#i still sometimes get asked for ID buying paracetamol

[oceaneyesinla]

One day I will look my age. Today was not that day

(I'm aware that this can be seen as a positive, however it's less, oh yay you look so youthful and more, you do not look like an adult, can I have some ID please)

[painfog]

Hey so I saw you mention top surgery and was curious. I was supposed to be having top surgery this summer but that’s postponed. I was curious how that went with chronic pain? I’m scared about the surgical binder with my fibro and back pain. Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated!! (You can answer privately if you prefer)

ive actually been meaning to write up a big post on this pretty much since i had top surgery but still haven't got around to it yet so I'm happy to talk about it lol. ill go over stuff now n still aim to do a more in depth post later when im on my laptop (but writing this now bc i tend to forget everything haha). ill stick to the more fibro / chronic illness specific stuff & stuff i wasnt expecting rather than rehashing everything. apologies im on mobile so i cant put this under a cut

firstly, im sorry ur surgery got postponed! i know that must be gutting, so i hope it gets rescheduled asap & the time until then passes easily for u ❤️

I had double incision with free nipple grafts on the 4th of september 2019 with Mr Miles Berry at the london wellbeck hospital. i think he did an amazing job and can't recommend him enough for his work! i think the last pics i took of my chest were for tdov, and ill rb them after i post this for reference. i didnt have drains at any point of the surgery

for ppl with fibro, i was told that the pain after surgery either tends to trigger a flareup, or be really easily manageable, and it's hard to predict which it will be beforehand. its best to prepare for a flareup and be pleasently surprised if u dont get one. for me, i had a flareup that sucked but wasnt too bad as far as flareups go

you'll probably get given painkillers. take them regularly. it's easier to treat pain preemptively. if u don't get given them (no idea how it works outside of the uk) id say def get codine and paracetamol. u can't take ibuprofen for a while

i woke up from aneasthetic freezing cold + in a lot of pain. apparently most ppl dont need the full dose of morphine, but i did. after that it was a bit better. i was just So Goddamn Hungry literally it's all i was talking about

that night in hospital was probably one of the most uncomfortable in my life. you have to sleep sitting up for like blood reasons, so my back pain was quite bad bc of it. moving around a bit and adjusting pillows helped. if u have anything that normally helps ur back pain bring it with u to the hospital, & dont be afraid to ask the nurses for help with it (even if they can just adjust ur pillows for u). i couldnt rly sleep much but distraction helps. bring ur phone + headphones. i did a few ask memes when i couldnt sleep

the first week from surgery was rly tough, the first few days especially. this was bc i still had to sleep elevated for a few days and i couldnt get comfortable. i was too exhausted to do anything but couldn't sleep and it rly started to get me down. then i got some sleeping tablets (just nytol) and that helped so much. i literally cannot recommend it enough bc the not sleeping properly made everything hard (and like esp because with fibro the whole pain/fatigue/depression cycle is so real). once i started sleeping better recovery became a lot easier, and the tablets made the awkward sleeping positions more manageable. if i had to give only one bit of advice this would be it

on that note, ik everyone says this but do get a V pillow. it helps u adjust to sleeping on ur back and if u sleep on ur side normally it means u can like lean slightly sideways on it which makes it sm easier. also this isn't even top related but they make good back pillows when ur watching stuff in bed even now

get urself some video games (if ur into them) and easy entertainment shows lined up for when u wanna have them. recovering from major surgery makes ur fatigue even more pronounced so ur not going to be able to do all that much, but having light entertainment ready to go stops u getting as bored. its also a good excuse to finally play/watch the things you've been meaning to for a while

go outside when u can. if u have a garden just walk around it. it helps with a lot of stuff, and idk about u but i always forget how much it does. even just helping u sleep better if u get trapped in a fibro fatigued-but-can't-sleep cycle. and it goes so far helping u feel human in the first week

