Phil version 2.0

Don’t judge a book by its cover   I do actually, have a few things to say about books ...     But for that, you will have to wait for a few weeks!    This episode is fairly short. Is that a sigh of relief I hear? All I would say is “don’t count your chickens”! By way of compensation, next time you will get a longer one!   Ok – on we go:   The above picture prompts me to mention again, something to which I have previously alluded.   Please don’t forget that  appearances can be deceptive . In Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin 1971), apparently “there’s a lady who’s sure, all that glitters is gold”. Well I can tell you for nothing, that she’s wrong!   All that glitters is not   gold . One might look fine from the outside, but that doesn’t mean that everything is alright below the surface.  Disabilities can be well hidden.   This is often the case with mental health issues. In particular,  emotional difficulties, such as my own are very often disguised . I might look cheerful and settled, 

We get a lockdown In Belarus, “people are being urged to drink vodka and go to saunas . ” (Sky News 2020)   Sounds alright to me ….  You don’t need me to tell you that things are a little unusual at the moment!     So not only have I been trying to adjust to a “new normal”, in the sense of now being Phil v2.0; but I am now, trying to do so, within another kind of “new normal”.    To put it another way,  a different Phil, in different times .    We are told that lockdown is potentially damaging to the mental health of everyone. As you might imagine, for someone who already has mental health issues, it is a bit a case of one thing on top of another!   In my opinion at least, lockdown is necessary, but it causes problems for almost all of us.  I just want to mention a couple of my challenges in this respect, and some ways in which - after initial hesitancy and with much encouragement and support - I am trying to meet them. Further examples of (at least partial) solutions to the “lockdown

“Actions speak louder than words”  (John Pym 1628)   You might recall that last time I looked at my use of cognition, in order to address emotional problems.  I made the point at the end though, that for myself, thinking my way out of a feeling doesn’t always do the trick and I could do with looking for something else, in the “toolbox”.   Bearing in mind that I have been talking about the employment of my psychological functions in order to work on a “broken” one (emotion); the other thing that I have tried to use, is b ehaviou r, and this is the  one that really seems to work best for me .   At risk of appearing to digress (but please bear with me for a moment!) as I mentioned in an earlier instalment, I can no longer go to work and the loss of this activity, been a big source of regret and distress.  But, as I’ve also said, some losses might alternatively be framed a s opportunities .  The fact that I no longer practice law is of course a loss – if nothing else, it has drastically, 

“I think therefore I am”  ( Rene Descartes 1637)   Don’t worry about the title of this instalment.  It is not an academic discourse on Cartesian metaphysics (because I wouldn’t have a clue where to start - if in doubt, use a few long words, with no explanation. In that way, people will, incorrectly, think that you are clever!)  It is actually a few words on the use of  thought  in order to crack down on my emotional deficiencies.   My psychological damage will not heal in any conventional manner, and healing (or, to put it another way, rebuilding), is a gradual process involving the adoption of strategies that, at least in part, can seek to address some undesired outcomes. Obviously, the advice and encouragement of others is of massive importance, but we are now moving into areas in which I have a seriously proactive part to play:   As I have already mentioned, I am working on the (arguable) assumption that each of our various psychological functions can have an effect on another. Acco