Category Archives: Uncategorized

The title of my book, I’M NEVER ILL (A journey through brain surgery and beyond…) stems from the fact that I appear to have a first class immune system. My body seems to reject all kinds of bugs and viruses with great ease, pushing them aside like a soft breeze. People would say things like,Continue reading “Depression and exercise: How the London Marathon kept me going”

I’m not always a big fan of clichés, but “the light at the end of the tunnel” concept is one that we should all try to focus on during times of hardship. A colleague recently said to me, “Knowing YOUR luck, it’ll be a train coming the other way!” During recent times, those who knowContinue reading “Depression, light at the end of the tunnel, and the coronavirus pandemic”

Without attempting to go into the science behind depression (I’m not a medical expert and the purpose of this blog is to speak purely as a lay person who has, on occasions, experienced depression), it manifests itself in a physical way to the extent that it can, on occasion, become debilitating. Unfortunately, it is oneContinue reading “Depression – the physical side”

Jack (a friend of mine) and I were recently visiting another friend, Alan, in a psychiatric hospital (both names have been altered). We are all around the age of sixty. Alan had been sectioned because of mental health issues. He has a history of severe depression, although this episode was of a slightly different nature.Continue reading “Why are men often afraid to talk about depression?”

Nearing the age of sixty, looking forward to a secure retirement in the beautiful Welsh countryside and an enviable lifestyle of adventurous holidays while dancing triple-step and lindy-hop-fashion into old age, it was a violent kick to the face when I found myself sleeping alone in a furnitureless, city centre apartment, with no working heatingContinue reading “Turning negatives into positives”