the first week is rly hard for a lot of ppl - its frustrating to have all that pain and exhaustion and not being able to wash or change the binder, and with the swelling and bandages under the binder it doesn't really feel like there's much change, which all sort of adds together. i keep going on about this week bc it helps to mentally prepare for it - there's no need to dread it, you just need to remind urself how worth it itll all be and that the rest of recovery is a lot better than the first part, and in time it won't have seemed that bad. big picture stuff

when u get the chest reveal, everything's better. i didnt stop smiling. and when u put the post op binder on afterwards, without all the bandaging, u like feel for the first time how much flatter u are??? and its amazing. even with the swelling. and then u get to shower and u feel human again and its great. (ik some ppl have their post ops/chest reveals much earlier than a week, but 5 days to a week is pretty standard in the uk. mine was 6 days i think)

more post op binder stuff: i got given 2. the first one i woke up in after the surgery and wasn't allowed to take off until my post op, and the second one i got given at my post op to change into after i showered. After that i alternated every few days. whatever u get given, if u get less than 2 i recommend getting another one so u can alternate them (if u want help sourcing them hmu. ive also still got mine i need to give away)

the post op binders were actually a lot easier to wear full time than normal binders. they were like more stretchy, and stretchy the full way round (bc they dont have the compression bit at the front). i used to sleep in my normal binder every time i slept with my ex, and that hurt like a motherfuck sometimes. the post op binder was much kinder to my ribs

i had to wear the post op binder full time, taking it off like once a day to shower n let my chest breathe (and massage my scars once i started that). some surgeons arent that strict abt wearing it that long, but it really helps swelling, & bc i didnt have drains it was rly important to stop fluid buildup. ik quite a few guys in my trans groups who stopped wearing their binder fairly early and then got quite a lot of swelling so i didn't want to risk it & i wore it for the full 6 weeks. at some point (icr when but maybe at 6 weeks? bc my post op was at 8 weeks bc he was on holiday) i didnt wear it during the day and only wore it at night

all in all the binder didnt bother me that much. it was more comfortable than my regular binders and i just kinda got on with it. it was annoying tho and i was glad when i could stop wearing it. for me the most annoying part was that it was a full length binder (i always wore half length before) and the riding up at the hips was rly irritating. i actually quite liked sleeping with it tho it was a pretty nice pressure stim ahah

some post op binders r more comfortable than others. if u have to buy ur own, i rly suggest going with a proper surgical one (they arent too hard to find second hand for free or cheap, again im happy to help here) bc they're kinder to chronic pain. i know that having a comfortable post op binder made it all a lot easier for me. there are also lots of alternatives w lots of price ranges tho, so that's not ur only option

ok i think thats everything right now! sorry its so long, but let me know if u have any questions!!

finally: before i got top ppl told me that its honestly life changing, and i didnt realise how true that would be. literally every single aspect of my life is at least partially better because of it, and most of them drastically so. I'm really excited for you to get that for yourself, and im wishing u all the best for it 💕

[studylizziee]

Starting University

Having started uni last year, I can really relate to the anxieties/fears that people have towards the start of September. So I decided to make this post which is a compilation of tips and advice I’ve accumulated over my first year of university. I hope it’s helpful :)

What to bring

it’s a difficult thing to strike the right balance between bringing too much and too little, but my advice is to err on the side of too little, as you can always buy things you’ve missed once you arrive (the only exception imo being decorations for your room from home)

a doorstop is a must! when you’re moving in my literal number 1 tip is to have your door propped open virtually at all times - it makes such a difference because then people will just stop to have a chat, or wave and say hi as they go past, and it just sends a friendly vibe

things that will personalise your room and make it feel like your space. This was one of the biggest things that combated my homesickness, because I created a sort of safe space for myself. So for me this was cosy lighting with lots of lamps (I brought 2 in addition to the one my uni provided) and fairy lights, posters on the walls, books on the shelf, pictures of my friends, cushions and blankets, and lots of cute mugs 

in that vein, get some command strip hooks that you can stick onto the wall - I used small ones to put my fairy lights up and larger ones to hang my jackets on 

for posters and pictures for the wall, I used blu tack

keep the storage boxes that you use to move all your stuff in with (I put shoes in one, misc stuff in another), and drawer dividers are a really handy buy too (I used them to separate my underwear)

don’t forget important documents/ID like your passport and driving license. There’s usually quite a lot of admin when you first arrive so it’s important to have these kept safely with you

if you drink, bring some alcohol and a mixer you like for pres

a bumbag for nights out is pretty essential - it’ll keep your phone, ID, keys and money safe, as they’re difficult to steal from and far more secure than your pockets!

