Walk a Mile in My Shoes

Welcome back to the podcast - in this spin-off series, I'll be speaking to a whole bunch of folk who attended the BIGSPD event in Glasgow earlier this year.

This was contentious for a whole variety of reasons, and, because of that, it was hugely challenging for me.

To give you a flavour of the full episode, here's actor, Joey Marino, performing the scene from the Elephant Man he feels exemplifies his life with tardive dyskinesia.

Actor Joey Marino, from the incredibly popular American TV show ER, talks about how he developed tardive dyskinesia after being prescribed the antipsychotic medication Seroquel, otherwise known as quetiapine, for anxiety.

In this episode he stresses the importance of informed consent when taking psychiatric medication, and how it is the duty of the prescribing physician to inform their patients about the negative as well as the desired effects of those meds. 

Towards the end of this episode, Joey performs the scene from the Elephant man, where John Merrick declared, 'I am not an animal,' It was profound, especially given its incredibly relatable juxtaposition of Joey's life.

Here, as promised, are his social media links

HI Gang! Did you miss me? What d’you mean who am I? Who are you? See…how’d you like them er…lemons…?

Welcome back to you, my second favourite listener…I’m trying to inject a bit of competition in here…just to make you, the walkamilers, a bit more edgy…

Yeah, you’re right, that’s quite enough of that – welcome to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast – I’m your host, Chris Young, and in this episode, I’ll be speaking with the delightful Sophie about a whole range of stuff…from her career as a social worker working in child protection, her diagnosis and experience of bipolar and what it felt like when someone ‘outed’ her and her condition to her manager.

Welcome back to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast! In this episode, Neil talks openly, honestly and frankly about his experience of oesophageal cancer and the effects the disease has had on his life. 

Welcome back to this fifth and final episode in the miniseries where we talk about the institutional prejudice experienced by many people carrying around a label of personality disorder.

Like before, this episode was produced as a direct result of the recent, astonishingly discriminatory, personality disorder course description circulated by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. 

In this episode, I speak with Hollie, co-host of ‘The wrong kind of Mad’ podcast, about her experiences of prejudice working as a person with a lived experience in and outside the NHS.

At the end of the episode, I’ve put some ideas together about where we could go next to start to turn around this super tanker of injustice. Remember, these are just ideas, please feel free to get in touch with your own thoughts and feelings. 

In the meantime, please put aside the 10th of June, at 10am when I'm hoping we can all meet outside the Royal College of Psychiatrists, make a noise and begin the process of real and lasting change. 

You can find me on twitter @walkamileuk

Or email me at hello@letswalkamile.org.uk 

Links for this episode

Welcome back to this fourth episode in the miniseries where we talk about the institutional prejudice experienced by many people carrying around a label of personality disorder. 

Just as before, this episode is a direct result of the recent, astonishingly discriminatory, personality disorder course description recently circulated by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. 

In this episode, Emma tells us about her experience of prejudice from mental health and other NHS services.Her story is harrowing - but it's no different from thousands of people in the UK today. 

Please share this as widely as possible. It would really help if you'd like, subscribe and comment too. 

Here are the links to the books we mentioned in the episode 

Welcome back to this third episode in the 5 part miniseries where we talk about the institutional prejudice experienced by many people carrying around a label of personality disorder.

Like before, this episode is a direct result of the recent, astonishingly discriminatory, personality disorder course description circulated by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. 

In this episode, I speak with Holly about her experience of prejudice because of the label, including diagnostic overshadowing, lack of services and a lack of validation from professionals who really ought to know better. 

Here are the links I promised 

Welcome back to this second episode in the 5 part miniseries where we talk about the institutional prejudice experienced by many people carrying around a label of Personality Disorder. 

Like before, this episode is a direct result of the recent, astonishingly discriminatory, personality disorder course description circulated by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. 

In this episode, I speak with the delightful Naomi Malhotra, a person with a lifetime of experience challenging the prejudice, discrimination and stigma of carrying around the label in both her personal and professional life. 

