03 Apr The Hidden Killer – Draft
Explanation Paragraph
My project is about men mental health, a subject very close to me as it has affected my self and many of my friends. My piece will contain a opening, a bit on my personal experience with mental health issues, interviews from people suffering and people linked to the subject, as well as pages on some of the science behind the mental health, and what can be done to help people and the reader their self. My target audience is mainly men, with an age range of 15 to 40 because that is the age range that tend to suffer the most from mental health issues. Although mental health problems can target any man of any age so I hope that any man would relate to some of the content of my piece.
Plan
My original plan was to have video and audio interviews but due to the COVID 19 outbreak and social distancing this is no longer possible. However I am doing written interviews to get round that issues. My piece will be a website using Shorthand and I am using the basic template so I can add my own touch to the piece. I have started my website but it isn’t in a state to be marked as of yet. It will contain images but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get any valid ones as of yet. This is because I’ve had to focus on adapting my interviews but this will be my focus for the week to come. I currently have two written up interviews, one from a man (Kevin Freestone, 37) who’s physical health caused mental health issues and a mental health charity worker (Danny Lambert, 22) who also suffered with his own personal demons. I have another interview lined up with another man who is suspected to have bipolar disorder but is yet to be fully diagnosed. I hope to get a interview with a personal trainer at a local gym and talk about how exercise can help your mental state.
My research has been picked from various mental health charities and other charities that link to some of my interviews. I also used the NHS website and articles too in my piece. Her are the links I used for my research:
- https://www.samaritans.org/about-samaritans/research-policy/suicide-facts-and-figures/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIydDYgI_v5gIVhrTtCh399AiyEAAYASAAEgJeofD_BwE
- https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/man-manual?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsruln8-F5wIVh7PtCh0Cvw3PEAAYAiAAEgLgNvD_BwE
- https://www.strongmen.org.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsruln8-F5wIVh7PtCh0Cvw3PEAAYASAAEgLJYPD_BwE
- https://www.outlife.org.uk/fs149-5-ways-to-improve-your-mental-health?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsruln8-F5wIVh7PtCh0Cvw3PEAAYAyAAEgKuVfD_BwE
- https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/medical/ask-the-experts/amiodarone
- https://uk.movember.com/
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/antidepressants/
- https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/d/diet-and-mental-health
- https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/food-and-mood/about-food-and-mood/
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chocolate/stressed-dark-chocolate-might-help-idUSTRE5AC0EJ20091113
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/clinical-depression/treatment/
The Hidden Killer
As humans we face many obstacles that threaten our life ranging from physical illness to random life events such as traffic accidents. However, for many there is one such life threatening problem that often goes under the radar that kills thousands in the UK alone, and that’s mental illness.
I will be focusing on the mental illness that affects men alone in the UK, and what is being done to help the suffers as well as what can be done to prevent what is a deadly epidemic.
According to mental health charity Samaritans, men are three times more likely to kill them self’s than woman. In Scotland alone, suicide in men between the ages of 15 to 24 has increased by 52.7 % and across the UK middle age men cover the largest portion of suicides.
The problem is with these shocking statistics is that they don’t really tell us why men of all ages are dying from this invisible illness and what is actually being done to stop the death toll rising.
Due to the serious nature and graphic detail of this piece I have to warn the reading that some of the content maybe upsetting. Suicide and mental illness does not take any prisoners so knowing the details are important, even if the details are graphic.
My Experience
One of reason I’m doing this piece is due to my own personal experience with mental health issues and how I overcame them.
Like most cases of mental illness, I’ve never really fully understood why I experienced these problems, but the main reason for mine was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
This was linked to my diagnoses of Aplastic Anaemia. This is an incredible rare disease that only a few hundred people in the UK get every year. The cause of the disease is often unknown but is caused by the immune system attacking the bone marrow meaning the bone marrow cannot produce the red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The disease is fatal if untreated, and all types of treatments for the disease can have very serious complications and lifelong threats. Mine was so severe it resulted in me requiring a bone marrow transplant and 4 months in total of hospital stays.
The pain and fear, as well as the isolation resulted in unsolved mental trauma that unfortunately came out in my first year of university. After a student night out drinking, I came back to my accommodations and proceeded in an attempt on my own life.
Luckily for me my flat mate found me and took me to the closest A&E for my wound on my wrist. I hadn’t cut any artery but did sever nearly all my tendons in the left wrist which took 2 months to repair and required surgery.
