Roar!

SPECIAL: THE BIG MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE

ROAR! November 2013 King’s College London roarnews.co.uk

EXCLUSIVE: RORY BREMNER talks about his ADHD

THE BIG

MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE

Roar! responds to The Sun by starting positive, clear and open discussion of KCL’s silent epidemic Page 8: Anorexia sufferer’s first-hand account

BY BEN WILSON SUICIDAL thoughts are experienced by 13% of students during their time at university, a recently published National Union of Students’ (NUS) Mental Distress Survey revealed.

Commissioned in May 2013, the study paints a worrying picture for the welfare of students throughout the country.

Of those who claimed to have experienced suicidal thoughts, 11% stated that they experienced them all the time.

Meanwhile, 40% of students had experienced a feeling of hopelessness

or worthlessness during their time at university.

Furthermore, the demand for student counselling has also increased by 33% in the past four years, while student suicide rates in the same time frame have doubled, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Within the NUS report, the four most common ‘triggers’ in bringing on mental distress were all academia related, with course workload deadlines cited as a cause for 65% of respondents, exams (including revision) for 54%, while balancing study with other commitments and worry over grades and academic performance both rested at 52%.

SEE PAGE 5

INCLUDING: KCLSU PRESIDENT ON WELFARE CHANGES & THE SCIENCE OF MENTAL ILLNESS

2 ROAR!

THE REALITY OF DEPRESSION AT KING’S

BY ANONYMOUS

EVERY time a rush of uncontrollable sadness came over me, I felt as if I were standing naked in front of everyone.

I was constantly living with that feeling of guilty embarrassment you get the morning after the night before.

I felt like everybody knew and I felt like everybody was judging.

It was a dichotomy of me versus them, the insane versus the sane, the weak versus the strong and I was losing every battle.

I couldn’t concentrate.

People were talking and I simply couldn’t listen.

University had promised to be the ‘best time of my life’, I was guaranteed to have lots of friends

and money worries were something that we would laugh about over a drink.

With ‘student’ being used as a prefix for nearly everything; student loan, student night life, student holidays to name a few, it’s not hard to see where I went wrong.

I was supposed to be that funloving party-goer with the perfect balance between work and play.

The reality of student life can be very different.

The figures for depression amongst students are alarmingly high yet it’s something that is very rarely talked about.

If you’ve ever felt nauseous waiting for your bank balance to load, stressed about having nobody to live with or struggled to keep up in lectures then I’m sure you’ll understand.

These are just some of the main suspects causing the high rates of depression among students, with others including sleep deprivation, poor eating habits, relationship worries, alcohol, drugs and the uncertain job prospects which await post-graduation.

The reality of university was the complete opposite of my expectations. Following the death of a close relative, a relationship break up and a swift change of degree I found myself feeling lost by only the third week in.

Freshers’ had come and gone and I was already pining to go home.

I missed the warmth and familiarity of my friends and family.

I was questioning whether anyone liked me and over-analysing everyone’s behaviour.

The over-thinking amounted to an unbearable level and before I knew it I was at Victoria station waiting for a coach home.

Frequently misunderstood itself, depression can be a dangerous concoction of sadness, guilt, hopelessness, frustration, embarrassment and self-loathing, and it’s undeniable that it can make you feel like the loneliest person in the world at times.

But one of the most important things to remember is to make sure you have at least one person that you feel comfortable confiding in.

While in this case a problem shared might not equate to a problem solved, it’s definitely something which has helped me the most.

Unfortunately the treatment and the route to recovery can be a slow and laborious one, but the most

important thing is that you mustn’t give up.

As depression is such a complex illness it calls for a diverse range of treatments, so it may take a while to find the one which is most suited to you.

Being a student in London can occasionally be daunting for anybody, but fortunately you don’t need to go far to ask for help.

King’s counsellors are located on each campus offering both counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and the NHS centre at King’s has been incredibly attentive and understanding to my condition.

After psychiatric counselling, psychological counselling and systematic desensitisation, I’ve finally found the treatment which works best for me. And it was definitely worth the wait. •

The ‘AT RISK YET DISMISSED’ report SEE A COUNSELLOR IF YOU WISH TO SEE A KING’S COUNSELLOR, USE THE ONLINE APPLICATION FORM HERE: bit.ly/16LSE7C OR FOLLOW THE LINKS FROM KING’S WEBSITE TO THE COUNSELLING SERVICE WEBPAGES. OF SUFFERERS OF SERIOUS MEN- OF SMI SUFFERERS WERE VICTIM OF FEMALE RESPONDENTS REPORTED BEING A VICTIM OF TAL ILLNESS (SMI) WERE VICTIMS TO VIOLENT ASSAULT RAPE OR ATTEMPTED RAPE DUROF CRIME OVER THE PAST YEAR ING ADULTHOOD

FOR MORE INFORMATION, EMAIL:

COUNSELLING@KCL.AC.UK

THE FULL REPORT CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE: bit.ly/1aIMRmq

SEE PAGES 4-5 FOR MORE

DUAL DIAGNOSIS: THE BIG ISSUE

BY GUY CHANDLER

THERE are a growing number of individuals within the UK who are simultaneously suffering from mental health problems and drug or alcohol misuse according to DrugScope, the UK’s leading independent centre of expertise on drug use.

This concurrence of mental health issues and drug misuse is known as dual diagnosis, and with the seriousness of the condition gaining more recognition in the medical world, I discussed the topic with Jenny Smith*, an

Outreach Worker based in Greater London.

As an Assertive Outreach Worker, Jenny works closely with five to six dually diagnosed men.

She takes them to medical appointments, attempts to secure medication for their often undiagnosed and untreated mental health disorders, and helps them to engage with drug and alcohol support services.

Because the dually diagnosed are suffering from two sets of problems, pre-existing mental health issues are often exacerbated by drug misuse and extensive drug use is often facilitated by poor mental health.

Many are single, childless, middle-aged men, making it difficult for them to engage with support

services because they are of lower priority than children and single mothers.

In turn, this makes it extremely difficult for them to secure employment, and as such, they are often homeless and become “entrenched”, meaning they permanently accept homelessness as their lifestyle.

Jenny related to me the difficulties she has faced in trying to secure medication for the men she works with.

The various drug and alcohol services say the men are suffering from mental health issues and must be assessed before they can receive help, but the mental services say the men’s problems stem from drug and alcohol misuse.

This places many dually diag-

nosed in a horrible limbo where medication is reserved for those who suffer from less complex, more easily defined conditions.

Compounding the issue of categorising the dually diagnosed is the fact that the term ‘dual diagnosis’ is not without fault.

The term includes a huge number of people under its umbrella, precluding an accurate description of their individual problems.

While some might suffer from mild schizophrenia and severe drug misuse, others might suffer from myriad severe mental health problems and mild alcohol misuse.

