LadyDeliah

This is a really interesting presentation by Chris Martenson about the problems of the economy that are linked to the energy and environmental issues we are facing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WBiTnBwSWc Really interesting for nerds like me who like data and a scientific analysis.

Sorry Loz, I didn't mean to try to shut you down, it just felt a bit 'playground' and kind of mean. But it appears that others have taken up your baton and PD doesn't know when to stop either!

Loz, don't you think it's kind of mean to tease someone like that though? A couple of times is maybe just a bit of a laugh, but it's clear you are a much stronger person so sustained teasing is surely bullying. Sorry if you feel I'm being a busy body, but I'm just feeling uncomfortable reading your posts now and I usually like your arguments, even when I don't agree with them.

I'm sorry to hear that you had to stop your degree. Maybe you can defer it until next year and in the meantime work on building a stable base to start again next year. Not sure I could cope with shift work myself though, because regular sleeping patterns is part of staying stable. It sounds like you need time to take stock and reflect on what exactly destabilised you. Then maybe you can find something that will suit your particular disability better. I found that taking things really slowly but still moving forward and being as well prepared as possible has helped in my own development. For instance, when I decided to study law after not studying for 20 years, I took A level law, on it's own, over 2 years and got work as a part time ad hoc outdoor clerk with a number of solicitors to consolidate what I was learning. I was terrified of crashing again, so took things slowly enough to make sure I didn't overload myself. I also made sure I included regular healthy food, exercise and sleep into my life, as much as I was able and tried my best not to consume too much alcohol to help me stay on track. It takes time to learn to read the signs before things get out of control and equally long to recognise the triggers, but doing that helped me massively even before I started taking the Lamotrogine. Another important thing though, is not to beat yourself up if you fall off your chosen path. You need to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and after having contemplated why it happened, start slowly back on your way. We are all sprinters, who are used to sprinting off in different directions all the time. Taking things slowly, giving ourselves time to think and assess our progress is something we have to learn to do if we want to actually move in one direction! Good luck. I hope this is useful.

Hugo, you are whetting my appetite and making me want to join up!

peckhamside Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The research is in the Independant today, > apparantly the human skull has developed to > survive impacts of up to 20mph but any increase > over that and the damage rises disproportionally > and alarmingly. Also, lets look at the damage we are trying to prevent. The inconvenience to car drivers by having to reduce their speed cannot be more important than the lives that are more likely to be saved by such a reduction.

Thanks henryb, I was about to post on the same German study. There was another study in the UK that showed the same thing i.e. that on a straight long road reduction from 55 to 20 decreased fuel efficiency, but in an urban setting speed was far less significant than the acceleration/deceleration of vehicles and different traffic calming measures had different effects on driver behaviour in this regard. I've seen other studies that reducing the speed limit to 20 mph smooth out the overall flow of traffic so the overall effect would be a reduction in emissions. As for DJKQ's comment on bus emissions, the emissions per user are far smaller than for car drivers and the new buses have lots of emission saving technology, which reduces emmissions per user even further. I agree that there are problems with too many lorries on the road but not being an expert on freight shipping, I'd be unable to comment in how many of those would be able to shift to rail.

???? Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > LOL at VED as the main tax on cars, > seriously.......... VAT and excise duty on Fuel? > Huge govt revenue, VED is a pin prick FFS Who said anything about it being the main tax on cars? My comment was related to who pays for the roads.

DJKQ, why should the debate be restricted to who uses the roads? Car use impacts everyone, not just those who use the roads, by way of pollution, noise, increased risk of death or injury, damage to property, disproportionate amount of space taken up by roads and car parks etc. Also, even if we did artificially restrict the impact only to road users as you suggest, how many of the pedestrians you mention disparagingly, do you think might use buses? In relation to the cost of roads, as has been pointed out many times before, by many contributors, on many threads on the forum, OUR ROADS ARE PAID FOR OUT OF GENERAL TAXATION BY EVERYONE WHO PAYS TAX, not out of vehicle excise duty, which is currently a form of pollution tax.

This thread was about a proposed measure accross the whole of Southwark, but, let's look at the whole of Inner London, the percentage of households without a car is 56.7%. Why should the majority of people in Inner London be ignored in favour of the car owning minority? edited loads cos I'm hung over!

Sorry quids, but if you check the latest Census stats, 58% of Southwark Households do not own a car.

We alledgedly live in a democracy, not a plutocracy, so the majority are supposed to hold sway, not those who pay more.