make sure you have a medicines bag stocked with paracetamol, plasters, antiseptic cream etc, because the last thing you want when you feel sick for the first time at uni is to have to go out and buy medicines

I brought earplugs because I like quiet when I’m trying to fall asleep, and halls of residence are not exactly known for that.. also, walls are thin

there are nowhere near enough coat hangers provided, so bring some from home

I also 100% recommend taking a bike to uni! I cycle everywhere around campus because it’s faster and good exercise, and I also sometimes cycle into town rather than getting the bus (& if you bring a bike, bring a helmet, front and back bike lights, and a D-lock! They’re worth investing in I promise)

lastly, I recommend that the first thing you do when moving in is to do a big food shop! I arrived on a Friday night and planned for my parents to take me food shopping on the Saturday, but I forgot I needed something to eat for dinner on Friday and ended up having a freebie pot noodle that was in my room...

What not to bring

shared items like a kettle, toaster, toastie maker, blender etc (until you’ve communicated with your flatmates)

before I came to uni, in august I think, a few of my flatmates and I made a group chat on facebook (unis normally make a fb page with your halls of residence and you can find your flatmates from there), and sorted out who’d bring shared items. It was really helpful because the last thing you want is 5 kettles taking up loads of space in the kitchen! 

if you’re not able to/don’t want to message your flatmates before arriving at uni, I still wouldn’t bring these items as you can buy them once you’re there if no one else has them (which is pretty unlikely)

a bin and desk chair - they’re provided

too many clothes/shoes: I know it feels like you’re going away for a really long time but try to think realistically about how many things you’ll actually wear. Instead focus on making sure you have lots of layers, and clothes for all weather possibilities

an iron - I literally never ironed once while at uni - and yes, that’s as a person whose course requires me to go on placements and look formal fairly regularly 

unless you’re an avid baker I wouldn’t bring baking equipment like scales/mixing bowl etc. I only had a measuring jug and a roasting tin, which was enough to make cookies ;)

Freshers

Ah, freshers. The most over-hyped week(s) in existence. As an introvert, it was an exhausting period of time for me. Although I had fun meeting people and at the events I went to, it left me drained, and I also felt pretty anxious a lot of the time, especially during the first week. To be honest, I didn’t enjoy the whole freshers experience because it was, frankly, pretty overwhelming. Just remember that freshers is not at all representative of the rest of your uni experience, and it’s okay if you don’t love it.

Meeting people/making friends

I was equally excited and nervous when I moved in, and I was particularly worried, as most people are, about making friends. The first thing to say is that everyone’s in the same boat. Everyone is anxious to be sociable and make friends, especially during freshers, so make the most of this time to start conversations and get chatting with people. Although don’t feel you need to make long-lasting friendships during freshers - often people find that their uni friends aren’t the people that they hung out with in freshers.

Don’t feel pressured to go to loads of parties/nights out if it’s not your scene; there are other ways of meeting people, the biggest one being societies. My biggest regret from first year is that I didn’t try enough societies - I did choir and went to one netball training session (rip) because I thought I didn’t have time for anything else. I wish I’d taken up more opportunities and tried more things, because it’s such a great way of meeting like-minded people (and people from other courses)! 

When to leave your parents

This is a difficult one, and I know this was one of the things causing me the most anxiety. I’d read somewhere that you should just say bye to your parents when they drop you off and get on with it, because you have to grow up now. The truth is, everyone is different and needs a different amount of time in order to say goodbye. For me, my parents helped me move in on the Friday, and stayed the night at a hotel while I went on my first night of freshers, a pub crawl. The next day they helped me with my food shop/buying other things I needed before they left in the afternoon. I know both people who spent the whole first weekend with their parents, not coming to any freshers events, and people who said goodbye the minute they walked into their flat. Neither choice is right or wrong - just think about what’s best for you. I knew I needed a bit more time but simultaneously wanted to be part of the big first night, and I found a happy compromise for me.