You can find her here on twitter @doricgirl

Welcome to this, the first in a 5 part miniseries of podcast episodes produced as a response to a recent personality disorder course description circulated by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. What was published was discriminatory in the extreme. Some, including me, describe it as a hate crime. 

Here are a few links you may find useful

Visit the royal college of psychiatry

In this episode, I have the absolute privilege of talking with Andy Luff and his partner Jill. Andy talks openly and candidly about the brain damage he experienced following ECT whilst describing the lack of care he received from services as a result. We also swear. As a result, I've given this an explicit rating - but please, before you scroll past, have a think. I really think it's worth your while taking some time to walk in Andy's shoes. 

Here are some links you may find useful once you've listened to Andy's story.

Welcome to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast – in this, solo, episode I talk openly and frankly about my mental ill health, the childhood experiences that led to that mental ill health and some of my continued experiences of prejudice and discrimination from folk who really ought to know better. It also includes details of a remarkably unsuccessful job application with the NHS. If this isn’t your cup of tea, then feel free to have a listen to the other episodes where I interview some truly fabulous folk – also bear in mind, I’ve got some really interesting guests lined up for your listening pleasure in the future.

Welcome back to you, my favourite listener! I’m so glad you’ve made the time to drop in to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast while our lovely country’s in the grips of the wordle pandemic. I’m your host, Chris Young, and in this episode, I’ll be speaking with the delightful Hisham Ziauddeen, a consultant psychiatrist, Dad and occasional stand up comedian. I got in touch with him after seeing his succinct 51 tweet thread on twitter, entitled 

‘The problematic diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)’. After reading it, I really liked the cut of his jib (note to self, one day I really must look up what that means) thinking, what a fabulous person he’d be to drag…coerce…er…invite onto the podcast. I loved having him on the show. We talk about and dance around many of the challenges that are around for mental health punters and practitioners in the UK – by the end of it, I think you’ll have some idea what it’s like to walk a mile in his shoes. Here are some of his links so you can get to know him a bit better. 

You can find him on Twitter @HZiaudeen

Welcome to 'Fucking Mental' a spin off series of the Walk a Mile in My Shoes podcast where I fly solo to talk about some of the shortcomings in the mental health system in the UK today.

In this episode I talk about my recent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, and how a lifetime of prescribed psychiatric meds have contributed to me developing it.

It was hard to decide what to call this episode of 'Fucking Mental'. The High Intensity Network's, Serenity Integrated Mentoring scheme was a punitive, coercive, pseudo-behavioural scheme, endorsed by the NHS, primarily to save money by blocking access to essential crisis services for thousands of individuals - usually young women with a label of Borderline Personality Disorder, threatening them with court action and potential imprisonment should they fail to adhere to this 'voluntary' arrangement. 

In this episode, I want to highlight that HIN and SIM aren't anything new. They were part of an existing system of institutional prejudice and coercion against this vulnerable group. Coercion that will continue unabated if the Royal College of Psychiatry's Mental Health Treatment Requirement gets the funding they're calling for.

During the podcast, I talk about suicidal ideation and behaviour - so please be warned if you feel that kind of content might be triggering for you. 

As promised, here are some of the links I used when putting this episode together

D’you know, I’m really hacked off it’s ‘Disability Pride Month’. No, not because I’m a fascist oppressor of the proletariat – but because you’ll all be thinking I’m interviewing the Coventry Youth Activists in response to that. Those of you who know me will be aware that I hate awareness days, weeks and months, because, the question has to be asked, what are you doing for the rest of the year? I’ll tell you what you’ll be doing – you’ll be forgetting – because nobody’s telling you to be aware or proud…

I had no idea it was disability anything month – how we support the most vulnerable folk in our society reflects on all of us. Every day should be disability pride day. 

Anyway, in preparation for this podcast with the fabulous folk who are Coventry Youth Activists, or, CYA for those in the know, I gathered together all kinds of information about prejudice, discrimination, and hate crime, both on and offline, against people with disabilities. I was so dedicated to my task that I almost…although, not quite, forgot to walk a mile in the shoes of the fabulous young folk I met on screen for the first time, while they welcomed me, a complete stranger, into their world with open arms. 

