Check out the prescription a Doctor gave for depression!…
The Five Aces are a popular UK swing band which formed in 1989 – and the 6 members with lead singer Ian Clarkson are now (mostly) older men.
Their jive music video of the Morecombe and Wise standard Bring Me Sunshine was released on YouTube in 2011. It has had over 2 million views since then. Watch the You Tube video!
In 2012 Dr Wallace Hodges, a GP from Seattle USA, prescribed the link for a patient who was feeling depressed.
“At the end of the visit, he unexpectedly wrote me a prescription. ‘Check this out,’ he said. ‘Can I blog it?’ ‘Sure,’ he said, ‘spread it around. It is an instant mood lifter, whatever your predicament might be.’ ” – the story being told by Sally Schneider of https://www.improvisedlife.com/ .
Men Beyond 50 says, ‘Let’s all find more ways to be “instant mood lifters”!’
OK, so sadness and losses – we all experience greyness in our lives and can feel miserable at times – and depression is an illness that hits many older men. Simply naming it, going to see your GP doctor and naming it, or telling your story in a peer group (like a Men’s Group) can be the first step on the road to recovery. Here are the most useful, trustworthy and reliable UK sites to look for more information and help:
1. About Depresssion (Mind UK),
https://www.mind.org.uk/mental_health_a-z/7980_depression
+ Mind UK has more pages on the full range of treatments available
https://www.mind.org.uk/mental_health_a-z/7980_depression
2. Peer Groups – where to look (Depression UK)
https://www.depressionuk.org/groups.shtml
3. Self-Help / Coping Advice (Depression Alliance network)
https://www.depressionalliance.org/help-and-information/self-help-coping.php
NB: If you have severe depression, and are in crisis, there are teams of doctors and nurses who can provide intensive support, which will enable you to stay at home if, rather than going into hospital.
For more information about what help may be available to you in your area, talk to your local Mind (see https://www.mind.org.uk/help/mind_in_your_area ), or call Mind Infoline (0300 123 3393).