Motorists appear to expect the world to accomodate them over other users of the planet, but this article highlights the latest census data, which shows car users are in the minority in London, so why should they take up a disproportionate amount of consideration? http://cyclelondoncity.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/census-data-car-free-households-now.html

I'm with DMC on Crystal Palace Road and they are ok, but it's the psychiatric unit on Lordship Lane you need to talk to. Your GP will refer you if you ask them to. It's a good idea to resarch your symptoms as much as you can in advance, if you feel up to it, as it helps to make sense of what you are going through. The main things though are a bit of regular exercise, regular food and regular sleep. These all help to keep you relatively stable, but alcohol and other mood altering substances can upset your balance. It's hard, but there is a way out, you just need to make little changes every day. Baby steps forward, rest when you need to but try not to go backwards and you'll get there eventually :-)

I think there is a lot of good stuff on here from all the posters (minus PaulK!) so I hope your niece gets something useful from it :-)

Yes, diet, exercise and regular sleep at night can't be overstated in helping to control the symptoms of bipolar disorder. It can be hard to manage though, as preparing healthy food when you are feeling low is difficult and when you are up, it's easy to get used to grabbing sugary snacks, but there are lots of ways to eat healthily that don't require preparation and lots of healthy stuff to snack on too. We are bags of chemicals and I've always thought that some people are just more sensitive to changes in their body chemistry than others, so things that affect your internal chemicals, such as all of the above, affect those people more markedly. As do alcohol, drugs etc. It's a matter of getting to understand what effect each thing has on you, but without a 'clean' baseline to start from, it can be difficult to work out which external stimuli is doing what.

There are lots of new generation medications for bipolar disorder, not just the one I'm on. I'd recommend they try to get her to see someone more up to date, even if they have to pay for the initial assessment.

Lithium is the reason I refused to take medication for years. It's horrible and makes you feel like you are drugged. The Lamotrogine doesn't do anything like that, it just seems to switch something that was malfunctioning, off. Maybe that's why she is having problems, no-one wants to stay on Lithium.

Thanks Gidget, I'll have a look. I think one thing you might want to tell your friend Alan, is that even with the medication, you still have to make sure you have regular sleep and meals to ensure you keep on track. As soon as I notice that I am doing too much and not sleeping enough, I get the warning signs, but it's been easy to put things right so far.

I'd be happy for you to share it. You might want to check what type of medication she is taking and see when she last had a review. The link with epilepsy was discovered about 10 years ago, I think, so some less up to date psychiatrists or GPs might still be prescribing the older medications which might not be the best for her.

I've suffered from bipolar disorder since my early teens and it is a massive disability. I learned ways to normalise my moods using things like exercise, but it was always a struggle and I have had a number of spectacular crashes. I also found being on the contraceptive implant and injection helped the massive monthly swings that added to the general ups and downs. I've had some behavioural help which gave me further coping techniques and with grim determination I was able to acheive quite a lot in the past 10 years, without any major meltdowns. I had a huge breakthrough, though last year, when I thought I was about to lose the plot and felt like I'd just had enough of the constant stuggle with this debilitating illness. I'd previously been prescribed an anti-epileptic, Lamotrogine, but didn't want to feel weak by having to take medication to cope. I felt so bad though that it seemed the lesser of two evils and I decided to try the Lamotrogone. Within two days of starting the medication, the constant noise of chaotic thoughts in my head just switched off. It was incredible and I have stuck with the programme, progressing from 50mg to the optimum dosage of 200mg. For the first time in my adult life I feel stable. I have discovered what it feels like to be a normal person and realise just how much of a disability bipolar disorder is. After struggling for so long and pushing myself so hard for so long, to get where other people get to easily, I feel like I could achieve anything now that I no longer have to struggle contantly to keep control of myself. I did some research and asked a lot of questions about why Lamotrogine, an anti-epileptic, works for bipolar disorder and it appears that bipolar disorder is linked to epilepsy, in that it seems to be caused by misfiring electrical pathways in the brain. There seem to be no side effects so far, other than getting leggless way too quickly on very little alcohol, so I tend not to drink very much nowadays. That is a small price to pay for the kind of stability I never dreamed I'd have. Everyone who knows me, knows that I talk openly about my struggles because I think it is important for people to be educated about these issues. I hope when people get to the point where illnesses such as bipolar can be openly discussed without stigma, people like PaulK will be too ashamed of themselves to come out with the kind of comment he posted above. I hope this has been helpful and she gets the help she needs. I have a daughter who is also bipolar and it is difficult watching her go through it. Well done for airing it on here xx

I quite like the whole Goddess worship thing. Sounds right up my street!

Yes, but one group risk their own lives and the other risk everyone else's.

They could use some of the space for allotments as there is a high demand in the area and this would have lots of positive local benefits including re health & community. If people find car use inconvenient, then maybe we should keep it that way. Then people might just stop using cars so much and everyone else benefits.

Lol, it's hard not to wince!