Monthly Archives: April 2012
Anxiety: a very modern malaise
With 7 million tranquilliser prescriptions on the NHS, the nation is at the end of its tether. What’s to blame?
7:00AM BST 15 Apr 2012
Life was flying along for Zoe Brook. At 23, she had a fast-paced job she loved, in public relations, and had just moved into her first home with her then-partner. It was, she says, all that she had dreamt of.
That was until the night she sank to the floor, paralysed by fear, her own voice sounding muffled and as though on a time delay, while her view of the room darkened into the narrowest tunnel vision.
She thought she was dying. In fact, it was the start of an anxiety disorder that was to become her new reality, and to dominate her twenties. After finally sleeping, she awoke disorientated and petrified – a state that continued for more than three years, in which waves of panic attacks were “punctuated with glimpses of the real world”.
Fightback to save 1500 jobs for disabled at Remploy factories
“Employers don’t look at you as people, they only see disability.”
By Don Mackay
A FIGHTBACK against the closure of factories employing more than 1500 disabled workers will be launched today.
Campaigners, backed by the GMB and Unite unions, fear many of the staff will never work again if the Government go ahead with plans to shut 36 of Remploy’s 54 factories.
Hundreds of disabled workers are expected to march on Parliament after a national rally in London next Friday.
Glen Holdom, GMB officer for Remploy, said: “We must show the strength of feeling that taking jobs from disabled people should not be tolerated in a civilised society.
“It will not improve the country’s financial situation – it may well make it worse.”
Paisley MSP urges politicians to work together for M.E.
It is estimated that more than 250,000 people in the UK suffer from ME
Apr 12 2012 by Jeff Holmes, Paisley Daily Express
A CAMPAIGNING politician is urging fellow MSPs to back her efforts to raise awareness of a devastating illness.
West of Scotland MSP Mary Fee wants to turn the spotlight on Myalgic Encephalopathy, also known as ME, which is often misunderstood by members of the public who have had no experience of the condition.
ME is recognised by the World Health Organisation as a neurological condition and can result in muscle pain, with intense physical or mental exhaustion, relapses and specific cognitive disabilities.
The condition can affect people of any age, although it’s more common among those aged between 25 and 45 and is more prevalent in women than men.