This was the first time I’d interviewed more than one person at a time – and it was an absolute privilege to speak with Amanda, Joey, Chloe, Tom, Eli, Kirsty and Molly. 

This is essentially the second episode of Fucking Mental, a kind of spinoff from Walk A Mile in My Shoes, where I explore some of the remarkable shortcomings in Mental Health Services in the UK today.

Here are some of the links I used in making this episode 

Welcome back to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m your host, Chris Young, and over the next bazillion years or so I’ll be giving you the opportunity to walk a mile with a whole host of different folk…with an occasional solo reflection on the state of the mental health system in the UK today…

Gandhi said

‘THE TRUE MEASURE OF ANY SOCIETY CAN BE FOUND IN HOW IT TREATS ITS MOST VULNERABLE MEMBERS’

When Dee got in touch with me on Twitter, as with many of the walk a mile in my shoes episodes, I really had no idea what to expect.

The key things you need to know is they live in Dubai, they’ve recently been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and they live with their family.

I often say it’s important to ask ‘What happened to you?’ and not ‘What’s wrong with you?’ when we consider folk with this diagnosis.

With Dee though, their abuse is happening now...today. I’m not afraid to say I cried after we recorded their episode, I felt so sad and helpless and angry about their situation.

it was an absolute privilege to speak with this vibrant, courageous and intelligent young person who reached out so their story could be heard.

Since this episode is potentially triggering in places, I’ve given it an explicit  rating.

The whole idea behind the Walk a Mile in My Shoes endeavour is to allow you to share a piece of life’s journey with someone you’ve never met. You can be the story teller, or you can be the listener - both roles are equally important.

I can’t thank Dee enough for reaching out and telling their story. It was an absolute privilege speaking with them.

Welcome, dear listener, to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast – a podcast where, unsurprisingly, my guests give you the opportunity to walk a mile in their shoes. I’m your host, Chris Young, and in this episode, I speak with the actor, presenter, director and facilitator, Chris Connel.

‘Magnificently disturbing!’ The Guardian

‘I’ve rarely seen a more intimidating performance’ The Evening Standard

No, these aren’t reports of me growing up in Corby…these are reviews of Chris, who Denise Welch of Loose Women and Corrie fame describes as, ‘The best actor you may never have heard of.’

Welcome to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast, I’m your host, Chris Young, and in this episode, I’ll be speaking with Marina Cantacuzino, an award-winning journalist who in 2003, in response to the imminent invasion of Iraq, embarked on a personal project collecting stories from people who had lived through violence, tragedy or injustice and sought forgiveness rather than revenge.

This is just a quick word to let you know where I've been, what I've been up to and that the Walk a Mile in My Shoes Podcast is still alive and well. 

The murdered labour MP, Jo Cox said, ‘We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us.’ Looking at some of the division on social media it feels like we’ve still got some way to go.

Welcome to the Walk a Mile in My Shoes podcast, I’m your host, Chris Young, and in this episode, I speak with Mark Cameron, a guy I had a bit of a disagreement with on Twitter about HS2. Without going too far into that, it turned out we were both wrong! We chatted…we sent each other our books, and the rest was…well, have a listen…

Remember, if you enjoy the podcast, subscribe, comment, rate and review, that way we can get more people involved in the conversation

Walk a Mile in My Shoes in 10 years old today!! It seems only yesterday when I walked north out of Edinburgh with a severe and enduring mental health problem, no money and a belief that the good people of Scotland would look after me as I started my walk around the edge of the UK – but that’s another story…

Welcome to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast, I’m your host, Chris Young and in this episode, I have the good fortune to talk with the mental health activist’s activist, Dolly Sen who describes herself as an award winning, professional mad person, writer, speaker, artist and film maker with a brain of ill repute. Her imaginative approach to mental health activism is something to behold.

