Fingers crossed it stays like that. It must be so rare...enjoy it 'cos you've all deserved a bit of a rest and time to smell the roses - are there any in West Ham?

err can ya contact me? I work for the police and we need some clarifation on the new dispatch issues...?

I'm envious, been in writing essays all day :(

been quiet round here too

I don't know if it is because it is so rare, or what causes it, but you can't beat the atmosphere on a hot sunny day on station when you get a couple of crews in. I can honestly say I have never laughed so hard as I have on the occasions I've been in like that. We can moan and complain all we like, and yeah sometimes we are all hammered all shift, but then, sometimes, its a pretty chussy little number as jobs go!!!

Hope you enjoyed the rest of your day, each and every one of you deserved a chill out day - and I am sure I speak for all your colleagues in the east midlands when i say that!!

yeah its alright for some reynolds, for some reasons our hospital is hotter by about 7-10 degrees than the ambient temperature outside. And guess where i've been working all day. so don't rub it in hon.
Merys
bloodystudents.blogspot.com

Mmmmm that photo reminds me - I've got some chicken drunmsticks that need eating in the fridge ;-)

All that's missing is the hankies on heads with knotted corners! Eww - Poms "taking the sun"!!!
Enjoy the sun! Then move to Perth, Western Australia!

JAFAA

It's alright for some, we've been battered at night all weekend, only did 1 real job in 3 nights.

Why do silly girls chose to "take overdoses" (unknown amount of paracetamol, probably in the region of 6) to get attention? Go get your hair done and put on a nice frock for gods sake.

And how does ending face down on a pavement covered in your own vomit constutute a "good night"?

6 Paracetamols? When I was 16 a good friend of mine used to take a couple of those everyday to stay slim (I'm not joking) until someone told her that it doesn't actually work (unless you do it till your stomach is completely damaged) Was an attention thing as well I think because she told everyone who didn't wanna hear it. Teenage and attention-seeking is a really bad combination I think

Enjoy the weather

Have you considered that maybe "silly girls" take overdoses for the same reason some self harm, though perhaps you think that is purely attention-seeking too. Maybe you need a refresher course on self harm and perhaps a compassion implant too.

Sorry to get angry with your other readers, Reynolds, but I am a bit (read: VERY) irritated by that uncaring attitude.

To both the insensitive people above:

Have you considered that maybe "silly girls" take overdoses for the same reason some self harm, though perhaps you think that is purely attention-seeking too. Maybe you need a refresher course on self harm and perhaps a compassion implant too.

Sorry to get angry with your other readers, Reynolds, but I am a bit (read: VERY) irritated by that uncaring attitude.

Even if, so what? Six of one and half a dozen of the other!
I just mentioned my friend cos you just do silly things when you´re a teenager, some more some less, at the end of the day it all comes down to attention seeking that´s a fact. No matter if you take pills, drugs, refuse food, make yourself sick, you draw attention and if you wanna actually hurt yourself (self harm) it´s because you can´t accept yourself as the one you are (I know it´s more complicated from a psychological point of view), you wanna punish yourself AND you want other people see there IS something wrong with you, not consciously, unconsciously, that´s what it´s all about.

I'm not a teenager, I'm 28. I also hold down a challenging job as a teacher and am not a "stupid girl". I self harm because It helps me to deal with some things in the only way I know how. I wanted to comment on what you wrote because not all people who take overdoses or cut themselves are doing so to get attention. Some people have suffered abuse, neglect or any other number of traumatic events and some have mental health problems which mean that they have problems regulating their emotions.

I'm sorry to snap, but people have a very negative attitude towards people who self harm, because they don't understand and think it is just attention seeking. My self harm is a fairly private thing which helps me to cope. My colleagues have no idea I do it. If I was attention-seeking, would that be the case?

No it wouldn´t.
I am well aware of the fact that self harm is a serious kind of mental illness I was just talking in general because as a matter of fact there are enough cases out there where it´s all about attention seeking and as I said, it´s often at least a part of the whole thing you can´t deny that (and I am not talking about your case as I don´t know you at all).
I am not a psychologist but I do know that there can be a lot of reasons for things like that. Once we had a girl in class who had cuts and scarfs all over her arms. She also tried to kill herself, then changed school. Afterwards we were told by a friend of hers that she actually had been raped a couple of years ago and that was the way she was dealing with what had been done to her. She stayed in hospital for quite a long time then. The next time she tried to kill herself she made sure nobody would find her so she was succesfull. Those things do happen and I wouldn´t dare to judge anyone here I was in deed just talking in general and don´t call me careless alright? Ta
Besides if taking overdoses isn´t a form of attention seeking but self harm only what´s the point in doing it anyway? Quite strange in my book..

taking overdoses can sometimes be a silly shout for attention, sometimes a cry for help, and sometimes (like a lot of other self harm) it's something the person doing it can feel that they are in control of. Another person might be abusing the mind or body of the self-harmer, but the self-harmer is in *control* of what they do to themselves. Be it cuts, overdoses, refusal to eat, overeating, whatever.