I don’t remember what was going through my mind except the idea that there was only one out come I wanted.
However, once my flat mate had stopped me realised, I did not want to die and the hospital contacted the university who in return got me some help. I experienced back lashes the years following but thankful my parents paid for me to have proper therapy which gave me the tools to cope.
Unfortunately for me that was not the end of my mental health journey. My second year of university saw me struggle to contain my destress and also resulted in me occasionally using alcohol to make me feel better. When abusing drink, I would tend to end up getting blackout drunk and behave very erratically, putting my self in danger and sometimes being verbally abusive to my friends. Following one particularly bad incident in which my parents had to be called out, led to me receiving paid private therapy sessions.
To this day my mental health means I cannot excessively drink due to it making me very unstable and the lack of self-control I have. For me binge drinking was a little escape from reality of life, bit like borrowing happiness from tomorrow.
Personally for me because I have to take lifelong medication, I am reminded of the physical trauma and the pain every day as well as the fear that there could be complications later on in life regarding my health, I doubt I will ever get rid of the mental dark cloud over my head.
As a man, my experience of mental health issue wasn’t helped that it feels like men are made to hide their feeling and laugh any bad feelings off. It’s hard to express your feelings as a man when it feels like you have to keep a front. Everyone, man or woman, suffers from some kind of mental health problem at some point, but as for many I did not want to be burden.
This was my experience; the trouble is everyone’s experience of mental health has different causes and manifest in different way.
Kevin’s Experience
Kevin Freestone is a 37-year-old painter and decorator from Gillingham in Kent. He was born with congenital heart disease, and he has spent countless days and weeks of his life in hospital as well as having dangerous open-heart surgery when he was 4. He wasn’t expected to live past his teenage years but he has and continues to defy the odds.
Despite his condition he continues to live life as a normal man in his thirties and like most average men he has experience the ever day mental struggle such as stress from work. But unfortunate his medical condition and the treatment for the illness has took its toll on his mental health.
One of the drugs that is an important part of his daily regiment is Amiodarone. According to charity The British Heart Foundation and community Pharmacist Sunil Kochhar, Amiodarone is “used to treat or prevent heart rhythm disorders”.
This powerful drug has many side effects. One of those is thyroid problems. The thyroid is a glad that produces hormones Thyroxine and Triiodothyronine. Problems with the Thyroid is linked to depression.
Unfortunately for Kevin, this drug did cause thyroid problem which in turn meant he suffered the mental effects. I spoke to him to gain more of an insight into his experience.
“I’ve been taking Amiodarone since I was 18, so for nearly 20 years. It’s a mental drug that can cause all types of side-affects. It can mess up your sight, your kidneys, your lungs. One of the things it has done to me is it messed up my Thyroid gland. I have to take another drug to control that called Levothyroxine.”
I asked him what kind of affects it had on his mental health, to which he said, “Because it affected my thyroid, it affected my mental health. I suffered with depression and anxiety; thought I was going mad. I was worried all the time about silly things. I didn’t want to get out of bed. The only way I could shut my mind off was when I was asleep. It got so bad that I had to come off the drug for 2 years.”
The drug had a negative effect on his work life as well as his relationship, “yeah at work I flipped out once with a bloke I was working with. All he was doing was moaning all day. I just lost it with him, chucked a hammer across the room and told him to ‘shut up’.”
Kevin continue, “I didn’t want to be near anyone. I didn’t want to be near my girlfriend at the time, didn’t want to have sex, nothing, just wanted to be on my own”.
He is still on Amiodarone to this day but as he said is now combine with another drug to stop these problems. Now his mental health has improved, Kevin has a new girlfriend and continue his life with a bit more peace.
Even though Kevin’s story doesn’t demonstrate the usual cause of mental health issues it helps us understand that sometime its out of our control like many physical illnesses. And in fact, can be linked closely to physical problems.
Danny’s Experience
Danny Lambert, 22, has been a key figure in the Movember Charity at London Southbank University and has raised hundreds of pounds for the cause in the three years studying at the university.
I spoke with Danny about his experience and his motivation for raising money for Movember. “I’ve been raising money for Movember since 2016, through sporting a moustache and running events with a team whilst studying at university.”