The multitude of posible mental health problems faced by the dually diagnosed, combined with

the many effects that drugs have on these conditions, produces innumerable needs that require differing forms of medication and counselling.

With mental health assessments and subsequently medication being so difficult to obtain for the dually diagnosed (Jenny told me she has only been able to secure an assessment for one of the men in the past five months), many are left untreated and remain living on streets throughout the UK. • *Due to the sensitive and confidential nature of the piece, the name of the Outreach Worker has been changed.

ROAR!

The intelligent student tabloid King’s College London November 2013 With thanks to Dulcie Lee, Robbie Hirst and Ben Wilson

EDITOR Ben Jackson editor@roarnews.co.uk DEPUTY EDITOR (PRINT) Dulcie Lee DEPUTY EDITOR (ONLINE) Megan Hector DEPUTY EDITOR (OPERATIONS) Robbie Hirst

Our student of the month is

CHIARA CATTERWELL

CHIARA Catterwell is a coordinator of the MSA Peer Support scheme at King’s School of Medicine.

The scheme is run by students, for students, and provides confidential support for those in need.

Chiara is an advocate for Nightline, the student phone support charity.

Nightline volunteers are all current students, trained to listen with empathy and acceptance.

Chiara says, “At the moment, Nightline is not funded by KCLSU, and this means

pagem3

Showcasing the students who have made the greatest contribution to life at King’s in the past month.

If you know someone who deserves to be featured, email: editor@roarnews.co.uk

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

WEBMASTERS Ammaar Reshi Anna Huckerby online@roarnews.co.uk DESIGN EDITOR Steph Fairbairn NEWS EDITORS James Thorpe Ben Wilson news@roarnews.co.uk COMMENT EDITORS Henry Cross Madhav Bakshi comment@roarnews.co.uk FEATURES EDITORS Yasmyne Kricha Laura Jessop features@roarnews.co.uk CAREERS EDITOR Juliana Ruseva careers@roarnews.co.uk POLITICS EDITORS Michael Di Benedetto Nida Ali politics@roarnews.co.uk SCIENCE EDITORS Durr-e-Maknoon Tariq Vanessa Megaro science@roarnews.co.uk SPORTS EDITORS James Monaghan Tobias Bruce-Jones If you want to write for Roar! then email the relevant section editor with a story pitch or any other questions.

If you have a complaint about the editorial content in this newspaper, which directly affects you, then email KCLSU with your complaint: studentmedia@kclsu.org

that Nightline cannot publicise the incredible work they do through KCLSU and increase KCL student awareness of the service - and its volunteering opportunities!”

Nightline currently operates at 90 British universities, including Durham, Oxford and St Andrews.

Trained student volunteers offer support in person, on the phone and online.

The service is available outside of term time, making it a vital source of support for students.

See page 5 for more on Nightline. •

BY BEN JACKSON LAST month, The Sun ran the headline, “1,200 killed by mental patients”, provoking society-wide outrage.

And quite rightly so.

The tabloid later printed an understated clarification: “The Sun recognises that the vast majority of people with mental health problems pose no threat to anybody and are much more likely to take their own life or self-harm than be a risk to others.”

In the 21st century, society still stigmatises mental health problems.

This big mental health issue is our

collective response.

Roar! has produced this issue to raise awareness, debunk myths and harmful perceptions, and ask, is the College providing enough mental health support?

Our aim is to bring these neglected ideas to the forefront of the College’s and KCLSU’s consciousness.

And vitally, we will be providing information on the avenues of support available to you and your friends at King’s.

We believe these support mechanisms are under-publicised, underfunded and under-valued by the College.

10p per student The College Counselling Service’s workload is increasing year on year as more students are seeking help with mental health.

In 2008/9, six per cent of King’s students saw a College counsellor.

Just two years later, those numbers rose to 7.5 per cent.

The traffic on the Counselling Service’s website has continued to increase over the years.

Within the month, Student Council is tabling a motion to pressure KCLSU to pay its expected contribution to phone support charity Nightline.

Positive discussion The charity is run by students, for students at 90 British universities.

But King’s isn’t one of them.

KCLSU needs to start paying 10p per student to ensure we get the support we need.

At the core of society’s problem with mental illness is misunderstanding.

What do you think when you hear the term ‘mental illness’?

If your mind conjures up images of odd, reclusive behaviour or people

seeking attention, this issue is for you.

If you think treating depression is less important than treating a broken leg, this issue is for you.

If you’ve dealt with mental health problems or experienced them in loved ones, this issue is for you.

This issue is about bringing everyone together, no matter what level of awareness, to have a positive, clear and open discussion about KCL’s very silent, but very treatable, epidemic. •

tweets @ roar_news @HeatherTomli

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@KCLSUmedia Using Photoshop for first time since editing @Roar_ News about 14 years ago. Forgotten how much I love it. #gettingcreative

Our first tweet, that’s a bit exciting isn’t it?

Where is everyone? @ Roar_News @kingsTVlondon @KCLRadio @ kclphotosoc? #studentmedia

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4 ROAR!

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Wellness Week ‘AT RISK YET DISMISSED’ STA THE Medical Students’ Association is hosting a lively week of information and support classes from November 18-22.

Events include a “coping with stress” workshop, a smoothie social and a breakfast club.

Although the week is primarily aimed at supporting medics, any King’s student can get involved.

Juliet Laycock, President of the MSA, said: “Welfare isn’t about just sitting down with a counsellor, it can take various

forms. For me it’s about getting some TLC, building community, and enjoying student life”.

Peer support drop-ins are scheduled to occur twice during the week. MSA Peer Support is a welfare service run by students, for students. Volunteers are trained to give confidential and friendly support throughout the academic year.

“If a KCL student needs advice, whoever they are, Peer Support will be there for them,” she added.

The full calendar of events can be found on the MSA’s Facebook page. •

SUFFERERS of mental illness in the UK are three times more likely to be the victims of crime than non-sufferers, often as a result of police negligence, a recent report co-authored at King’s College London has shown.

Written by academics at KCL, Kingston and St. George’s, University of London, with members of University College London collaborating, the ‘At risk yet dismissed’ report has provided shocking insight into how some of society’s most

vulnerable members are being failed by those who are supposed to protect them.

Created with the help of the charities Victim Support and Mind, the report claims 45% of sufferers of serious mental illness (SMI) were victims of crime over the past year, with 20% being the victim of violent assault.

SMI sufferers were also revealed as being five times more likely to be a victim of assault and three times more likely to be a victim of household crime than members of the general population, once socio-demographic differences had been taken into

account.

Of the female members of th tioned, 40% reported being a rape or attempted rape during while 10% had been a victim of sault in the past year.

Female sufferers of SMI found to be ten times more likel saulted than non-sufferers.

Of the female members of th tioned, 40% reported being a rape or attempted rape during while 10% had been a victim of sault in the past year. •

ROAR! 5

One in ten students has suicidal thoughts

ATS A LIFELINE IN NIGHTLINE

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AN issue of contention in recent years has been the College’s disaffiliation from Nightline – a support service available to call 24 hours a day, and which costs the College and KCLSU collectively just 36 pence per student.

