On the 23rd of July, 7 Labour MPs had the whip removed for 6 months for voting with their conscience in favour of getting rid of the Universal Credit 2 child cap. Those MPs, The Magnificent 7, in case you'd forgotten, are

Zarah Sultana,

John McDonnell,

Richard Burgon,

Ian Byrne,

Rebecca Long-Bailey

Imran Hussain

and Apsana Begum

This is my Walk a Mile take on the situation...

Welcome back to the podcast - in this spin-off series, I'll be speaking to a whole bunch of folk who attended the BIGSPD event in Glasgow earlier this year.

This was contentious for a whole variety of reasons, and, because of that, it was hugely challenging for me.

As promised, here's the link for the relational practice folk - they're a lovely group of people and I'd be delighted if you became part of that movement.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode - if you'd like to contribute, or if you'd like an episode of your very own, you can find me at hello@letswalkamile.org.uk or, on the platform previously known as Twitter, @walkamileuk

Thank you so much for listening

I'm Chris Young

Walk a Mile

To give you a flavour of the full episode, here's actor, Joey Marino, performing the scene from the Elephant Man he feels exemplifies his life with tardive dyskinesia.

Here's the link to the full episode

Walk a Mile

Actor Joey Marino, from the incredibly popular American TV show ER, talks about how he developed tardive dyskinesia after being prescribed the antipsychotic medication Seroquel, otherwise known as quetiapine, for anxiety.

In this episode he stresses the importance of informed consent when taking psychiatric medication, and how it is the duty of the prescribing physician to inform their patients about the negative as well as the desired effects of those meds. 

Towards the end of this episode, Joey performs the scene from the Elephant man, where John Merrick declared, 'I am not an animal,' It was profound, especially given its incredibly relatable juxtaposition of Joey's life.

Here, as promised, are his social media links

Facebook

Instagram where he's known as therealjoeymarino

Tik tok 

Tumblr 

Reddit

Website

Merch Store

Joey's GoFund Me page 

YouTube 

Joey's Actor Chats Podcast on YouTube

You can find me on Twitter @walkamileuk or at our lovely Facebook group here

Feel free to email me at hello@letswalkamile.org.uk

I'd really love to hear what you think of Joey's episode. If you're listening on apple podcasts, please give us a like, a follow and a comment - it really helps to get more folk involved in the conversation. 

Until the next time, thank you so much for listening,

I've been Chris Young,

And you've been rather lovely

Walk a Mile

HI Gang! Did you miss me? What d’you mean who am I? Who are you? See…how’d you like them er…lemons…?

Welcome back to you, my second favourite listener…I’m trying to inject a bit of competition in here…just to make you, the walkamilers, a bit more edgy…

Yeah, you’re right, that’s quite enough of that – welcome to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast – I’m your host, Chris Young, and in this episode, I’ll be speaking with the delightful Sophie about a whole range of stuff…from her career as a social worker working in child protection, her diagnosis and experience of bipolar and what it felt like when someone ‘outed’ her and her condition to her manager.

She tells us about her experience of the mental health system – and how that drove her to set up a just giving page to raise money to give little bags of care – toiletries, pyjamas and other bits and bobs – to people with mental ill health as they try to navigate hospital admission, often via accident and emergency.

You can find her excellent blog here

I’ve got to say, this, for me, was the greatest start to a podcast conversation ever…but sadly, you’ll never get to hear that, because I forgot to press record! In my defence, it was the hottest day of the year…and, I am an arse…I’m sure you’ll agree we more than made up for that missing 8 minutes though…

Huge thanks to Sophie for coming on the show – it was an absolute delight talking with her. Remember, I’ve put links to her Just Giving and blog pages in the blurb.

Thanks to you too for coming along for the ride – you can follow me on Twitter @walkamileuk or, if Facebook’s more your thing – you’ll find our lovely group here

In other news, I’ve got solo episode coming up soon, especially interesting if you’d like to hear a bit about where I vanished off to. I’ll also be telling you all about a whole new project I’ll be launching over the next couple of months…stay tuned…

Until then,

I’ve been Chris Young,

And you’ve been rather lovely

Walk a mile

Welcome back to the walk a mile in my shoes podcast! In this episode, Neil talks openly, honestly and frankly about his experience of oesophageal cancer and the effects the disease has had on his life. 

During the interview he talks about the massively positive support he received from Harbour Cancer Support - they really sound like a fine bunch of folk. 

You can find more information about oesophageal cancer, here

Huge thanks to Neil...for being Neil, he was a delight to interview, and I'm sure his open, honest, frank, irreverent and occasionally humorous approach to his experience of cancer will shed some light on this horrible disease for many of you. 

If you've enjoyed this episode, please help yourself to the others, I'm pretty sure we've got something for everyone. If liking and subscribing's your kind of thing, then I'd really appreciate your support.

You can find me on Twitter @walkamileuk, on Facebook, or you can email me at hello@letswalkamile.org.uk, I'd love my listener to have the opportunity to walk a mile in your shoes.

Until the next time, 

I've been Chris Young,

and you've been rather lovely,

Walk a Mile

Welcome back to this fifth and final episode in the miniseries where we talk about the institutional prejudice experienced by many people carrying around a label of personality disorder.

Like before, this episode was produced as a direct result of the recent, astonishingly discriminatory, personality disorder course description circulated by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. 

In this episode, I speak with Hollie, co-host of ‘The wrong kind of Mad’ podcast, about her experiences of prejudice working as a person with a lived experience in and outside the NHS.

At the end of the episode, I’ve put some ideas together about where we could go next to start to turn around this super tanker of injustice. Remember, these are just ideas, please feel free to get in touch with your own thoughts and feelings. 

In the meantime, please put aside the 10th of June, at 10am when I'm hoping we can all meet outside the Royal College of Psychiatrists, make a noise and begin the process of real and lasting change. 

You can find me on twitter @walkamileuk

Or email me at hello@letswalkamile.org.uk 

Links for this episode

NHS Document 'No longer a Diagnosis of Exclusion' 

Can we work together? Intergroup contact theory says we can 

The Chvrches 'We Sink'     

The Eurythmics 'Thorn in My Side' 

The latest episode of 'The Wrong Kind of Mad', the podcast Hollie cohosts with Keir.

Weird personality disorder practices in Ipswich and East Suffolk

As ever, please like, comment, share, subscribe so we can get more people involved in the conversation

Welcome back to this fourth episode in the miniseries where we talk about the institutional prejudice experienced by many people carrying around a label of personality disorder. 

Just as before, this episode is a direct result of the recent, astonishingly discriminatory, personality disorder course description recently circulated by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. 

In this episode, Emma tells us about her experience of prejudice from mental health and other NHS services.Her story is harrowing - but it's no different from thousands of people in the UK today. 

Please share this as widely as possible. It would really help if you'd like, subscribe and comment too. 

Here are the links to the books we mentioned in the episode 

The Borderline Personality Disorder Survival Guide: Everything You Need to Know About Living with BPD 

Walk A Mile: Tales of a Wandering Loon 

In the next, the final episode of the box set, I speak with Holly…no, a different Holly, who tells us about her experience of working in and alongside the NHS whilst lugging around a label of Borderline Personality Disorder. 

Until the next time,

Thanks for listening