Dealing with homesickness

I was really homesick for, I’d say, the first 2 weeks. One of my big mistakes was that my dad came up a week after I’d moved in to bring my bike (don’t regret that bit, my bike is great), and it was actually more difficult saying bye that time around. It was wayy too soon. My advice is:

give it a bit of time before you see your family

facetime/call home regularly to start off with, and over time it will naturally become less often. For the first week, I facetimed my parents every night, and after that it was every 2-3 days, and by the end it was every one or two weeks

get busy! the absolute worst thing you can do is isolate yourself in your room doing nothing, because it gives you too much time to overthink. Especially for the first few weeks, keep yourself busy and take advantage of all the events on offer

Things to make sure you do during the first week or so:

Even though freshers is super busy, it’s important to make time to do some bits of admin

Register at your university’s GP/health centre

Find out where the student support service is/the telephone number you can reach them on

Get a phone number for maintenance of halls because you never know when something might go wrong (on literally my first night the shower didn’t work)

Find the library, cheapest food shop, launderette, and explore campus

The academic jump

The jump from school to university can be quite a considerable one. It’s not only harder content, but also a different way of learning from what you’re used to in school, with much more reliance on independent study. Don’t worry too much about the first term, because that tends to be a sort of re-cap where they bring everyone onto the same page. Use that time when the content is not as difficult to 1) have fun and do lots of non-academic things, and 2) attempt to develop your style of learning. People underestimate sometimes the fact that you have to learn how to learn. So try different things and see what works for you, so that by the time you start the ‘real work’ you’ll be a bit more prepared. Tips:

have a system - by second term I decided that my system was to make a summary, somewhat condensed document of notes for each week, which I filed in folders for each module. This works for my course, but what the system is doesn’t matter - the most important thing is to have a tangible goal of independent work (usually notes) that you want to achieve 

keep on top of things - I was sooo bad at this in first year, and have resolved to change things next year... I would do my set work for the week, but I didn’t do my weekly summary notes until the end of term and it was a mad rush. It would have saved me so much pain to do it as I went along

pay attention to feedback and learn from your mistakes

lecturers are an amazing resource and they love their subject, so if you have a question ask them! (either in person after a lecture/seminar or if that’s too much send an email)

make friends with your coursemates - you’re all in it together and it’s amazing how much you can learn from each other

BACK YOUR WORK UP! it doesn’t matter if it’s an external hard drive, dropbox or google drive as long as it’s somewhere! 

Cooking/Food

bring recipes or a cookbook - these are pretty essential for when you’ve run out of ideas (or if you haven’t done much cooking before!). My friend got me ‘The Hungry Student Vegetarian Cookbook’ which was great, as is ‘The Green Roasting Tin’. I especially loved the concept of the latter because it’s so simple - put everything in a roasting tin and bang it in the oven

cook in bulk! this is my number 1 tip. Put whatever you don’t eat in tupperware containers and freeze it - then, as my flatmate said, you have prepared your very own ready meals

most people have heard of the ‘fresher five’ (5kg put on in first year), but this can so be avoided by making sure you have your 5 a day, not having takeaways too often, and not overdoing it with alcohol

as I said, don’t get takeaways too often - it’s tempting, I know, but they’re mega expensive so you’re better off saving it either for when they’ve got a really good deal on, or as a special treat

consider eating less meat - any meat of a good quality is far more expensive than vegetables are! I’m vegetarian and slowly becoming more plant-based as I cut out dairy, and among its other benefits it’s so much cheaper

making meal plans can be really useful - you don’t have to have an elaborate chart, but when you do your weekly food shop, plan what you’re going to eat during the week. This also helps reduce your food waste

freeze your bread! I got this tip from @muststudy, who has a great post on cooking tips linked below, but this is such a good idea to stop your loaf going mouldy before you can eat it

cook with your flatmates/friends - around dinnertime was by far the most social time in my flat, as we all congregated in the kitchen to cook and have a chat. If you have similar tastes to a flatmate, consider shared cooking! My friend and I virtually took it in turns to cook for each other, or we’d cook a shared meal together, and it made what can become a chore a fun thing to do