Nightline is currently affiliated with 90 British universities.

Support can be given online, over the phone or during a dropin session.

Results from a YouthSight survey released by Nightline in September show that students who experience psychological distress prefer to talk to another student about their issues rather than a counsellor or personal tutor.

The survey, conducted in April, found that of those students who had sought support for things like depression and loneliness, nearly as many turned to another student (54%) as to

their family (60%).

In comparison, 1 in 4 accessed support from a university counsellor, while only 1 in 5 accessed support from their personal tutor.

Speaking to Roar!, Chiara Catterwell, the Welfare Officer for the KCL Medical Students’ Association, stated that “Although stigma around mental health is changing, many students still find it difficult to seek face-to-face help from the university when they are struggling.”

Catterwell, who is also a coordinator for the MSA’s Peer Support Scheme, went on to explain that “Unlike university and NHS counselling services which unfortunately can have long waitlists, Nightline has trained volunteers available any night of term.”

Nightline offers immediate, anonymous and confidential peer support to students who need someone to listen. •

CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE: Roar! spoke to Adam Roper, a student of mental healthcare nursing at King’s, who said: “I haven’t seen the services at King’s, but I have accessed counselling services at London Met before and found them incredibly beneficial in helping me find out more about myself whilst at university, which is a big time of change and development in your life.”

Although it is difficult to ascertain just how serious a problem it is at King’s, recent studies by PLOS Medicine show that depression is the second most common cause of disability worldwide.

Many of the causes of such mental health problems remain unclear, yet the NUS Mental Distress Survey goes some way to explaining the trend.

Almost 30% of students feel that accommodation or housing has contributed to feelings of mental distress, while a huge 47% regard financial difficulties as a contributing factor.

Fortunately, a forthcoming KCLSU Student Council meeting at the Strand Campus on 12 November will see student representatives attempt to address the financial concerns of students.

At the meeting, NUS Delegate Ben Woods and five other councillors will be aiming to bring about legislation that places King’s living bursaries on a par with those seen at LSE and UCL. The NUS report suggests that if students want to improve the mental health of their peers, they might be able to have a direct impact themselves.

16% stated that the insensitivity of fellow students contributed to feelings of mental distress, and 5% felt that bullying or harassment from fellow students contributed to these feelings.

Conversely, more students were likely to share their issues with friends than anyone else, even family members or their GP. It could then be the case that the everyday student is the key to solving what Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt referred to in a speech last month as a “problem of loneliness, that in our busy lives we have utterly failed to confront as a society.”

The NUS survey on mental health would suggest that university life does not buck the trend seen by the minister throughout society.

Paul Farmer, the Chief Executive of Mind (a charity that aspires to offer support and win respect for all those suffering from mental illness or distress) echoed Hunt’s sentiments.

Farmer stated in response to the survey that, “Higher education institutions need to ensure not just that services are in place to support mental wellbeing, but that they proactively create a culture of openness.”

He added: “Despite the high prevalence of mental health problems and stress among students, many people are not seeking help, perhaps because of the stigma that can surround mental health problems.”

Further campaigns highlighting mental health can be expected at a national level through the NUS, who have already hosted an event at the Royal College of Nursing emphasising the action they have taken.

This is likely to be coupled with a campaign at King’s on the issue, where many student groups have voiced interest in improving support networks.

One particular example of this is the Peer Support Scheme which was established by the King’s Medical Students’ Association (MSA).

According to Chiara Catterwell, Welfare Officer for the MSA, “Increasingly, students are accessing peer support schemes, and thus need for these services is growing on the ground, across all universities. Access to ‘official’ support services may seem intimidating, and distanced from the experience of many students.”

Peer support allows students to contact services not only tailored to them, but manned by those who often face the same challenges, and consequently can support in an informal, relaxed and open environment. •

6 ROAR! WI-FI SET TO IMPROVE KCL will invest an extra £4 million to improve Wi-Fi on campus.

Vice President for Representation and Communication of KCLSU Anthony Shaw said he was happy with the College’s pledge. “I’d like to thank all those students who filled in rant cards, attended user group meetings, sent emails and filled in surveys,” he said. The improvements will be made later this year.

BLURRED LINES BAN FLOUTED A University of London Union (ULU) club night flouted a ban on Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines, which was placed on it by the union in September.

The event organisers Frat Party UK later apologised.

The song, which critics say promotes rape culture, is the fastest selling digital song in history.

ULU IN POPPY DAY ROW The ULU Senate banned its members from attending Remembrance Sunday services in an official capacity.

Michael Chessum, President of ULU, told the Daily Telegraph: “Either attending or not attending official ceremonies is a political act.”

In a message to Chessum, MP Stella Creasy criticised the move.

She tweeted: “By banning ULU from being represented you send a message those on frontline less important than your personal showboating.”

ULU was involved in a similar debate last year when then President Daniel Cooper refused to place a wreath at the cenotaph.

£137K WILL GO TO TUTU’S KCL will use the £137,000 it has saved from ULU’s closure to revamp Tutu’s.

The College said it will consult with student societies and groups on what improvements will be made. In October’s issue, Roar! lobbied for the money to be invested directly into student services.

S T N E D HAVE U T S S ’ G N I K O TW

THEIR SAY ON MENTAL HEALTH

Emma Wyeth and Alicia Hooper tell YOU about the big mental health issue IN the past few years I have noticed a communal step towards educating the UK about mental health problems.

That is not to say the stigma is completely stamped out. I think that certain parts of our culture breed misunderstanding towards the issue.

As Londoners, our resistance to engage with anyone on the tube who isn’t reading the paper or avoiding eye contact is testimony to this.

We, as a society, are still not able to admit that mental health issues are terrifying for sufferers.

It’s confusing and paralysing to recognise that your thoughts are your enemy.

ALICIA HOOPER 2nd year English

A FEW years ago I volunteered with young adults who had a range of different mental illnesses.

Acceptance in society is necessary before sufferers can find the agency to seek help and ultimately accept themselves.

I hate to admit that I’m utterly unsurprised

by The Sun’s emotive and inaccurate headline on 7 October.

It was a shock tactic only used to sell papers and engender ignorance.

The writers harnessed ill-fitting statistics to peddle a fragile point.

To also unapologetically label sufferers as “broken people” is unacceptable.

The most disturbing thing is that it will deter undiagnosed victims from asking for help because of their fear of judgement. •

I had no experience working with people who had these handicaps but thought it would be explained to me by those who were regular carers at the youth hostel.

However, I was given no direction about the different problems people at the centre had and how to deal with them. Instead I was thrown in the deep end and had to do guesswork.

As I had no clue about the different characteristics certain mental illnesses had, I began to believe that one of the members was getting too friendly with me; he would very rarely leave me with any other people and always wanted to hold my hand.