Welcome to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast, I’m your host, Chris Young, and over the next weeks, months, years, I’ll be inviting you to join me as I walk a mile in the shoes of all kinds of people who I’ve had the good fortune to bump into both virtually and physically. 

In true walk a mile style, I met Mick on Twitter when he contacted me to tell me he had a story to tell around his experience of bipolar 2. 

He reminded me what a privilege it is for me to be able to hear and share people’s intimate reflections about their lives. 

As ever, please subscribe, rate and review the podcast to help us widen the conversation. 

Welcome back to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast.

I’m your host, Chris Young, and in this episode we’ll be walking a mile in the shoes of the author and mental health activist, Lucy Nichol.

There you are, my lovely listener! Thanks so much for coming back! Welcome to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast

Welcome to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast, I’m your host, Chris Young, and in this episode I speak with John Smith…the son of Harry Leslie Smith author of ‘Harry’s last stand’ and ‘Don’t let my past be your future’ a warning that if we allow the continued growth of poverty alongside the reduction of the welfare state in our lovely country, then the suffering he experienced during the great depression won’t be far away.

These are shoes we definitely don’t want to walk in

John is continuing his father’s work - raising awareness of corporate and political greed and corruption wherever he finds it. He’s currently writing ‘I stood with Harry’ a continued call to action for us all.

Welcome to walk a mile in my shoes podcast

We’re back, from outer space…d’you know, walk a mile in my shoes is 10 years old!

Greetings to you, my lovely listener. Welcome to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast – over the next few weeks, months, years we’re going to try to emulate the loveliness of the coastal walk through a whole bunch of conversations with all kinds of folk,  where we’ll demonstrate that talking about mental ill health is a lot less painful than you think

For those of you who don’t me, I’m your host, Chris Young

In this episode, I speak with Dan Warrender, a mental health nursing lecturer at Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University and mentalization therapist.

Amongst other things, we talk about what motivated him to choose his career in mental health nursing, the challenging issues surrounding care and control in psychiatric hospitals, some of his thoughts on the personality disorder label and the simple elegance of mentalization therapy.

Welcome to the Walk a Mile in My Shoes podcast - I’m your host, Chris young, and I’ll be chatting with all kinds of folk, highlighting the experiences of people with mental health problems, many of whom feel on the edge of society, as I walk around the edge of the U.K. over the next couple of years. 

Following in the steps of a hero of mine, Satish Kumar, a Jain Monk who went on a peace march in the 1960’s, I’ll be taking no money with me.

His guru felt, if he did, he’d lack the motivation to speak with people at the end of the day, and that the only people he’d meet would be hoteliers.

I thought if this amazing man could walk from India into Pakistan - expect and receive wonderful hospitality when the two countries were at war - then I should expect nothing less from the people on this beautiful island of ours. 

So far, I’ve walked the 4 thousand or so miles anti-clockwise from Edinburgh to north wales and the people I’ve met, without exception, have been fabulous. 

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention, I have a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder - a severe and enduring mental health problem - which, although it curtails me, doesn’t define me. 

But this isn’t a story about me - this is all about those fabulous people I’ll be meeting as I go…well…since my mental wheels fell off over Christmas and New Year…I’ll be talking with some of the fabulous folk I’ve met virtually on social media and otherwise until…until I manage to put the wheels back on…

That said, it doesn’t have to be quite so selective…I’m inviting you to be part of the story - we’re told we’ve become a more divided nation in recent years - I’m here to prove that wrong.

Join me...I’d love to hear and share your story…help me on my journey, as we challenge mental health stigma, one conversation at a time. 

You can call me on 07535 035 909

Welcome to the Walk a Mile in My Shoes podcast - I’m your host, Chris young, and I’ll be chatting with all kinds of folk, highlighting the experiences of people with mental health problems, many of whom feel on the edge of society, as I walk around the edge of the U.K. over the next couple of years. 

Following in the steps of a hero of mine, Satish Kumar, a Jain Monk who went on a peace march in the 1960’s, I’ll be taking no money with me.

His guru felt, if he did, he’d lack the motivation to speak with people at the end of the day, and that the only people he’d meet would be hoteliers.

