The Sound in my Head - Five years of living with Tinnitus

The Sound in my Head - Five years of living with Tinnitus

As with everything on this blog, this entry is written from my own perspective as a patient with an interest in their own condition, rather than as a medical professional.  The strategies I use for managing my tinnitus are those which I have found work for me, but they may not work for anyone else.  If you have developed tinnitus please go to the NHS website (linked here) for details on what to do, as while tinnitus can be benign - as detailed here - it can be a symptom of more serious problems.  For more advice on coping with tinnitus see the guides from the British Tinnitus Association.  

 

I haven't heard silence since 2016.  I've lived for the last four years with a constant high pitched tone in my left ear.  A high pitched, single, never ending tone.  For the first six months the sound drove its way into my thoughts at every hour of the day,  twisting my thinking, and damaging my mental health.  In this entry I discuss my tinnitus diagnosis, and the tips I have used to help live with the condition.  

MENTAL HEALTH: Student Mental Health - What Not To Do

I wrote this post a few years ago about a case of bad practice at a major UK University.  It was originally published on my research blog since at the time my blogging about neurology from a patient perspective was being hosted elsewhere and it was outside of that very specific remit.  I'm reposting it here and now because it is as relevant today as it was then.  This is how not to do student mental health support, and now not to handle neurodiversity.

At times it feels like every few weeks there is another headline relating to a fresh tragedy. Another case where a student has died from suicide. There are dozens of factors which have led to an increase in pressure on students at university – many are political in nature and the purpose of this post is not to make a political statement but rather to highlight the issue and to point to where, almost as a matter of routine, decisions were taken which could have led to another tragedy. This post tells the story of something which happened at a relatively high-profile institution within the UK. Some details have been deliberately framed in such a way as to maintain the anonymity of the student at the heart of it – the story is shared with their permission on the condition they remain anonymous. This story is an example of Bad Practice. It is a How Not To Do Student Support.

DOCUMENTARY REVIEW: The Pharmacist (Netflix)

(CW: Drug misuse, Drug addiction, discussion of overdose)

When I saw the trailer for The Pharmacist it automatically caught my attention.   As a chronic pain sufferer (fibromyalgia, subacromial pain syndrome), I’ve followed numerous new stories on the Opioid Crisis in the USA, and the impact of opiate abuse in general, having seen the effects of drug misuse up close.  I was expecting an interesting documentary – as Netflix limited series have a good track record for well put together documentaries, even if they are not always especially deep dives into the topics involved.  This however was something different.  It was far deep, and while clearly solidly researched - this was also an incredibly gripping piece of film making.  Warning for content discussing drug addiction. Misuse, overdose, death, and also minor spoilers of some details of the series below the ‘read more’.