I didn’t want this to come across as inappropriate and when I asked the carers about

EMMA WYETH 2nd year English

this, they simply said that it was fine as long as I wasn’t alone with him and failed to tell me about his problems.

His behaviour seemed strange to me and I decided to leave the volunteering, as I was unable to interact with the other members without him being with me and trying to get my attention.

A few weeks ago while in a psycholinguistics lecture our lecturer was describing a problem called Williams Syndrome, in which adults have a very low IQ but also have a high vocabulary and come across overly friendly and chatty.

This is believed to be the illness the man had, and if only this had been explained to me, I would have continued the volunteering and understood the illness a little bit more. •

Ella Cooper gives us her artistic take on mental health

8 ROAR! FASHION: SPECIAL FEATURE

I believed the voices.. I p bones.. It was an addicti

ANOREXIA ‘IF YOU CARRY ON YOU’LL DIE’ A brave 20-year-old university student, diagnosed with anorexia, shares her harrowing story

BY ANONYMOUS ONLY a third of anorexics fully recover. Fact.

It has been a year since I was diagnosed with anorexia. I went through the typical stages: denial, aggression and acceptance.

Admitting you have an eating disorder is the hardest thing to do.

You become unrecognisable, having to re-evaluate yourself: the person you were, the person you once wished to be and that which you have become.

Except, a life not governed by the thoughts that tell you you are despicably fat and need to lose weight seems unfathomable.

This had become my defining characteristic. Losing all interest in the things that made me, me. I became increasingly withdrawn.

Obsessed with the number on the scale, the numbers dancing in my head. I look in the mirror and see non-existant fat, I pinch away at every tiny bit of flesh left that lines my wasting muscles.

I spent so long telling myself I'm huge that I lost belief in everything else, it was the one 'truth' I had and held on to. The prospect of putting on weight was always my greatest fear.

I don't want to. I convince myself I do not need to.

That I am fine just the way I am.

That the bones are barely visible, that my hair isn't falling out that much, that the perpetual coldness I feel is just because it's winter.

Staying the same weight is challenge enough. Every decision is tarred with the thought that the tiniest piece of food will cause me to inflate.

Who do I believe, my loved ones telling me to stop, or that voice in my head that is finding triumph in not knowing what meals mean and celebrating the cries of my stomach?

After screaming at all those around you that you don't have an eating disorder, having convinced

yourself you are fine, there may come a time that you finally realise you are not.

Maybe it's your body that's no longer functioning the way it was, or, maybe you are finally beginning to believe the people that love and care for you most.

For me, it was a combination of the two. I had realised what I was doing was not healthy and it surely did not make me happy, but, it was an addiction. I didn't want to stop.

My body reacted.

I fell ill and I was rushed to A&E. I very clearly remember thinking, is this all worth it?

The truth is, despite being incredibly thin it still wasn't enough. For me or for others. I didn't feel attractive, I did not wish to flaunt my new figure.

Instead I lived in oversized

“

clothes and never bothered with make-up. I became a social recluse and hated myself even more than I had before. After my hospital visit I agreed to visit an eating disorder clinic.

They acted quickly and told me if I continued down this path I would die, and fast.

I tried to muster courage and despite diagnosis still spent a lengthy amount of time in denial. Eventually, I decided that a life without food wasn't a life worth living.

For, food is life - I needed it for survival and for the social.

Every celebration, gift, means of human expression and affection is centred upon food. It is the heart of my mother and of my home.

Every female will battle with her body, too fat, too skinny, too short, too tall.

When you become anorexic it's just fat, fat, fat all the time. It's exhausting and it's self destructive.

I wanted to change and I decided to believe the voice that told me that my health is far more important than

I WAS RUSHED TO A&E

”

Advisory: Som readers m e ay find th is article dis tressing.

being a size 6.

A year on and I still struggle.

I still have days that I end up over the toilet trying to vomit the box of biscuits I ate in 10 minutes.

I still have days when I skip meals altogether, days when I seek to exercise away the apple that I ate for a meal.

Restoring weight has been hard and honestly, there are days where I miss being considered overly skinny and pawing at my protruding bones. My mind plays games with me: you're fat, you're skinny, you're beautiful, you're disgusting. You're worthless, you're worthy.

In the end, it's about practising kindness- to myself. I am not a size 6 because my body does not function when I am.

Some fat on my body does not mean I am fat.

Every day is a roller coaster and I am yet to get off the ride.

When I do, I won't be that girl, the anorexic, but, the one third that beat the odds. •

ROAR! 9

pawed at my protruding ion.. This is the story of

A TORTURE Fashion has an eating disorder

BY LAUREN CLARK THERE are 1.6 million people in the UK battling an eating disorder.

A new study published in 2013

by King’s College London and the UCL Institute of Child Health stated that the number of people diagnosed with an eating disorder had risen by 15 per cent since 2000.

The leading UK eating disorders charity, Beat, estimates that 10 per cent of those diagnosed have Anorexia Nervosa.

This disease, the KCL study notes, is most prevalent in girls between the ages of 15 and 19.

These are statistics with no accompanying explanation or miraculous cure.

Anorexia is one of the most high profile of all mental health illnesses, let alone eating disorders.

A disease in which, according to an NHS definition, “someone tries to keep their weight as low as possible by starving” is a shocking real-

ity in a modern, first world society.

Why are cases of anorexia still so high? Who is responsible?

Anorexia can form, in addition to a distorted body perception, through stress, depression and biological factors.

However, it is the body perception that is the most well-known, with the global fashion industry blamed consistently for its alleged role in promoting an unhealthily underweight figure as the most desirable physique.

The fashion industry first came seriously under fire for its role in promoting anorexia in the mid2000s.

Luisel Ramos, a 20-year-old catwalk model, collapsed during a fashion show in Madrid due to complications caused by anorexia.

Her death sparked a debate about the responsibility of the famously exclusive and mysterious industry in protecting the health of both its models and fashion-conscious young women.

It was a vicious cycle, they claimed. The designers produced small sample sizes which look more covetable on the rail, then skinny models were hired to fit them, and finally the fashion magazines had no option but to photograph skinny

models in small clothes.

Before you knew it, there were millions of print runs with underweight cover girls propositioned as the epitome of health, glamour and chic.

Models themselves felt under huge pressure to fit these sample sizes in order to be cast. After Ramos’s death, more horror stories began to emerge of blatantly anorexic girls being cast in shows.

Anna Carolina Reston, a 22-year-

others, were often still working as fashion models right up until their deaths.

Louisa Rogers, a student at the London College of Fashion, spoke to Roar! about why she believes the fashion industry is to blame for the high rates of anorexia in the UK. “There is no doubt that the fashion industry promotes and glamourises a body that is under average in terms of weight,” she said.