General

There can be a pressure for uni to be ‘the best years of your life’, and to be having a great time 24/7. It might be like that for you, but don’t worry if it’s not - it’s perfectly normal to feel sad or lonely at times. I definitely did. If you feel that way, reach out to people and don’t keep things bottled up. Try to make the most of opportunities, and enjoy this exciting and novel period of time in your life :)

Useful posts / websites:

Budgeting: how to manage your money at university by The Complete University Guide

Cooking: essential cooking tips for uni students by @muststudy 

tips for starting university by @quilavastudy 

tips for freshers week by @dxmedstudent 

What to bring to university checklists: one, two, three 

[spncontips]

A HANDY DANDY CONVENTION CHECKLIST!

Prepping for a convention? Here’s a check list to help you get organised for your trip!

TICKETS Make sure you remember to print out all your tickets! That’s your PDFs/receipts for your convention ticket, photo ops and autographs, plus meet and greet invoice if you’re doing one. Hotels have printers of course, but it’s easier to have them ready to go, rather than trying to find somewhere to print them out while at the convention – because you’ll be busy!

EXTRA TIP FOR HARD TICKETS - CREATION SPECIFIC Some people put the hard tickets (bought at the con, or via PDF ticket exchange) in the back of their lanyard - they can fall out! Be aware of them at all times, or find a safter place for them! You can jot your name and seat number on the back, so if you do drop them and someone finds them, they can find you, or turn them into Creation who can find you. (Fingers crossed if you lose a ticket, someone honest finds them!)

ELECTRONICS Camera – with spare batteries and memory card and associated cords. Phone Laptop/iPad/iPod All your chargers! All your charger cables!

It’s also great to bring an extra battery pack for your phone, because there usually isn’t anywhere to quickly charge your phone without going back to your room, so if you have a pre-charged battery backup with you that can help keep in touch!

If you do forget something, you always have fan backup – someone will lend you that charging cable that mysteriously got left behind!

PENS A pen – for filling out reupping forms – and for writing down your email or twitter for new friends! Highlighter pens – for highlighting the schedule Coloured Sharpie – if you don’t want black or silver for your auto, bring your own coloured Sharpie pen!

PAPER Always bring some kind of notebook – just in case you want to jot down notes from a panel, or something someone told you, names, emails, twitter handles (as Jensen calls them) etc!

SOMETHING TO PUT YOUR PHOTO OPS IN You need something to put your photo ops in so they don’t bend and get ruined! You can buy great hard sleeves in the vendor’s room, but I find that sometimes the photos can get stuck in them! So be careful of that! A document display folder with plastic inserts, or a ring-binder with plastic inserts is great. Or just a hard plastic document envelope. The photos printed out at the con are 10x8, so anything that fits A4 or larger works.

WHATEVER YOU’RE GOING TO GET AUTOGRAPHED If you have something specific that you’re getting signed, don’t forget to pack it! The Vendors room has photos and books and some other items that can be used for autos if you don’t have something specific.

SNACKS AND WATER Soooooo important! Many of the convention hotels/convention centres don’t have much (or any) food available, or you have to go out to get food (and did I mention how busy you’ll be?), or it’s super expensive. So pack your own. If you’re travelling and can’t pack a sandwich or anything, even if it’s just some fruit or nibblies to take into the convention auditorium, that will help to keep your energy up.

The days are long, you might not get much sleep, you might be drinking more alcohol than usual, the hotels and convention centres are heavily air-conditioned, so it’s also super important to stay hydrated. If you can pickup a bulk pack of water at Target or a supermarket or something, that’s going to save you money and you’ll have water in your room and to take to panels! Seriously, snacks and water. Get on that!

