Stoppaddling on the web...

www.stoppaddling.co.uk

is about Stop Paddling / Start Sailing

book by Roger Smith

Site includes some discussion of

memes / memetics / mental health

Training courses for:

understanding mood, Mood Mapping

bipolar disorder, bipolar recovery,

food & mood, WRAP training and more

 

What the Stop Paddling / Start Sailing book could do for you...

People have found `Stop Paddling' inspirational as it is a true story of recovery from severe mental illness without the morbid details. There is a gentle introduction to memetics as a different way of looking at how we think and behave. You may find this to be a useful tool for sustaining good mental health.

 

Mood swings

I had been experiencing changes in energy levels all my life although this apparent moodiness was never referred to as mood swings. When I suffered from what was described as an anxiety disorder in 1980, I had several hospital stays and was on medication for about a year. Once I recovered from that I was able to achieve many things for many years but still had greater variations in energy levels than just about anyone I knew. In 1997 I suffered a second undiagnosed stress related illness. The same happened in 1998. This time it was diagnosed. Despite taking the prescribed medication I was in hospital again in 1999.

I, at last, realised that medication alone could not be the answer and started to learn all I could about stress and how it affects our health. I have been studying and putting my learnings into practice ever since. Stop Paddling/ Start Sailing was published in 2004. I changed my career path in 2006 to focus on mental health recovery and most recently to become a freelance mental health trainer.

 

Memes

In 1999 I learnt of the emerging science of memetics and found that no one seemed to be considering memetics as a tool for improving mental health. Anxiety and depression seem to be largely caused by memes and for me anxiety and depression were both largely resolved simply by the realisation that memes were at the route of my problems. My psychiatrist at the time laughed at the idea. After over 8 years of good health (no psychiatrists or nurses) I know this approach works for me. Stop Paddling / Start Sailing gently introduces the idea that we can benefit from learning a little about memetics.

 

Stop Paddling / Start Sailing Reviews

"Chapters 1-3 made me laugh; the analogues/metaphors of MD being interwoven with a memetic interpretation was great. Your experience seems to have many points of similarity with my own” Nick Hewling, Recovery Devon (Partnerships for Mental Health)

“LOVED it" Rosanna Tarsiero, Italy

"I thought your book was brilliant!" Chris Radford, RETHINK

"Jane and I enjoyed your book. It's got a great tone and I think would be a comfort to anyone crawling from the wreckage of a first time mental crash or even people who have been coping for a while. I liked the sailing metaphors a lot. Bravo and well done. Jeremy Thomas, Author of "You Don't have to be Famous to have Manic Depression" and "Taking Leave"

 

 

The following is about the book that my business is named after

Book Description on Amazon:
Stop Paddling/Start Sailing is an amazing book. The concept was born out of a period of hypomania when the author, unable to sleep, imagined a very different way of looking at his life and life in general.

These imaginings give rise to the central theme of a journey on the river of life. The main story is overlaid on the fantasy journey, bringing real people and events in, to tell of times spent in and out of psychiatric wards.

He makes no attempt to write an autobiography detailing each and every high and low – mania and depression. He instead focuses on 3 of the episodes that landed him in hospital during the year before and after his diagnosis. You may be surprised to hear the author say that being diagnosed Manic Depressive or as he now refers to himself, a Bipolar Person, was one of the best days of his life. He says this because, after two decades of no-one being able to put a name to his psychological problems he could at last focused on understanding and self-managing the disorder.
This book has been described as a gentle introduction to bipolar disorder. It goes some way beyond this as it also gently introduces the idea of using memetics (a bit like genetics but relating to thoughts) as a tool that can be used alongside other self management techniques. This is a big step away from the wisdom of a few years ago when psychiatrists would tell patients it was all about finding the right combination of drugs.
It is suggested that memetics can dispel thoughts & feelings such as, "it all depends on me" and the other extreme "I can't do anything about it" and thus be one more idea for reducing the likelihood of future mood swings.
There is a brief mention of self management training from MDF the Bipolar Organisation for which the author continues to be grateful.
This is a book designed to be read more than once, passed around friends, perhaps relatives and health professionals who may benefit from seeing bipolar from the survivors’ perspective.

 

I am grateful those who made this book possible, to everyone who has read it and those who have sent in their encouraging comments. Roger