I thought if this amazing man could walk from India into Pakistan - expect and receive wonderful hospitality when the two countries were at war - then I should expect nothing less from the people on this beautiful island of ours. 

So far, I’ve walked the 4 thousand or so miles anti-clockwise from Edinburgh to north wales and the people I’ve met, without exception, have been fabulous. 

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention, I have a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder - a severe and enduring mental health problem - which, although it curtails me, doesn’t define me. 

But this isn’t a story about me - this is all about those fabulous people I’ll be meeting as I go…well…since my mental wheels fell off over Christmas and New Year…I’ll be talking with some of the fabulous folk I’ve met virtually on social media and otherwise until…until I manage to put the wheels back on…

That said, it doesn’t have to be quite so selective…I’m inviting you to be part of the story - we’re told we’ve become a more divided nation in recent years - I’m here to prove that wrong.

Join me...I’d love to hear and share your story…help me on my journey, as we challenge mental health stigma, one conversation at a time. 

You can call me on 07535 035 909

In this episode, I speak with the clinical psychologist, Alana Davis, who talks about her work as a clinical psychologist and what the Division of Clinical Psychology, The DCP, in Scotland are up to.

If you’re listening to this using the Anchor.fm app, then I’d be delighted if you’d leave an audio message I can play in the next episode. I’d really love to hear your thoughts on what Alana has to say.

And yes, I know there were bits where I sounded a bit like a psychology groupie…

Sue me!

Well, bugger me, that’s been a bit of a challenging couple of weeks. For those who don’t know me, I lose about a third of my life to dissociation where the world becomes unreal to me – where I lose most or all of my every day emotions – or I can experience the white-hot silent scream that fills all my senses. Where, after years of life with mental illness I know my only option is a darkened room with loud American cop shows with increased antipsychotics. It’s hard not to feel the guilt and frustration that comes with my desire…hope that I’m going to be producing regular interesting, informative and entertaining podcasts, with great and varied guests (I’ve got loads of fine folk lined up for your future delectation) 

mental ill health, mental illness, mental malady, whatever you like to call it, is a pain in the arse…

Anyway…

Welcome to the Walk a Mile in My Shoes podcast - I’m your host, Chris young, and I’ll be chatting with all kinds of folk, highlighting the experiences of people with mental health problems, many of whom feel on the edge of society, as I walk around the edge of the U.K. over the next couple of years. 

Following in the steps of a hero of mine, Satish Kumar, a Jain Monk who went on a peace march in the 1960’s, I’ll be taking no money with me.

His guru felt, if he did, he’d lack the motivation to speak with people at the end of the day, and that the only people he’d meet would be hoteliers.

I thought if this amazing man could walk from India into Pakistan - expect and receive wonderful hospitality when the two countries were at war - then I should expect nothing less from the people on this beautiful island of ours. 

So far, I’ve walked the 4 thousand or so miles anti-clockwise from Edinburgh to north wales and the people I’ve met, without exception, have been fabulous. 

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention, I have a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder - a severe and enduring mental health problem - which, although it curtails me, doesn’t define me. 

But this isn’t a story about me - this is all about those fabulous people I’ll be meeting as I go…well…during this time of inertia, I’m currently hunting down some of my social media heroes – people I’ve virtually bumped into over the years…

That said, it doesn’t have to be quite so selective…I’m inviting you to be part of the story - we’re told we’ve become a more divided nation in recent years - I’m here to prove that wrong.

Join me...I’d love to hear and share your story…help me on my journey, as we challenge mental health stigma, one conversation at a time. 

You can call me on 07535 035 909

Welcome to the Walk a Mile in My Shoes podcast - I’m your host, Chris young, and I’ll be chatting with all kinds of folk, highlighting the experiences of people with mental health problems, many of whom feel on the edge of society, as I walk around the edge of the U.K. over the next couple of years. 

Following in the steps of a hero of mine, Satish Kumar, a Jain Monk who went on a peace march in the 1960’s, I’ll be taking no money with me.