*CREATION CON SPECIFIC - There is also a large water dispenser with cups inside the auditorium. You can use that water throughout the day, and you can also fill up your own water bottle from the supplied water dispensers to save more money. 

HANDOUTS - Twitter/Tumblr/email Print out your Twitter @  or/Tumblr/email addy on little pieces of paper that you can hand out to your new fandom friends who want to be able to follow or contact you. You can make them simple, or into cool little business cards!

EXTRA MONEY – BUT BUDGET! Um. Cons are expensive. Outside of the costs of hotel accommodation and all your tickets that you’ve already paid for, you’ll also have to buy food and drinks (unless you packed them as per the awesome tip above!) The Vendor’s room or vendor’s areas at a con has cool stuff, t-shirts, books, stickers, mugs, glasses, posters, standees, all sorts of jewellery, and various other goodies that you might want. There may even be a guest that you didn’t get an op with, but when you see their panel, you feel you absolutely must hug the living hell out of them, (oh believe me, it happens!), so you just have to get another op! So take a little extra money, just in case. But budget…because it’s real easy to get swept up into the con craziness and want all the things and all the ops (speaking from experience), so make sure you set yourself a budget!

Make sure you have ID on you too, in case that is needed for credit card purchases!

YOUR OUTFITS Okay, I know, d’uh, you’re going to pack clothes! But if you’ve decided on a specific outfit, whether something pretty or something cosplay, make sure you have all the necessary bits! I always plan what I’m wearing for each day ahead of time. That way I don’t have to pack loads of options and I don’t have to think about it at the con. Some days (especially Saturday and Sunday) can start quite early, and the last thing you’re going to want to do is be trying on outfits like crazy. 1. You won’t have time. 2. You don’t want to increase your stress! So pre-plan your outfits and pack all the elements you decide on to make them perfect.

And bring something warm to take into the panels - it can be chilly in the auditorium!

CREATION SPECIFIC - CASH FOR CHRIS – the Creation photographer If you are buying JPEGS of your photo-ops you will need $US to give to Chris the photographer. Each photo op you have, comes with 1 10x8 print – but only 1. You can purchase JPEGS of each photo for $10 per JPEG. There is a number on the photo – you give that number to Chris or his offsiders. Each photo’s JPEG you purchase costs $10 and you must have cash for that. So when you know what photo-ops you’re getting, figure out before hand which you may need (if there’s more than one of you in the photo) or want a JPEG of and ensure you have enough $US on you. If you are at a Canadian con – you can use Canadian dollars but as Chris is from the US, US dollars are better for him. The JPEGS are super high quality, large files, which can be printed to LARGE canvas size if you want (speaking from experience).

NOTE - Chris supplies the JPEGS via an email link to Google Drive. Expect to get them within about a week or two after the con depending upon Chris’ other con and family commitments. Be patient - he will get them to you!

If you don’t have the cash at hand to buy the JPEGS at the convention, you can still buy them after the con. Go to the Creation website and follow the link and you’ll be able to contact Chris via there. See info below!

TISSUES/VITAMINS/PAIN KILLERS ETC. There’s lots of aircon in the hotels/convention areas and you may get a running nose – you don’t want to be snuffly or snotty – pack tissues. Eyedrops – for the same reason, the aircon may dry your eyes out and make them sore and red. It’s also not a bad idea to pack some Vitamin B or C to keep your energy up and immune system working. Pack some Paracetamol or/and Ibuprfen in case of headache or backache or hangover! I always take hay fever medication with me – I never know if something is going to affect me in a place I’m not used to (Vancon for example, gives me hives…WHY I DO NOT KNOW!). I also bring cough/cold medication. I have got super sick at cons! It sounds like a lot, but seriously, I have got sooo sick and having stuff on hand has been a life saver. I also always travel with Bepanthen because I get tatts when I travel :D Also don’t forget extra contact lenses if you need them, and pack band aids (especially if you have new shoes.)

And remember, you are going to be somewhere where you can buy things, so don’t overpack. If you forget toiletries or need something, you will be able to buy at the con. Most cons are held in a hotel, all of which have some form of shop for emergencies - fangirls are also a great back up. 

