When more morally flexible people learn I have paranoid schizophrenia they get a cheap thrill. They think they’ve found a great bit of ammunition they can use to shame, inconvenience or discredit me. Any reader of this site will know such things just won’t work. Not only am I charming and well-liked as well as being good at what I do, but also I am not the tiniest bit embarrassed about who I am, even if sometimes I am convinced the Wine Society’s finance lady (who is actually very lovely) is hunting me down with an enormous sniper rifle.
[image image_id=”5844″ size=”medium” align=”left”]In view of this, I try to assist the excellent mental health charity Rethink, and simultaneously massage my ego, by giving talks for them on my experiences with the illness. Some may recall [link2post id=”3385″]my sartorial brilliance when speaking in the Houses of Parliament[/link2post]. The talk wasn’t bad either, [link2post id=”3473″]got me a basket of fruit[/link2post]! This morning was also ego-enhancing as Rethink asked me to be interviewed for BBC Radio 4’s Today program on the subject of schizophrenia. It was only a short item, but very well-constructed and covered a lot of important points succinctly. I think it would be well worth you going to this page on the BBC’s Today program website in order to have a listen. I think Rethink should be very pleased with the piece, their chief executive said (as he often does) some excellent things. The only thing that would have improved it is if they had left my jokes in.
Thanks for posting the link, David: it was a good short item, which conveyed a lot of information succinctly, and your contribution was powerful and moving. Rethink clearly does excellent and much-needed work: I have just sent David Cameron an Unhappy Birthday Card.
Thank you for your kind words and support, Hanneke (I won’t embarrass you by suggesting epic support over very many years in all sorts of endeavours). Even though it was rather short it seemed a good bit of radio to me: they chose the clearest of statements, it was positive with no sinister overtones and it had me in it! Hooray!
There was a bit later in the program where they interviewed a scientist chappie about schizophrenia research and treatment which I also thought was well done – not least because it started with a quote from me! Hooray again! More seriously, it provided a bit more information about what is known and the large amount still unknown about the illness, and made some valuable comments about the general perception schizophrenia. It is good to point out the axe-wielding types are very rare. Some people look as if I am about to throw chips at them before whipping out a massive butcher’s knife when they learn I have schizophrenia. Can you imagine? Scared of me! Hahahahaha! My cat is more terrifying than me (although as he is a cat I admit he has a pronounced vicious streak).
Yes, good work the BBC and Rethink!
If you want to know a bit more about the item on The Today Program the BBC news website has this article covering it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15535626 I seem to recall the BBC don’t allow access to audio and video segments from broadcast programs forever, so this webpage could well be accessible for longer than the link I give above for the radio clip.
Rachel Whitehead, the lovely lady from Rethink who arranged my interview for the program, wrote a very good piece on The Guardian’s website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/29/100-years-schizophrenia-treatment