I have been writing blogs for this website for nearly six years. That is a long, long time hey? I published a series of blogs last year to mark the fifth anniversary, 'Five Blogs of Thanks,' to emphasise what and who has helped me over that time, to go largely from an anxious mess into a less anxious mess.
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| What do you mean, the quality of the images is getting worse? |
Anyway, I have a friend (I know, write the front page) who has been with me on my anxiety journey (don't you hate people who use the word 'journey' in this context? I'm so sorry) my entire life. We met in 1991, when we were four, and I began to show anxiety symptoms in about 1997, although he probably didn't know about it until a few years after that.
Meantime, my friend has more recently been going through the clutches of OCD. I haven't focused too much on OCD on this site, largely due to the fact that I have never been officially diagnosed with OCD* and because my experience of it, albeit worthy of note, is nothing compared to what my friend has been through in recent years. My friend, being the fool that he is, sought advice from me, in terms of where to turn for help and what to expect from this help (i.e. how to identify if it is actually CBT you're getting!) - this was a few years back now. He has since made excellent progress and is in a much better place with it now, albeit, by his own admission, still with having plenty of work to do.
*I've never officially been diagnosed with anxiety either, but I don't need a weatherman to tell me when it's peeing down.**
**Line from Only Fools and Horses.
About a year ago, my friend came up with a sterling idea of raising awareness of our respective conditions. I said I already write my blogs, but he meant raising awareness together, as a pair, in the form of a conversation. I was intrigued and he explained to me about the idea of a recording a podcast and publishing it online so people could listen to us talk about our experiences with anxiety and OCD respectively.
I could see this working - some people prefer listening instead of reading for a start. Plus it would deal with two main mental health issues, not just one. But how would it work?
Well I'm here to tell you, ladies and gents, that recording a podcast is by no means glamorous. I believe our first recording was compiled using a microphone that we especially had to order for something like £17 from Amazon, into my PC using a basic editing programme that I don't even have a valid licence for.***
***It's on a trial period. I'm not doing anything illegally.
I also believe that we were balancing the laptop on a chest of drawers in a bedroom at my friend's house, the only room in the house where the dog couldn't get in and cause havoc, with the microphone propped up away from the window so that it didn't pick up any outside traffic noises. In another episode, I threw water all over the laptop and microphone and during another, the dog chewed off part of one of the dining room chairs. We have more outtakes than podcast, so far.
I digress. Not only did my friend have the idea of developing the podcast in the first place, but he also had the creative nous to think about the format of each episode - which, in the main, is in the form of a conversation. So in one episode, I will ask the questions about OCD and he will respond and in another, he will ask the questions about anxiety. Each episode will focus on different aspects of each condition too - in fact, let me share with you some of the (working) titles of episodes we have both recorded and are yet to record:
What's our beef? Setting the scene
Leaving the house: it's a marathon not a sprint
Anxiety at school: learning the hard way
It's not all about the books being in size order (but it is)
You get the idea.
So why are we bothering with this? Mainly because we recognise that there is still stigma surrounding mental health and because we want to do our bit to help tackle this huge problem. Yes it has improved, but still people who have mental health issues are subjected to stigma, demoralisation, less opportunities and even abuse - all of which fuels their mental health problem even more. We want people to know that they can talk about it, how and who to.
This blog website, which I set up in 2012 for largely the same reasons, is all very well, but we feel that a podcast - i.e. two people actually talking and being in conversation - will resonate more closely with people than lines on a screen like this can. Two people, also largely focusing on two different (albeit connected) mental health problems also means we double the number of people who can learn directly from our experiences. Plus, blogs are so last year - podcasts, I'm told, are now where it's at. You can tell I'm an expert.
And the cross-cutting theme on all podcasts is this: talking helps. It is true that the first, second and even third person you open up to about your feelings and mental health problems may not understand or empathise, or you may even get attacked by some of the casual stigma you hear all too often. But eventually you'll find the right person - a friend, family member, therapist or a total stranger.
And those strangers could be us. We haven't published any episodes of I've Been Thinking yet and it may be a while before we do (resources and time are things we have little of) but we're open for business. You can follow us on Twitter @_beenthinking or email us at been_thinking@hotmail.com if you'd like to ask us any questions or advice.
But as you'll hear us say numerous times on each episode - we are not professionals (well, not on this issue anyway. We pretend to be professional in our day to day careers). They can be found in the charities such OCD UK and Anxiety UK, along with many others. But we can signpost you to help and support at the very least. So feel free to get in touch.
And - we'd very much welcome an episode of our podcast to feature a guest - so if you'd like to talk about anxiety, OCD, depression or any other mental health problem and feature in one episode, do get in touch via the details above. You can help to contribute to our aim to shut those people up who still stigmatise people with mental health conditions.
Best wishes,
Al