Most therapists advise an alternative method such as playing with elastic bands that will have the desired effect of controlled pain without being as likely to cause serious or long-term harm.

Yes that´s right and as far as I know people also do it to make themselves actually feel something even if what they feel then is pain. It´s about control as well. It´s a mixture and there are a lot of things which can cause those kind of disorders.
Attention seeking is also a part of it, of course, but have you ever thought about what we all do to get that attention? We do not usually notice but with every step, every breath we take we do things to make other people see, other people care, day by day and we´re always struggling for response and affirmation, compliment and acceptation, it´s always been in man´s nature and it always will be. Just think about it.
Even "Tom" here writes this blog, not only for fun but also for getting attention in a way;-)

It also depends on what you take.

I have taken too many SSRIs a few times, because it knocks me out for 24 hours. Sometimes this is the only way I can escape from how I am feeling and the things that go round my head. I know the risks and I don't usually take more than x amount, but sometimes I have had to go to A&E because I have become seriously tachycardic and I feel short of breath. I walk to A&E or get a taxi, by the way, I don't call an ambulance!

Mainly, with my cutting (which I do to relieve tension and also as a form of punishment), I do it where it doesn't show and I dress it myself. If I can't stop the bleeding I'll get it checked out. Again, I would drive to A&E, not call an ambulance.

The times I have taken paracetamol overdoses I have had full knowledge that I may die if I do not get the parvolex infusion. This means that, when I take the od, I am already probably considering going to A&E. I know this doesn't make sense for most people reading this, but I go through times where I need to be somewhere safe, and 20 hours in a hospital bed attached to a drip is about as safe as it gets. I don't demand anything from the staff, they just let me be and I get the escape I needed. If, at the end of the infusion, I am still feeling really sh*t, I am sometimes admitted to a psych ward for a short respite.

It is via these methods that I am able to function, ironically. If I couldn't take the time out or relieve the stress, I would not be able to work... Since these methods are not the best solution, I am going into a Therapeutic Community to learn better coping skills. After that year, I hope to return to teaching and be as happy in my free time as I am when I am teaching.
I hope this hasn't upset or offended anyone, but I am trying to be open and honest about why I (and many others) do these things.

First of all: what does SSRIs mean?
Then: thanks for being open although I was a bit shocked to be honest.

I walk to A&E or get a taxi, by the way, I don't call an ambulance
What´s the difference, what does it matter? You do have to go to A&E that´s bad enough. No matter if you go by taxi, by bus or by plane - fact is you shouldn´t need to go to hospital because you do that to yourself and (I know that must sound silly to you but..) you should be able to look after yourself. Otherwise you need professional help and someone who does it for you, seriously
I really hope you´ll learn to cope and I wish you all the best
I don´t know what you experienced and I don´t wanna know because here is not the place for talking about those things
All I know is that you need help and I hope you will cope

The times I have taken paracetamol overdoses I have had full knowledge that I may die if I do not get the parvolex infusion. This means that, when I take the od, I am already probably considering going to A&E
So you don´t do it because you wanna die, you actually wanna have to go to A&E because you feel save there? You feel looked after as well? And you do get attention then don´t you?;-)

You also said you do it to punish yourself, right? Do you also do it because you hate yourself/your body in a way?

My theorie is that sometimes when people do those things they´ve got a disordered relation to their body (if you know what I mean).
When they call an ambulance, go to hospital or whatever there are actually people who care about exactly that "thing" they "lost" in a way, their body. That´s what it is all about. They themselves can´t do it because they hate their body, they´ve really lost it in a way as well as the relation and the feeling how to look after it. They need the nurses, the doctors, the paramedics because only they can give them the feeling that their body actually counts!

SSRIs are a type of antidepressant medication. This indicates that Cat IS getting "professional help" for a mental health problem.

Having a mental health problem is not being silly, it is a very real barrier to, as you so sensitively put it, being "able to look after yourself". If someone cannot look after themselves they need help. The state of mental health provision in this country is such that this help is often completely unavailable in any way other than through A&E.

