my wonderful Mother: Anne Ferrier Patterson/Dewar 🤗😍😇

my Mum & me 1953 Kingswell Terrace, Letham, Perth, Scotland

my wonderful Mother Anne Ferrier Patterson/Dewar 🤗😍😇 pic.twitter.com/MCl8NCoQKn

— Chrys Muirhead (@ChrysMuirhead) December 15, 2018

my Mother was abused by the Psychiatric system, for life https://t.co/Qgiu1KMybV

— Chrys Muirhead (@ChrysMuirhead) December 15, 2018

on a toxic psychiatric drug until her death at age 68; from lung cancer; she smoked to counteract the effects of the drug; she monitored her smoking, to 20/day; Depixol antipsychotic was a hellish drug for her to live with; ruled her life but she put up with it; my hero https://t.co/MVYVy4Vgsr

— Chrys Muirhead (@ChrysMuirhead) December 15, 2018

on a Depixol 3wkly coercive drug depot injection for decades for no good reason just an abusive, coercive system; Psychiatry has a lot to answer for https://t.co/7ycYI86Vbn

— Chrys Muirhead (@ChrysMuirhead) December 15, 2018

I think it's amazing that my Mother survived abusive Psychiatry for so long; she didn't retaliate, was a gentlewoman; a great example to me & my boys https://t.co/Qeq4vCFMxY

— Chrys Muirhead (@ChrysMuirhead) December 15, 2018

a divided self

Tweeted this last night:

my home is here but my fitness, study, exercise will be elsewhere; a divided self 😄 https://t.co/cz0AUdSX6I

— Chrys Muirhead (@ChrysMuirhead) December 13, 2018

 
about staying here in Springfield but having something of a life in the city of Dundee.  It will involve travelling by bus most of the time, which I've got used to, carrying stuff, easier when spring comes with warmer days and lighter nights.

I can always use a case on wheels if need be, when the load gets heavy, because I would like to do wild water swimming, gym weights, sports, and this will require carrying more equipment.  I've got a large pink holdall with wheels which I may start using.  Can put it in the boot of buses or luggage rack in trains.  Fortunately I'm able to lift heavy weights, have got muscles!

Photos from 1973 on the Muirheads farm near Douglas, Lanarkshire.  Had strong shoulders even back then 😊
 

 

moving to Dundee: scrapped the idea

Update 13Dec18

Scrapped the plan to move to Dundee. It's impossible, I don't have enough support. Will have to keep taking buses to swim in the city, to walk, to shop, to study, to write, and will try to keep fit for as long as possible, considering ways to earn money so as to travel further afield, to have a life.

I've got a new bus pass/National Entitlement Card so that should give me a respite from bullying bus drivers or conductors who give aggro if their machine doesn't work.  

I've lived in a terraced council house for nearly 21 years, gardens back and front, which I very much enjoy, growing plants, watching wildlife, and would find it hard to give up voluntarily.  

I don't want to live in Springfield but I have no choice in the matter.  So I will just have to put up with it.  

I hate putting up with stuff.  Just saying ...

today, scrapping the idea

Email sent to my MSP 13Dec18

Dear Mr Rennie

I am writing to ask you for a comprehensive list of your surgery dates in North East Fife in the near future.  I would like to meet with you to talk about council housing issues.

Regards, Chrys

Chrys Muirhead
writer, storyteller, swimmer, cyclist, photographer, gardener, traveller, whistleblower, human rights campaigner, mental health activist

on being a £4.4million pound fundraiser for NHS Fife:

http://chrysmuirheadwrites.blogspot.com/2018/05/on-being-44million-pound-fundraiser-for.html

ChrysMuirheadWrites.blogspot.co.uk

ChrysM-associates.co.uk

@ChrysMuirhead

Curing the Therapeutic State: Thomas Szasz interviewed by Jacob Sullum July2000

Curing the Therapeutic State: Thomas Szasz interviewed by Jacob Sullum July2000

Excerpts:

"The collaboration between government and psychiatry results in what Szasz calls the "therapeutic state," a system in which disapproved thoughts, emotions, and actions are repressed ("cured") through pseudomedical interventions. Thus illegal drug use, smoking, overeating, gambling, shoplifting, sexual promiscuity, pederasty, rambunctiousness, shyness, anxiety, unhappiness, racial bigotry, unconventional religious beliefs, and suicide are all considered diseases or symptoms of diseases—things that happen to people against their will. Szasz believes this sort of thinking undermines individual responsibility and invites coercive paternalism...."

"Reason: How would you describe your approach to therapy?

Szasz: I see psychoanalysis as a contractual conversation about a person's problems and how to resolve them. I tried to avoid the idea, which seemed to be particularly pernicious, that the therapist knows more about the patient than the patient himself. That seems to me so offensive. How can you know more about a person after seeing him a few hours, a few days, or even a few months, than he knows about himself? He has known himself a lot longer!

To me the whole idea of calling it "therapy" is crippling. So there was a kind of understanding between the other person and me that we were having a conversation about what he could do with his life. That obviously involves adopting different tenets of sorts—different ways of relating to his wife, his children, his job. The premise was that the only person who could change the person was the person himself. My role was as a catalyst. You are making suggestions and exploring alternatives—helping the person change himself. The idea that the person remains entirely in charge of himself is a fundamental premise. .."

Poppy & Phil Barker with Tom Szasz [from Tidal Model website]

Future Islands perform "Balance" - Pitchfork Music Festival 2015

positive feedback in tweets about #Stagecoach bus drivers

Some tweets just now with positive feedback about Stagecoach bus drivers:

some positive feedback about @StagecoachEScot Bus Driver recently who told me that I wasn't old, was just coming into my "prime" & looked me up & down with appreciation!
Well done to that younger man for making me feel good 😀

— Chrys Muirhead (@ChrysMuirhead) December 11, 2018

he's not the only one; in particular, won't name him, but there is a Stagecoach Bus Driver who has always been complimentary & supportive since he was on 64 bus route, has a wife & daughters; a very nice man who is a good example of the profession #SirBrianSouter @stagecoachgroup https://t.co/RrOmSRCNe8

— Chrys Muirhead (@ChrysMuirhead) December 11, 2018

the female bus drivers @StagecoachEScot I've found to be customer focused, get the job done, not easy in what is a male dominated profession; well done to the Ladies at Stagecoach! hope many more come on board 😀 https://t.co/D9ef6KodvR

— Chrys Muirhead (@ChrysMuirhead) December 11, 2018

 

X56. Braw bus! #Stagecoach
First of seeing this model Sir Brian.
To Kelty. pic.twitter.com/Xtj8GSSRRi

— Chrys Muirhead (@ChrysMuirhead) August 28, 2018