“No one is immune to the mas-

One in ten of those with an eating disorder have anorexia old catwalk model, died in 2006 after being told two years previously that at eight stone, she was too large to model.

Everyone, including her agents and fellow models, denied knowing she had a problem. Former catwalk model and the ‘face of anorexia’, Isabelle Caro, starred in the famous ‘No Anorexia’ campaign in 2007 while suffering from the disease herself. She died, aged 28, in 2010.

These women, and numerous

sive influence of fashion media and advertising, and everyone feels the same pressure to conform, which often leads to eating disorders and body dysmorphia.”

The fashion industry has worked hard to shake off this negative image. In the immediate aftermath of Ramos’s death, the Milan and Madrid fashion weeks banned overly thin models.

At the time, London Fashion Week refused to follow suit, but

the British Fashion Council set up a Model Health Inquiry in 2007.

All fashion councils, New York, Paris, Milan and London, have since voted against requiring models to provide a health certificate before they are hired, citing reasons of “impracticality”.

Israel has taken the boldest move so far, banning the use of models with a BMI lower than 18.5 in 2012.

However, while Mark Fast caused a press storm in 2010 when he used plus-sized models in his LFW show, Rogers argues that this is simply not enough. “Fashion either seems to do this or swing to the other extreme and feature morbidly obese models as a shock-tactic to promote different kinds of beauty.

There is no middle ground.”

Speaking to Roar!, Beat believes that there is still room for improvement. “While the fashion industry doesn’t directly cause eating disorders, it has a powerful influence that is highly toxic to some vulnerable young people. We call on them to recognise the responsibility they have,” a spokesman said. “The industry ... are ideally placed to bring about the change in attitudes and actions that a generation of young people deserve.” •

fashionlifestyle.rogue@gmail.com

THE DARK SIDE OF FASHION: PRESSURE, DRUGS AND SUICIDE FASHION designers today are envied for their fame, fortune and luxurious lifestyles.

However, there is a dark and far more disturbing side to the industry juxtaposed with the glitz and glamour of glossy magazine covers.

With the competition growing fierce to produce an exclusive and innovative collection every season, there is ever-increasing pressure.

As well as two fashion weeks per year, there are now couture, resort and other sub-collections that fashion bosses have introduced in order to maximise their profits.

The overwhelming and demanding environment (we saw a glimpse of it in The Devil Wears Prada) has left many designers mentally and physically drained.

Indeed, a sad trend has seen many develop severe mental health issues as a result of their high workload.

Sleepless nights Heavy alcohol and drug might assist creativity and energy, but can also lead to other health problems; all in pursuit of the ultimate next season trend.

John Galliano, former creative director for Dior, faced a severe public breakdown in 2011.

Two years later he revealed to Vanity Fair that as the collections increased he became a slave to his career, and this led him astray down a path of alcohol addiction.

He confirmed that he did not drink to fuel his creativity, but to help him unwind and sleep after the shows.

Slowly it became more frequent, and the pills soon joined in order to prevent his unstable body from shaking and to cure his sleepless nights.

“What had started off as self expression turned into a mask”, as his workaholic lifestyle took over.

Renowned designer Alexander McQueen also felt similar pressures from the industry to repeatedly produce.

The fashion world was left grieving his design genius when he committed suicide in 2010.

With phenomenal boundarybreaking shows, McQueen began to struggle with the demands of his own label, since this was the only aspect of his life where he allegedly felt like he was successful.

He was also mourning the suicide of his good friend and mentor, fash-

ion journalist Isabella Blow, in 2007.

McQueen developed depression himself, and after a number of previous attempts he, too, committed suicide.

Admitted to rehab Balmain’s former creative director, Christophe Decarnin, also suffered from depression.

He was admitted to a mental hospital in 2011 due to depression and an anxiety attack while preparing for Paris Fashion Week.

Many other recognised designers have also suffered from similar issues caused by their work: Yves Saint Laurent went through a dark period of depression which caused substance abuse and Marc Jacobs’ addiction meant he had to be admitted to rehab.

The fashion world’s stringent demands have been responsible for increased depression, anxiety and insomnia among talented and highprofile designers.

However, such health problems in the industry rarely receive publicity.

Indeed, it seems like such substance abuse is the only survival kit for reaching the top of the industry’s ladder. •

TROUBLED: Fashion designer Alexander McQueen

Beauty note: STUDENT FACESAVERS

BY EMILY FOLKES

BRUCE- HARRIET LESTER, EMILY SALISBURY, AARON HSU, 19 GEORGIA 19 18 JONES, 19 Second Year Adult Nursing Snapped: Waterloo Campus

Second Year Physiotherapy Snapped: Guy’s Campus

First Year Biochemistry Snapped: Guy’s Campus

First Year Maths Snapped: Strand Campus

SPOTTED ON CAMPUS

BY JACINTA RUSCILLO

Instagram/jacintamenina

SOME say students have it easy.

But, when it comes to late nights of studying (or the occasional partying) and the horror of the 9am start, the signs of tiredness can show when the beauty morning ritual is cut short. However, some of the latest products on the market are beauty lifesavers for the average student.

Whether it is a party or a night of working, never forget to take off your makeup.

It will only lead to more worrying issues! Want to do this in one clean and un-harming step?

Then grab your hands on Bioderma H20 solution. One pump on a cotton pad removes everything. Simple.

Late nights will undoubtedly take their toll on the skin.

Spots and a dull complexion are always a horror no matter how early in the morning. Estee Lauder’s new Advance Night repair serum is a saviour.

A pricey item but worth every penny. One drop rubbed into the skin will fade away those signs of tiredness while adding moisture and a ‘plumping up’ effect.

A speedy morning makeup routine is essential for the rush to reach the 9am. Four steps in five minutes will get you ready.

Dior Skin Nude BB cream will provide you with an illuminising and natural base. Next is concealer. The most important step.

If you can get your hands on Nars Creamy concealer then it speaks for itself. Finish with a swoop of cream blush – a dollop of Mac Something Special always does its trick – and a coating of mascara that you know works fast.

Clinique High Impact, for example, will make you look a wide-eyed beauty! •

Emily’s blog:

folkesthinks.blogspot.com

@Emily_Folkes

VINTAGE SECRETS

MANY people say that they like to dress individually, styling interesting and unique outfits.

But how actually feasible is this on a student budget? Indeed, Topshop is definitely not getting any cheaper. The answer?

Vintage sales and market stalls. Camden Market and Portobello Road always have stalls with key pieces at reasonable prices.

But the real steals come from vintage fairs in Hackney and Spitalfields where, if you have the patience and resilience, you can pick up a kilo’s worth of clothes for a set price of £10 or £20.

Others work in a car-boot fashion, whereby you pay £1 entry and the rest is à-la-carte.

One of the best is Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fair which runs on the first Saturday of every month in East London.

It starts early (10/11am) but it is worth arriving early for the best picks and to beat the rush.