His guru felt, if he did, he’d lack the motivation to speak with people at the end of the day, and that the only people he’d meet would be hoteliers.

I thought if this amazing man could walk from India into Pakistan - expect and receive wonderful hospitality when the two countries were at war - then I should expect nothing less from the people on this beautiful island of ours. 

So far, I’ve walked the 4 thousand or so miles anti-clockwise from Edinburgh to north wales and the people I’ve met, without exception, have been fabulous. 

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention, I have a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder - a severe and enduring mental health problem - which, although it curtails me, doesn’t define me. 

But this isn’t a story about me - this is all about those fabulous people I’ll be meeting as I go…well…during this time of inertia, I’m currently hunting down some of my social media heroes – people I’ve virtually bumped into over the years…

That said, it doesn’t have to be quite so selective…I’m inviting you to be part of the story - we’re told we’ve become a more divided nation in recent years - I’m here to prove that wrong.

Join me...I’d love to hear and share your story…help me on my journey, as we challenge mental health stigma, one conversation at a time. 

You can call me on 07535 035 909

I really enjoyed speaking with Keir - here are some of the links to his work so you can love him as much as I do!

Blogs mentioned in the podcast...there's loads more, but these are my favourites...

Holly tells us about her life, her mental ill health, the variety of diagnoses she's received on the way and her thoughts on, amongst other things, the label of Borderline Personality Disorder/ Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder. 

Because of some of the challenging topics covered in this podcast, I've given it an explicit rating.

You can find her on Instagram here @gorneography and @gorne.illustration

Remember you can contact me on 07535 035 909

In this episode, I speak with Katie. She got in touch on Twitter after I threw out the question

‘What happens when someone develops a mental health problem?’

I’m not entirely sure what I expected from such a vague question, but twitter didn’t let me down…here’s one of my favourites…

Dr Chris Manning says

‘I’d start off by defining what you consider to be a ‘mental health problem’? I consider it to be something at the level of consternation at my bag going missing at Heathrow. I also think the term trivialises the severe anguish, distress and darkness associated with mental illness’

Thanks for that, Chris

I think the language we use surrounding mental ill health, mental illness, mental health problems, mental maladies…and how we refer to people with these conditions is an interesting area worthy of discussion…

I’ll talk about this more in later podcasts, but it’s my feeling if we police that language too closely…too strongly…then we’ll be closing down the very conversations we desperately crave…

In the messages I got from Katie, she explained that developing a mental health problem, for her, was so much more than becoming ill…getting treatment…and returning to how you were…it’s decidedly more complex than that…

We cover some challenging topics in the podcast, so I’ve given it an Explicit rating. 

A huge thank you to Katie – I think I’ll keep throwing out the question, ‘What happens when someone develops a mental health problem?’ for a while – there’s still a lot of conversation to be had there.

Next time I’ll be speaking with Hollie, who, after years of navigating the mental health system was recently given the label of ‘Borderline Personality Disorder’ 

We discuss what that means to her and her plans for the future

Remember you can contact me on 07535 035 909

In this episode, I speak with my good friend, Christopher, a man I met on Twitter a hundred years ago while we were both making a noise about mental health through the medium of THE LONG WALK. 

We cover A LOT of mental health related topics in this podcast – including what motivated him to undertake his endeavour, the support he had from the people he met, the childhood events that led to him developing a mental illness, what it felt like being admitted to the Royal Edinburgh Hospital – the Royal Ed – Edinburgh’s psychiatric hospital – the language used to describe mental ill health – some of his thoughts on mental health professionals and campaigners – his life just now – including his work, family life, how he expresses himself through his art…and a lot more…

We both use strong and challenging language throughout this episode – I think this adds to the authenticity of what Christopher has to say – but you’ll be the judge of that – so I’ve given it an EXPLICIT rating. 

The sound quality isn’t as good as you spoiled bunch have grown accustomed to – since Christopher and I live about 300 miles apart – I’ve used Skype and its new, handy dandy, recording function to bring this episode to you.  

Remember you can contact me on 07535 035 909