The method of getting to A&E is relevant insofaras sufferers often do not want to cause any additional difficulty to the service or attention to themselves. Cat does not wish to waste Tom's colleagues' time by calling them out to do part of the care which she CAN do for herself.

If you wish to know more about mental health problems then there's a whole internet here of dedicated sites to that issue rather than here in the comments section of Tom's blog. I would ask that you do not try to bring the subject up with a sufferer as it can do them more harm than good. And please, please, stop bandying theories unless you really know what you are on about.

SSRIs are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and they affect the serotonin levels in your brain, effectively trying to stimulate happiness. The prime and most popular example is Fluoxetine, also known by the trade name Prozac.
Merys
bloodystudents.blogspot.com

I went shopping yesterday (Oxford Street/ as busy as usual) and it was just too hot - I don't really like this weather.. A bit cooler would be good

Me and Mrs Beej were sat in the living room watching the commenoration. Took a look out of the window and low and behold! we saw the MASSIVE cloud of poppy's being dropped over the Mall.

Amazing really as we live in Peckham!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4672195.stm

Don't you find it annoying when they call you an ambulance driver? :-p

Uniform shorts? I'm jealous!

Garth from pdxemt.blogspot.com

You can make a short out of every ordinary pair of trousers can´t you?:-)

Have you got your free Queen tickets yet?

No sign of Reynolds in a few days - wonder how he's getting on?

/al

I too wonder where Tom has gone - we miss you!

The other day I was in the hospital after my 2 year-old daughter had an allergic reaction to eating a walnut. I thought it was a bit to much to rush her to hospital, but my wife panicked and insisted it could be fatal (turns out she was right). But as a parent I often face situations like these - kid is sick, very sick, and I wonder, could she really die on me?

I remember, Tom, at one point you mentioned giving a patient a certain test (forgot the name) which is basically a test to make sure the patient won't die on you in the next 5 or 10 minutes. Is it something we can also learn? It sounds funny, I guess, but it would really give my wife and I peace of mind if we could say "OK, child is ill - very ill - but certainly won't die on us right now."

This is just a suggestion for a day in which you feel like writing but have nothing to write about.

Cheers, Office worker.

As a parent you shouldn´t need such a test.

Isn't that just a bit judgemental? As a parent, I am not a trained medical professional. I have taken my son to the emergency room on several occasions with similar chronic breathing difficulties. Sometimes they have admitted him and put him in hospital on oxygen and chewed me out for not bringing him in sooner. Other times, the breathing has been just as labored, they send him home with me and treat me as if I'm a pushy parent with nothing better to do than to come to the emergency room. I end up staying up all night listening to him trying to breathe and praying that he won't stop breathing before I can get him to the doctor the next day. If medical professionals treat the same situation in totally different ways, how is a parent with no medical training supposed to know when something is an emergency or not? With my child (or any child) I would rather err on the side of caution!

Well that´s the reason why so many parents so often over-react.
But everyone who´s got kids understand people like that as there´s nothing more precious in the world than your own children, nothing.
Better too careful than careless

Well sorry mate it was just the way you were talking (well, writing) about that test thing and your child´s problems. It just sounded a bit "weird" to me as I can not believe that you would actually do such a test when you think there´s something wrong with your child, sorry but how stupid is that?
No as a parent you´re not a medical professional, of course not, so if you´re really worried take your kid to the E.R. without thinking about the doctor´s or nurse´s reaction and without doing such a .. test

are you the same "anonymous" who is posting about self harm?

Yes I am why?
I know what you were going to say.. "shut up as you don´t know what you are talking about" right?
But I do, well more or less.
Concerning the thing above and my "theories" you have criticised. I am NOT a professional, no psychologist, no, but I did say that and I also said it is MY theorie which means my opinion. Ever heard of freedom of opinion?
I didn´t mean to offend anyone I hope you know that. And I didn´t mean to be rude or something like that, sorry

it was just kind of obvious, from the general tone and nature of your postings.

And not hard to tell either as I am neither English nor living in a country where we speak that language.

Tom come back! You've been on the red blanket long enough!
Pat

Truly Hope Thomas, be not a victim of bosses whim or other problems concerning Londons problems. dungbeetle

looks like he has gone dark while moving house through lack of broadband access (see post on the 5th).

...or lost under a pile of packing cases.....come back soon! its like waiting for the next copy of the beano.

Makes a nice change for you. Gees, down here in Australia it's like zero at the moment! Ack! Where's the snow... it's cold enough!
Cyalayta
Mal :)