Interesting Perspective….

I’ve just finished reading the elaborately titled “The Death of Sigmund Freud, Fascism, Psychoanalysis and the Rise of Fundamentalism” by Mark Edmundson. (Published by Bloomsbury, 2007)

I’m a great admirer of Freud as my friends know, so this was a Christmas gift from one of them. I loved it! (Thanks again, Debbie!) Which is unusual given that I’m not a huge fan of the usual American take on Freudian theory. Mr Edmundson surprised me and I wholly apologise for my (to date) avoidance of your work.

Freud was a committed atheist and had a dim view of America following his visit in 1909. He was quoted once as stating that; “The country is full of savages!” a comment he never fully elaborated on. But given the things he said in the ensuing years, it has become clear that his views reflected the American pursuit of the ‘almighty dollar’. According to Mr Edmundson, Freud accused the colonists of suffering from an illness he termed ‘dollaria’

This is just an aside. The real issue is the rise of Christian fundamentalism particularly in the USA. The concept of the book guides us to a short analysis as to the reasons behind this dangerous trend. Edmundson traces Freud’s escape from Vienna in 1938 as Hitler begins his quest for world domination beginning with the annexing of Austria with Germany. Freud analyses the populace who are welcoming the führer with such gusto and determines that the rise of such tyrants as he, was both predictable and very human. He describes the inner turmoil that drives human anxieties to reach a boiling point when the need for some kind of certainty has to manifest itself in order to express and externalise those anxieties and in so doing dispelling the threat of internal chaos. At that time in history there was none more certain than Adolf Hitler. Germany had lost a war, were deceived by the Treaty of Versailles, and were in the deepest throes of economic depression. A most uncertain of times for the German people.

As for the rest of the story I recommend you read Mark Edmundson’s book.

What was interesting for me is the idea that we are now living in uncertain times and have not really evolved emotionally to cope with this uncertainty. My views on the genesis of religious thought does not counter Freud’s views on the unconscious processes that manifest themselves with conscious outbursts of magical thinking! The prenatal, developing mind, with no point of reference, is only aware of certainty. Uncertainty only becomes perceptible at birth! A trauma that can only be filled with fear – the most basic human emotion.

Unconscious phantasy is unlabelled, uncategorised emotional memory. If those early fears can be wiped out, then (the delusion of) certainty can return.

Basically, the delusion of certainty means; if I don’t need to think for myself, I’m happiest! Fundamentalism takes away the need for reflection. Someone else can take the responsibility for my actions. “I vas just obeying orders!” Or, “I’m doing God’s work!” Same thing, really!

No Lottery for Me This Year!!

Remind me not to do the lottery this year! 

I'd been unemployed for the longest time in my working history, finally finding a job in October 2009 as a Health Care Worker in a secure hospital for people with learning disability and mental illness. Royal Mail's "Gross Misconduct" charge fading into history and my prospects brightening, I thought. But alas.........

The job promised to utilise my skills and knowledge in mental health by placing me in what was known as the Rehabilitation Unit; 'Florence View' ward. The training, prior to my appointment , did leave me feeling slightly uneasy. It consisted mainly on detecting risks posed by patients wishing to start fires and to attack staff members using some very devious methods! Most of the 'Breakaway' techniques consisted of Tae Kwon-do  holds and restraints. Not psychological approaches when trying to engage people, just ways of how to keep them still whilst being injected! Still, I thought it would be an interesting challenge.

I was interviewed, offered the post and directed to the ward upon which I was to be a health care worker on. The marketing bilge vomited the "Active Care" programme which would be more evident on this ward than any other. I read what I could find on the programme and got quite excited that I might be involved in making a better future for the patients. (Can you feel it coming?) But alas.....

What was not taken into account was the senior management. Both of African origin, (and that is significant in this instance!), they had an autocratic style of management that went beyond 'reasonable'. My new ward manager was an individual with some thirty years clinical experience, the senior nurse in charge had some seven years working with personality disorders and dementias and I have some thirteen years working in mental health. We had a couple of young men keen to learn and so much to offer. One was a football coach the other just very keen. Not any longer!

The two senior staff were forced to resign because of some  pretty serious shenanigans from the management above; Clinical decisions being "overruled" by directors who were not on the ward to make any kind of judgement, staff members moved to other wards for no apparent reason leaving Florence View staff vulnerable and unsafe, unethical admissions, blackmailing staff to make them comply with unethical practices, the list is endless! And all for profit. 

Now, as far as I'm aware, the Care Quality Commission, the body responsible for ensuring good practice in the private health care sector, have received many complaints about these people but appear to have done nothing about them. The Royal College of Nursing, a body supposedly in place to protect their nurses, have also received many complaints about this company but have done nothing. So what can we do?