I asked Danny what was his motivation for his commitment to charity work. “I’ve struggled immensely with my own mental health, my official diagnosis being Depressive Disorder and Mixed Anxiety. In the space of a year I had isolated myself, attempted suicide by overdosing, self-admitted to a psychological ward, been kicked out of university, attempted suicide by standing on a motorway, attempted suicide by hanging, been sectioned and sent to a psychological ward, switched prescribed medication several times as well as temporarily been prescribed a countless amount of drugs. Countless because I was too drugged to be awake for more than an hour let alone count.”
I then asked Danny why he chose the Movember Campaign, “Partaking in Movember was a no brainer; I didn’t want to see anyone else struggle as I had. Most charities’ front line is focused on chat rooms lead by volunteers that offer short term support, and they did for me some time but they are just short-term support. Movember takes an entire month and supports people supporting others; this allows a longer-term support in building a support structure amongst friends and colleagues.
It’s especially important this conversation takes place amongst men, there is a stigma against men having emotion; through years of TV and advertising, the modern man is depicted as strong and emotionless, often meaning struggling to open up about their own mental health in fear of being mocked in comparison to this unrealistic image.
I see Movember as a celebration in many ways. These conversations take place in fun environments at community lead events. There is a lot of laughter alongside the severity of the topic, in many ways making it easier to open up.
Finally, the majority of the fundraising only taking place of the course of a month makes it very easy to fundraise for. You don’t get the repetitive fatigue, your own and those who you are raising from, that is often present with other charities’ missions.”
Lastly, I asked Danny whether doing these selfless has help him with his own issues. “Doing this charity work has helped me build up my own support structures as well as allowing me to learn more about mental health and, in-turn, help myself and those around me.
Over the years, it has been a great way to educate my parents, who are from a different generation where stigma is more present, which immediately has helped my own situation and addressed a larger issue to some extent.
I will definitely be continuing in the future, my mission stands: I don’t want to see anyone else struggle so severely with their mental health.”
What we can learn from Danny is that mental health issues take no prisoners unless you face it, what he and many others do is completely selfless and admirable. It shows that helping others with the same problem, can be used to help our self’s.
The Movember Charity has been set up to focus on men’s mental health as well as raising awareness of prostate and testicular cancer.
To learn more about the charity, to fund raise or donate go to their website: https://uk.movember.com/
The Science Behind Mental Health
Its commonly thought that what causes mental health issues are the obstacles that life throws at us like death, break ups, stress and trauma. However, sometime things in your life style can affect your mental health, especially your diet.
A lot of people rely on medication for stress, depression and anxiety. But according to mental health charity Outlife, there are 5 things in our diet that can improve our mental wellness. This includes some surprising choices.
And on of the most surprising of them all is chocolate. Dark chocolate to be precise. According to a study by Nestlé Research Centre, 1.4 ounces of dark chocolate a day for two weeks can help reduce the stress hormones.
Other elements of your diet that are good for our well being is fish, carbs, coconut and tea.
Of course, diet requirements alone cannot change your mental state. 7 to 8 hours sleep and plenty of exercise can also help prevent the stresses of everyday life getting to you.
The one thing on the Outlife list that is a big no-no when it comes your mental health, on thing which had a dramatic effect on mine is alcohol.
Alcohol is famous for being a depressant especially when drunk in large doses or when binged on. The affects of alcohol when consumed in large quantities often make people lose control of there bodies and for those who suffer from mental health issues, it can lead to dangerous consequences.
The trouble is it is often to easy to use booze as a make shift treatment for depression due to it being able to make you feel drowses, and when with good company, even happy. But people suffering from these issues often don’t know when to stop and that’s when their world starts falling down.
Along with alcohol, drugs are noted as to be avoided due to the come downs often associated with taking them.
Typical Treatment
As mental health issue has no real physical symptoms the treatment is like no other condition. According to the NHS, the treatment for Clinical Depression is antidepressants and therapy.
Antidepressants are not just used for depression despite their name. In the UK the NHS use these drugs to treat OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and Anxiety.
There are many types of antidepressant due to the facts of side effects, type of mental health problem, allergies and if the patient has certain physical health conditions.
In the UK, the NHS typical prescribe these types:
• SSRI (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). The best-known examples of these are Fluoxetine and Citalopram.
• SNRI (Serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors). Commonly used examples are Duloxetine and Venlafaxine.
• For people who cannot take SSRI the other option is NSSA (Noradrenaline and specific serotonergic antidepressants) such as Mirtazapine.
• Others are TCA (Tricyclic antidepressants) and MAOI (Monoamine oxidase inhibitors). Both are older and the later can have serious side effects.