Topshop’s flagship in Oxford Circus has a vintage selection, but the brand craftily attaches a hefty price tag as well.

You’ll wonder what you have been doing all your life without the wondrous world of vintage. Just remember: you shouldn’t have to pay extortionate prices for what are essentially old, secondhand clothes. Be smart and streetwise and get your style for a steal. •

Meet the F&L columnists FASHION: How

would I style it?

HELEN LI

19 Medicine 2nd year

TARTAN print was dominating the catwalks of AW13/14 from Moschino to Versace.

It’s no wonder therefore that this highland trend has taken over the high street, and is definitely here to stay.

I never thought that I would ever wear tartan again. I think the last time I did was when I was in primary school.

Yes, we had to wear tartan pinafores.

It may have taken over a decade but in the deep and meaningful words of Jessie J, who’s laughing now?

Of course, having said that, it doesn’t mean drowning yourself in tartan to the extent that even the Scots will judge you.

as are futuristic metallics, adding a punk feel.

Black never lets anyone down and was featured on the catwalks with a twist of animal print and velvets.

And of course, no one can undermine the presence this autumn’s oversized coat.

As a student it is hard to stay on top of the newest trends on a tight budget.

However, here I have compiled for you some affordable high street copies of the designer versions:

MYMODE101.WORDPRESS.COM

TOPSHOP

JULIEN MACDONALD AT DEBENHAMS

BOOHOO

BY AMIRA ARASTEH

The library stone

BEAUTY: My

prettiest picks

EMILY FOLKES

FAYE BROWN

20 History 3rd year

WHEN Kate Moss said ‘nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’ she had obviously never experienced a twelve hour day at the Maughan.

Here, work seems genuinely impossible unless accompanied by a box of Cadburys fingers, a giant size packet of Kettle chips, a Tesco meal deal and perhaps some Percy Pigs.

With all the will in the world, studying seems unfathomable without such revision provisions, and often resisting the urge to binge is harder than the work itself.

After all, everyone needs brain food.

20 English 2nd year

AS the clocks go back it is time for our makeup bags to have an autumnal renewal.

What does this mean exactly? It means bringing in the berries.

Whether it is raspberry, cranberry or blueberry toned products, autumn is about bringing these fruitful colours to our makeup wardrobe.

To begin with simple steps, let us talk about nails. Having a lacquer of berrytoned polish is the easiest way to add some autumnal sophistication.

I highly recommend Essie’s polish in ‘Luxedo’ or ‘After School Boy Blazer’; great names, greater colours.

‘Luxedo’, a rich, dark cranberry and ‘Blazer’, a black-like blue.

Read the full columns online at www.roarnews.co.uk now

SAVVY STUDENT SHOPPING MY favourite thing about autumn is the array of gorgeous colours: auburn, purple and gold.

I therefore especially love it when the high street jumps on the bandwagon too and brings out collections in the same beautiful shades.

There is nothing better than snuggling up in a purple wool scarf or a beautiful golden tan coat with a fur collar. All we are missing now is a crackling fire.

This season sees a mixture of crisp and warm tones, camouflage patterns and warm fur and knitwear.

Tartan and leathers are prominent,

STUDENT LIFE:

How To: Do It Like Alexa ALEXA Chung was nearly a King’s girl. After studying English, Art and History at A level she received an offer here to study English but turned it down to pursue a burgeoning modelling career.

This September, Penguin published her highly coveted debut book It, which has divided fashion journalists and readers alike.

At her book launch Daisy Lowe gushed: “Her brain is so interesting and mad and she’s so bright… she’s got the most incredible way with words”.

“She’s also really lovely and just, yeah, one of the most inspiring women of our time I think,” she added.

This is hard to swallow having read It cover to cover.

The experience of reading her book differs very little from that of looking at Tumblr.

Aesthetically it is very appealing; printed on thick white paper are grainy Polaroids of dishevelled, pretty girls at various parties, photobooth strips and abstract ink drawings.

However, although it’s supposed to give the impression that she’s just emptied the contents of her bedside drawer onto the pages, the whole thing ends up feeling overwhelmingly contrived.

Her supposed ‘How To’ advice feels affected and serves no practical purpose for the reader.

She writes pretentiously: ‘How to rage: Get a balloon and a best friend. Go to a festival in a desert. Be 24’.

Rather than shedding any light on the fashion industry or unpacking her so called ‘It Girl’ status, Alexa teaches us ‘How to master the art of the self-portrait’, AKA the ‘selfie’.

Worse, she offers a one to five guide to getting

dressed, which includes: ‘2. Is the outfit clean?’ and ‘4. Put it on, and this is crucial…look in a mirror’.

Beneath her tongue-incheek irony here is the fact that she is utterly unwilling to part with any genuine sartorial advice.

Instead, and to our irritation, she seeks to maintain her image as an enigma to whom it just kind of comes naturally.

There are some good moments though, for instance on the predicament of haircuts she writes: “Boys say they don’t mind how you get your hair done. But then they leave you for someone with really great standard girl hair and the next thing you know you’re alone with a masculine crop crying into your granola.”

However, on remembering the £16.99 that’s been parted with, the reader starts to feel just a little sore with Alexa and her ‘my life’s so great’ Tumblr-esque musings.

Ultimately, the overall feeling of the book is that of a stage-managed operation of covert selfpromotion, or ‘humble-bragging’ as The Man Repeller wittily coined it.

However, take note girls: in an interview with the Independent she’s reported to have said that “she absolutely plans to go back and do that degree one day”.

So, you never know - one day soon you could walk in on Chung taking Polaroid ‘selfies’ in the Waterfront bathroom. •

BY DELARA SHAKIB

filmtv.rogue@gmail.com

‘ADHD IS MY GREATEST FRIEND ’ AND WORST ENEMY Rory Bremner, renowned political satirist, talks about King’s and his mental health RORY Bremner, alumnus and Fellow of King’s College London, is a successful satirist, playwright and comedian, known best for his impressions of politicians on television.

But behind the comic persona is a man living with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

He has openly discussed the condition in interviews and even presented a BBC Radio 4 show about coping with it.

Restlessness and impulsivity Bremner says he wasn’t even

aware that he had the condition when he was at King’s: “I was just doing too many things at once, as usual plays, lectures, stand-up comedy on the London pub circuit - way too much.

“And probably talking too much in seminars. Whenever I see contemporaries from King’s days, I feel the urge to apologise!”

Now he recognises that a lot of his characteristics, such as restlessness and impulsivity, “are pretty textbook ADHD stuff.”

“Someone recently said it was like watching six TV screens, all showing different things, and flicking your eyes between them.

“But every now and again they all

show the same thing, and then you’re really focused.”

Helpful Bremner has an ambivalent relationship with his condition, saying, “I sort of look at ADHD as my greatest friend and my worst enemy.”

But ADHD can be helpful for a comic performer, as you have to think on your feet: “It keeps me interested (in too much) and makes connections which are useful for a comedian.”

