 years until now we have so many mentally ill people in the community not getting the care they need.
It's with drugs, alcohol, mental illness and costs the country more in dealing with the consequences than it would if they aimed for good treatments and early prevention.
For fucks sake Britain. What the fuck are you doing?
So there you have it. No jokes, No laughing. No self centredness. Just full scale sadness and anger. It's a big bad fucking world out there people with some awful shit going on. The key is. What am i going to do about it? Think on Evans. There must be something.
xx
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