BREATHMINTS/GUM You’re going to want to pop a mint before you go into a photo op! You’re about to get up close and personal with Jensen Ackles, and you don’t want to breathe coffee breath all over him! Pack mints.

PERFUME/MINI DEODERANT For the same reason as the mints. You’re about to hug the crap outta Misha Collins – you don’t want “been sitting for 6 hours in the same shirt” smell as you squish into him!

LITTLE PURSE MIRROR Perfect for checking your lippy, hair, making sure you don’t have kale in your teeth – as you wait in line for your photo op. Don’t worry, EVERYONE is doing it!

HAND SANITISER. OMG YESSSS! Con crud is a thing. Protect yourself at all costs! Santitise like your health depends on it! IT DOES!

BAGS I get asked about bags a lot - what bag can you take to a convention. For Creation, at this stage there is no restriction on the bag you bring into a panel, however the bag must easily fit under your chair or the chair in front of you. You can not keep bags in aisles or anywhere they may be an obstruction or a saftey issue. 

For Karaoke - it is requested that you do not bring a bag of any kind. So only bring a bag if it is vital - ie if you require a bag for medication, ensure you let the people manning the door know.

If you have a camera, and do not need that bag - bring it without. 

For the Saturday Night Special Concert - once again, avoid bringing a bag. If you do bring a bag for the concert, it must be small purse size, or a camera bag.

Note: there is security and all bags will be checked so DO NOT BRING A BAG to Karaoke or the concert.

ALCOHOL Creation do not allow alcohol at their events, there is no alcohol permitted at Karaoke or the Saturday night concert, or in panels. (There wasn’t even alcohol allowed at the Hawai’i con luau dinner! Seriously.)

That’s it for now! But I’ll keep adding more as more tips come up!

-sweetondean

[gaiatheorist]

“Legal Highs.”

It’s in quotation marks for a reason, the correct terminology is ‘New Psychoactive Substance’, but nobody wants to say, or type that every time. It will be a couple of years since I was ‘trained’ on how to spot a user, and what to do if things went wrong. The training essentially went “They could present with a number of indicators.” and “Phone an ambulance.”

Various agencies involved in the attempt at shepherding adolescents to adulthood without having to submit evidence to Serious Case Reviews sat around a table, and were essentially asked to pick up rubbish. Nothing new there, with cuts to services and agencies, there was always something else being side-shoved into our roles. The police needed us to pick up the sachets that the NPS were sold in, to provide an evidence base, so many different ‘legal’ products, capable of killing people, and, because they were ‘new’, the authorities didn’t really know what they were looking at. The intention was for ‘us’ to provide the packaging, so the powers-that-be could work out the chemical composition, and likely circulation  of the products, with a view to working around the ‘legal’ issue. (There’s an eye-roll at handing a bag of sweets to a police officer, and the time a bag of laxatives had to be locked away, because the officer was off-shift until after the weekend. Oh, and the time a colleague brought me a single strong mint from Aldi that they’d found on the floor.)

The boring ‘legal’ bit is that all of the products were marked ‘not for consumption’, so, at the time, before various chemical compounds were identified, corner shops, ‘head shops’ and various internet sites weren’t breaking any laws by selling the ‘room fragrance’, or however else the manufacturers got around the loophole. It’s ‘Spice’ that’s in the news in Manchester, and ‘Black Mamba’ that I seem to recall being a contributing factor to a death somewhere else. The names don’t matter, because as soon as authorities and agencies are alerted to one ‘name’, the street-name will change, ‘Spice’ is generic terminology for synthetic cannabis now, rather than being a pivotal theme in the ‘Dune’ books. 

