Walk a Mile in My Shoes

On the 23rd of July, 7 Labour MPs had the whip removed for 6 months for voting with their conscience in favour of getting rid of the Universal Credit 2 child cap. Those MPs, The Magnificent 7, in case you'd forgotten, are Zarah Sultana, John McDonnell, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Rebecca Long-Bailey Imran Hussain and Apsana Begum This is my Walk a Mile take on the situation...

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. Here's the link to the full episode Walk a Mile

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 ab...

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,...

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.  During the interview he talks about the massively positive support he received from Harbour Cancer Support - they really sound like a fine bunch of folk.  You can find more information ab...

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 episod...

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, E...

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...

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 spea...

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 https://www.rcpsy...

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 wh...

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 you...

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...

Welcome back, my dear and loyal listener. I’m Chris Young under the guise of the mental diabetic, and today I’ll be telling you about how James O’Brien cured my type 2 diabetes. In this podcast, amongst other things, I talk about some challenging themes, including diet, weight loss, suicidal ideation and self-harm. If that’s not what you need just now, then now might be a good time to turn me off…...

Welcome to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast – a podcast where I want you, my loyal listener, to enter into the world of my guests, try on their footwear for size, and immerse yourself into their lives for a time. I’m your host, Chris Young, and in this episode, I have the privilege of speaking to Sonja Cowling, a psychiatrist who has a lived experience of mental ill health. We talk about a load...

Welcome back to you, my lovely, and, if truth be known, my favourite listener. I’m your host, Chris Young, purveyor of all things walk a mile, and in this episode of the podcast, I speak with the delightful and multi-faceted Phoebe Webb. As with many folk, I stumbled across her in the Twitterverse, @Feehlo and, I’ve got to say, right from the start, I really liked the cut of her jib. Phoebe speaks...

Welcome to my alternative, infinitely more realistic, top 10 tips for great mental health this Christmas! This is my response to all those platitudinous and chipper top 10 tips that seem to flood social media at times. We need to think differently 1. First, and foremost - be Lucky – be very, very lucky – this will all become clearer as I go; 2. Do not be the victim of childhood sexual abuse; 3. Do...

Welcome to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast. My name’s Chris Young, and it’s my aim, hope, goal to enable you to get a real feel for what it’s like to walk a mile in the shoes of my guests. Sorry about the lack of jaunty music, I’m not feeling particularly jaunty just now. Sorry too about the prolonged absence, I’ve been trying to get my world in order following some pretty life changing therap...

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. No, correlation isn't causation, I know, and it's importa...

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 w...

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’l...

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  Professor John Read's thoughts on ECT after a meta analysis of the data The Daily Mail's article on the lack of information given to pat...

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… In this episode though, I speak with the delightful Rosie Cappuc...

Yesterday, I was contacted by Clare Simms, the managing editor of View Magazine , a quarterly publication that tells us it’s “for women with conviction, dedicated to our children, families, supporters, legal teams and the charities and NGOs that strive to keep us together when we are falling apart.” It’s a magazine written for and often by women with experience of imprisonment which they provide f...

This is my response to Dr Mike Crawford, talking about the upcoming ICD (international classification of diseases) 11, and the changes to how people with the label of Personality Disorder will be treated within that new system, on the 'Wrong Kind of Mad' podcast. I'd encourage you to listen to it here . A podcast with homework? Whatever next?  I was so gobsmacked - still am, if truth be told...