“On the other hand, I hate the scrapes it gets me into when I’ve taken on too much, or forgotten something, or yet again failed to be organised.” •

ROMEO AND JULIET - A STEP TOO FAR? TWO star-crossed lovers able to the novice ear, but they ques- ed remake, which ventured into the meet again in the latest tion the authenticity of what seems to suburbs of Verona Beach combining be, in all other areas, a rather faithful authentic Shakespearian language Romeo and Juliet remake. with a hip-hop edge.

However, with the essence of Baz adaptation.

Luhrmann’s 1996 version still looming in its shadows, it seemed like director Carlo Carlei may have had a difficult task in creating an adaptation that distinguishes itself from other reworks of the greatest love story ever told.

The conventional remake of this Shakespeare classic takes a step back in time, familiarising itself with established adaptations such as the original by Zeffirelli in 1968.

In the setting of Fair Verona, the cast enjoy an ensemble of doublet and hose reminiscent of the productions that many students find themselves all too familiar with.

Yet screenwriter Julian Fellowes takes a brave approach to the script LOVERS: Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth on set On top of this, Leonardo DiCaprio Perhaps the main problem is that by adapting the bardspeak into his the production is consistently com- is the kind of talented, attractive eye own invented traditional style.

The subtle tweaks are unnotice- pared to Luhrmann’s Oscar-nominat- candy who can only be described,

in all senses, as the perfect Romeo.

Douglas Booth, to his credit, gave the role a good effort, undeniably hunky and easy on the eye. But realistically, could he ever have stood a chance against his predecessor?

On the other hand, Juliet (Hailee Steinfeld) seemed to a lack an air of enthusiasm, and gave a rather feeble performance for what should have been a rather resilient and feisty Juliet.

A positive, however, comes in the form of Lesley Manville, who plays a jittery, jocular nurse adding a sense of light-heartedness to the mainly downbeat and depressing storyline.

Her performance is complemented

by Paul Giamatti, who provides an authentic performance of Friar Laurence.

Both of these actors particularly benefit the cast by establishing a sense of reality for a stereotypical Shakespeare production.

Damian Lewis’s performance, on

the other hand, is rather questionable. In places he provides a wellasserted, strict Lord Capulet.

However, this was unfortunately suppressed by his inability to maintain a long-lasting, hard-hitting approach as Juliet’s father.

Overall, I can only describe this as a ‘not bad’ adaptation. There are moments of excitement and anticipation, for which the credit really belongs to Shakespeare’s original play.

However, these brief, enjoyable moments are unfortunately overcast with flaws such as poor casting and performance.

And as Carlei goes back to basics, it is difficult as a viewer to be excited over such an easily anticipated script.

Perhaps the main issue lies in the question of whether there was ever actually a purpose for this adaptation to come to the screens, as it could only ever be compared to its favourable forerunners. •

by MEGAN PAGE

FILTH - NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED A SAVAGE interpretation of the 1998 novel by Scottish author Irvine Welsh. Written and directed by Jon S. Baird – who also directed the cult classic Trainspotting.

The film is centred around Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy), who indulges in shocking forms of violence, masturbation and sadomasochism, including hints of racism and homophobia.

Having spent my youth in Edinburgh, I thoroughly enjoyed the film’s paradoxical perspective of a truly middle-class city.

The storyline revolves around

Robertson’s struggle to secure a promotion and win back his wife and child.

However, hints of mental illness are embedded throughout the film, with extremely disturbing hallucinations and childhood flashbacks.

To achieve his promotion, Robertson chooses to turn his colleagues against one another, including his close friend Ray Lennox (Jamie Bell).

As the film progresses, the title Filth is certainly well-chosen, as the storyline becomes more and more twisted, littered with profanity and drug abuse.

The audience witnesses Robert-

ACTING SKILLS: James McAvoy

son’s life spiral out of control and we vividly experience flashes of the grotesque hallucinations that manifest in Robertson’s mind, including warped recollections of his visits to his psychiatrist (Jim Broadbent).

However, towards the end, the plot becomes complex and difficult to follow. As the hallucinations become more frequent, it becomes harder to distinguish from reality.

Overall, the strange enjoyment in Filth is almost solely due to McAvoy’s outstanding performance.

McAvoy manages to interpret the sadistic and psychopathic demeanour of Robertson’s character, yet is somehow able to maintain his likeability.

His character’s crumbling mental state and grasp on reality are both highlighted by moments of clarity, where the audience gets a glimpse of the person he really is, beneath all the dark humour.

Filth is certainly a film that audiences should experience. At the most uncomfortable moment, when you feel like you should be looking away, it is impossible not to glare at the screen.

But be warned - it takes a few seconds to adjust back to reality after viewing. •

BY Heather Clark

MENTAL HEALTH IN FILM: TOUCHING OR INSENSITIVE? SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (2012)

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (1975)

MCMURPHY (Jack Nicholson) has once again found himself in trouble with the police.

In order to escape prison duties, he pleads insanity and is sent to a mental institution, where he settles in well. Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) is a domineering woman who gains power through the disabilities of the other inmates.

McMurphy and the other inmates join together in rebellion against the oppressive nurse.

On the one hand, this film is uplifting in that it shows strength and courage, but on the other hand, the fact that Chief kills the lobotomised McMurphy can be seen to suggest a releasing from a prison in the mind - something that can be seen as insensitive to some audiences. •

AFTER being housed in a mental institution, Pat (Bradley Cooper) moves back to his parents’ house in an attempt to get his career and marriage back on track.

Although, things become all the more challenging when he meets equally troubled Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence).

I think the fact that Lawrence won an Academy Award for her role speaks volumes.

But in general, the audience come to love the quirks of these two characters and the film has an uplifting feel - a huge achievement for a rom-com that centres on bipolar disorder and depression. •

BLACK SWAN (2010)

A COMMITTED dancer Nina (Natalie Portman) desperately wants the lead in Swan Lake, requiring her to play both the white and black swan.

But, Lily (Mila Kunis) seems tough competition for the part. Nina becomes overwhelmed by the pressure from her mother, and herself, to get the part and begins to lose her mind.

The film deals with schizophrenia, as Nina begins to lose touch with reality. She conjures up a range of situations, detached from the real world.

However, this film also touches upon OCD, eating disorders and self-harm. The film is critically acclaimed and Portman’s performance won an Academy Award - but in terms of mental illness, it is quite rare that all these illnesses would occur at once.

Again a good watch, but perhaps an exaggeration from the reality of living with a mental illness. •

PSYCHO (1960)

THIS Hitchcock classic touches upon multiple personality disorder.

A secretary steals money from a client and runs away to a remote motel run by Norman Bates, a young man controlled by his mother, Norma.

Throughout the narrative, it becomes clear that Bates has multiple personality disorder, through behaving normally as himself during the daily running of the motel, and then murdering his victims as ‘Norma’ (dressed in his mother’s clothing).