The ‘psychoactive’ bit (Which one of my old managers had to be corrected not to say ‘psychotic’ on, although psychotic episodes can be one of the outcomes...) that’s a minefield in itself, and, although I am not, and never have been a cannabis user, I’m sitting on the ‘natural’ side of the fence on this. Personally, with my belief-system, I go with the holistic-natural wherever I can (We’ll brush over the paracetamol, ibuprofen, and codeine until later.), my son the chemist, is so big, and so healthy because he’s the child of a Witch, he’s been to the GP about 3 times in his entire life, and one of those visits was to have an ID form signed. Synthetic cannibanoids. There’s perfectly good cannabis out there, and people are smoking air-freshener. I’ll leave out my side-rant about willow bark and aspirin, about science having created cures and vaccines, but also, generations later having decided “Oh, you know that thing we said would cure you, well, turns out it actually increases your risk of something else.”

The ‘psychoactive’ elements of the NPS are untested and unregulated, because the products aren’t sold ‘for consumption’. The initial idea was for the powers-that-be to identify the psychoactive compounds, and ban them, but all the manufacturers do is subtly alter the compound. I don’t get it, but adding or removing a carbon or hydrogen or whatever, changes ‘this’ into ‘that’, until ‘that’ is banned, and another tweak changes it into something else. The evidence-of-harm is collected from A&E admissions, prison doctors, and mortuaries. The current catch-up race is addressing the symptom, not the cause.

The cause will be whatever ‘gap’ there is in the person’s life that causes them, in this case, to choose the opt-out of smoking air freshener. When I first moved to this village it was Special Brew, with the closure of the coal mine that kept so many young men occupied, it morphed into heroin. There were bad batches of heroin, but that sub-culture morphed out into crack, looping back around to alcohol again, before the experimentation with Ketamine and such spread out into ‘other’ substances. There’s always something else to move onto, addiction is an itch that demands to be scratched, no matter what the cost. My addiction is alcohol, I’m not at the gin-for-breakfast stage, but I am aware that I buy wine from different shops on different days, and occasionally hide the bottles. Just as well I have terrible veins, I’d make an awful smack-head, and my very limited experience of cannabis proved it wasn’t for me.

I opt-out with wine because drinking is preferable to thinking sometimes. My ‘historical and complicating factors’ catalogue is long, and boring, but I fit the standard profile for a person predisposed to addiction. I have enough self-control to stick to alcohol, but I understand the need to opt-out. There were conversations, decades ago, about how the heroin-haze sounded so poetically-perfect, so removed from all of this ‘life’ shit we all have to wade through. You reach a tolerance, though, and the altered-state becomes harder and harder to achieve, a more expensive and dangerous opt-out than my wine, the ‘worst’ outcome for me would be falling down stairs, or putting something contentious on Fakebook. I’m still at the ‘comfortably numb’ level, although I freely admit it’s an addiction.

The ‘Spice zombies’ will have reasons of their own, addiction isn’t a one-size-fits-all, and, whatever escape mechanism any of us choose, it’s what we want-to-escape that’s the issue, not the substance we choose to destroy ourselves with. My addiction is in the borderline-socially-acceptable category, it’s middle-class pretentious to have a nice glass of wine with dinner, the problem creeps in when there’s more month than money, and it’s cheap, nasty wine, or horrible tramp-cider. My addiction is taxable, wine contains anti-oxidants and such, I’m ‘functional’ at a superficial level. (Whoa, battered-wife-syndrome, excusing the abuser...)

This fragmented society, where Youth Workers and Educational Support Staff are asked to litter-pick to provide the evidence-base is a big part of the issue, it’s working backwards, reactive fire-fighting, rather than preventative work on protective behaviours that could limit the damage of the addictive traits. For every Spice Zombie thrown in an ambulance, or a police cell, there will be countless others un-noticed, and the loop-cycle of filling gaps, or attempting to self-medicate untreated Mental Health issues continues. That’s one hell of a loop, that the Spice-type substances can cause psychotic breaks, and the person is then shamed as an addict, rather than treated for the issues that caused the opt-out in the first place. 

I have more questions than answers on this, the answer is to address the gaps, the ‘needs’ that drive people into unsafe opt-outs, whether they’re social-environmental, or good old-fashioned Mental Health, or a combination of both. The questions? Who does that, and how? Support services are being stripped bare, and those left are overloaded to the point of ineffectiveness, the people that want to help burn out, and the box-tickers are the only ones left standing.