Why was I sacked? Because I had the gall to refuse to be moved to another ward leaving my colleagues in a dangerous position. I had the nerve to challenge Beulah Nayatoro, the senior manager, on information about a patient that had been admitted to our ward with no care plan in place. But the final reason boils down to an opportunist patient who had a history of leaving the premises whilst on a 'Section 3'. He managed to elude me and wander off down the town. Apparently, he doesn't really want to leave the hospital!

Professional bullying is a crime, is it not? The problem is proving it.

Take my last act at the hospital;

I was contracted to work on Florence View. I go into work after a three day  shift gap, to be told I've now been moved to Oak Tree Lodge, the most difficult ward. The ward manager wasn't expecting me and said; "Why send you here? What help are you to me? You don't know the routine and you don't know the patients. How are you of any use to me?" Beulah's instructions. I was then placed on a one-to-one observation of the most difficult patient on the ward! Some of the other patients were escorted out for the afternoon to the bowling ally leaving just three members of staff; Myself, another male staff member on a one-to-one with another difficult patient and a cook locked in the kitchen. There were two other patients who did not want to go bowling, so the ratio was four patients, two of them prone to violence, and two members of staff, both of whom were on half-hourly observations of their respective charges. At around 4 o'clock in the afternoon I was told to attend a meeting with Darsana and a member of the HR office and told simply to hand in my keys and leave! I mentioned the fact that they would be leaving my colleague with two very difficult patients and two in need of hourly observations. Not my problem any more, apparently! So I duly left!

The letter I received a few days later explained that there were some "performance issues" over the last few months that meant I was not "up to the standard required" for the post! No telling how those performance issues were monitored, or by whom, nor by what criteria! Obviously I was a threat. Not good to have someone in post who has some knowledge of what the job entailed, eh? Difficult to hide incompetence and greed from this sort of person. A couple of my colleagues who left just before me are taking action against these bullies and I may well join them. I'll keep this blog posted!

 

My History

I'm frustrated at the lack of information on Cheetham Hill, Manchester for the years 1960-1970! I thought you could find anything on the Internet. I guess I was wrong. Not that my history begins in Cheetham Hill. I was born in Wythenshawe but the family moved South to Walton-on-the-Naze and then to Clacton-on-Sea and finally to Stevenage, Herts, before returning North to Cheetham Hill. Nor is it that Cheetham Hill holds that many fond memories given that that is where I lost my faith and became agnostic before jumping off the fence and declaring my atheism. But I've seen, with some envy, the efforts of some people from Collyhurst (a neighbouring district) in producing a fine collaborative Facebook page with photos and info from locals who cherish their homesteads!

I felt, therefore, that I might find some similar effort from old 'Hill' dwellers, but alas, nay! The last time I visited the 'Hill' was in May 2008 when I discovered it to be something of an ethnic minority ghetto. It was always cosmopolitan but seems to have been adopted by a predominantly Muslim community. Which is sad really, because it used to be the Jewish conclave of Manchester.

I remember when I was a kid we used to earn pocket money going round the households of elderly Jewish ladies and lighting their fires in the mornings and opening their mail. 2/6d per fire! Then there was the Temperance Billiard Hall on Cheetham Hill road where some of my mis-spent youth was taken up by playing snooker on a Saturday afternoon. There would be a weekly event we used to call "the march of the Zionists"! A group of orthodox Jews would come in, choose a game, any game, and gamble on the outcome! I was quite small in stature but some would like to take a bet on me winning my game. (I was reasonable as an amateur back then!) We would see wads of notes change hands. If we lost there would be shouts of "Foul!!", or "Cheat!!". However, if we won, "Well done!", or "Told you Ruben!", but we never got any reward!

There was a barbershop not far from the Hall called 'Macky Davies'. I had a special school 'do' that I needed a proper haircut for, so I ventured into Macky's and asked for a "smart-cut". It was smart except for the top. He'd left space for a Kippot! I'm not sure he'd considered the fact that a gentile kid would come to his place.

Has Cheetham Hill lost its charm? I don't know. Has it lost its sense of identity? I don't know that either. I hope there are some people with long memories who might like to start a proper history of the place. In fact, let's all keep our historical archives available before it all goes to pot, eh?

Unemployed at Home!

Suddenly I've become a domestic God!

Royal Mail decided in its wisdom to dismiss me during the height of the recent dispute. Since then I've become chief childminder and bottle-washer. It's an interesting role and not one I haven't experienced in the past. However, the changes I've noticed in what constitutes 'proper' childcare over the years has astounded me. My baby daughter has had to sleep on her back. Apparently, this is to avoid 'cot-death'. The consequence of this is she has no idea how to crawl! More babies are now walking before they've learned to crawl.

Feeding (post breast) is a nightmare! What a child can suffer with too much of this and not enough of that makes me wonder how on Earth we managed to survive as a species!

Anyway, she's beautiful, healthy and bright. Who could ask for more?