Although this film can make a thrilling watch, it could perhaps be treating sufferers of this mental illness in an insensitive and potentially harmful way. •

by CHARLOTTE WOODS

PRAISE FOR PRISONERS ON LEITH “I DIDN’T know we’d come to watch a horror film,” a friend whispered to me halfway through the film.

This isn’t a horror film in the conventional sense, but I thought this quote summed up the film perfectly.

Prisoners is a dark, moody, psychological thriller that had me transfixed from start to finish.

Starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, Prisoners follows the mystery surrounding the disappearance of two young girls.

The case is assigned to Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal), a man who’s solved every case he has ever been assigned.

The father of one of the girls (Jackman) decides to take matters into his own hands when one of the main suspects, played by the wonderfully creepy Paul Dano, is released from questioning without charge.

Jackman’s performance was truly praiseworthy.

His portrayal of a father’s anguish and frustration is utterly believable.

His character’s moral descent

forces us to question what we would do for those we hold dear.

It makes for uncomfortable yet compelling viewing.

Gyllenhaal delivers a subtle and greatly poised performance as a detective who seems constantly on edge, but sometimes his nuanced performance can appear lazy.

A greater understanding of the history behind Detective Loki wouldn’t have gone amiss, to justify the character’s suppressed aggression and seemingly layered personality.

Twists and turns But these are minor quibbles in what is otherwise a near flawless film experience.

Arguably, the best performance comes from Paul Dano.

Playing a suspected child abductor, he gives a haunting performance as a disturbed, unhinged man.

All of this, captured largely in silence - he only says about 30 words in the film - adds to the eeriness of his performance.

The term ‘hooked’ is truly fitting for describing this film, which

is a credit to the writer, Aaron Guzikowski.

With an engaging and perfectly paced script, the two and a half hour running time seemed to fly by.

The conflict between Jackman and Gyllenhaal’s characters is well played and greatly thought out.

Although the clever plot is immensely exciting for the first half of the film, the second half dwindles away into a resolution that doesn’t do the rest of the film justice.

However, the twists and turns experienced as the plot unfolds are what makes this film such a gripping one, especially in an age where character-driven stories are too often sacrificed for mundane worthless action.

I really wanted to hate the first film I reviewed for Rogue Film, as writing a hateful, expletive-filled review seemed liked it would be a lot more fun, so the only disappointment I felt after watching Prisoners was that I liked it too much! •

BY SWARAJ DEWEDI

A FILM adaption of the stage musical by Scottish playwright Stephen Greenhorn, incorporating 13 songs by The Proclaimers.

Everyone knows the hit pop song I will walk 500 miles! And everyone loves a good ol’ Scottish sing-along! So what’s not to like?

After serving in Afghanistan, Davy (George McKay) and Ally (Kevin Guthrie) return to their hometown of Edinburgh.

Having witnessed one of their close friends being crippled in action, they attempt to settle back in to their everyday lives.

Both working in a call centre, the boys wonder where their future is heading.

While Davy is in search of a more fulfilling career, Ally is more focused on settling down with Davy’s sister, Liz (Freya Mavor).

On a last minute set-up, Davy meets Liz’s friend Yvonne (Antonia Thomas) and unexpectedly falls for her.

As the plot progresses, it begins to focus on Davy’s parents - Jean and Rab - and their 25th wedding anniversary, including a shocking

twist about Rab’s past - which tests their relationship.

Although some of the singing is questionable, the upbeat, Mamma Mia-esque melodies and cheery storyline make it impossible for the audience not to love this film.

The endearing cobbled streets of Leith add to the heart-warming, feel-good ambience, not to mention the spectacular panoramic views of the capital Scottish city - with brilliant sunsets and the silhouette of Edinburgh Castle.

However, at some points the production can seem a little clumsy but, for me, it added to the off-beat, quirky characteristics of the film.

For those who go into the film a bit too seriously, it may be easier just to cringe when the cast break into song.

But beneath the cheesy trivial drama the director, Dexter Fletcher, manages to inject some gritty Scottish charm.

By the end of the film you will struggle to leave the screen without a grin on your face - or singing along to the music! •

by Heather CLARk

I PRESCRIBE YOU MUSIC Music therapy is as old as music itself, but now it’s being recognised among medical professionals, says Joe Brookes WE are all somewhat aware of the therapeutic qualities of music.

Particularly among the current generation of twenty-somethings, you would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t got their favourite song or artist, which they can go back to in certain situations as a way of alleviating a bad mood.

I would say this is one of the key reasons we listen to music at all.

On the flip side, music can be used in a range of clinical functions.

Research has shown that musical therapy is a useful tool in the treatment of neurological disorders.

With diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia, it can lead to improvements in interaction, conversation, and other such skills.

Similarly, it has been shown to help treat symptoms of schizophrenia, depression, and amnesia among others.

Alongside standard treatment, music therapy can vastly improve the recovery of stroke sufferers, and those who are victims of brain injuries.

Perhaps a famous case of successful music therapy was in the treatment of American politician Gabrielle Giffords, who received a bullet to the brain in what was reportedly an assassination attempt in 2011.

Music is said to have been key to her recovery of the ability to speak, her music therapist Meaghan Morrow proclaiming music as the “other road to get back to language.”

What Morrow said is in some ways a simplification of one of the key processes that music therapy

achieves. In responding to music, the brain makes cerebral bypasses around the damaged area, in a sense tricking new connections and strengthening weaker channels that are used less by normally developed brains.

In the therapy session, this can be achieved by singing; sometimes it is easier to sing words than to say them, and it can help patients access words and sounds that were always there but just hard to reach.

In the treatment of depression, music is again a powerful communicative and non-invasive tool. Not only does this process of tricking, or finding new pathways, happen in the neurology of the brain on a chemical level, but music can be a way of getting things across that speaking about is too painful, too difficult.

“Nothing activates the brain so extensively as music,” says Dr. Oliver Sacks, Professor of Neurology at Columbia University.

It helps patients relax, and instils a sense of control in this mellowing out, something that is true for all people.

There is also the empathy in the singing voice; hearing another human being expressing emotions that one might have originally thought only they experienced can help with relieving feelings of isolation.

Alongside other art forms, music is integral to shaping our identities.

For students this is manifested in the way people define their fashions as a result of their music taste, and it decides which events they go to, so for many of us it is the cen-

tral part our social lives.

Seeing the effects music can have on the brain proves that the music we listen to is much more than a soundtrack to our time at university, it is part of the entire mindset that drives us through it.

Likewise, the sheer amount of musical activities at King’s (the Ukulele Society and the King’s Chapel Choir to name but a couple) proves that playing music is an important social interaction.

Music therapy is still a relatively young form of medicine, but its values are clear. More degree programmes in the study and training of this kind of therapy are being introduced at universities all over the world.

More doctors and therapists are strongly advocating its use, as are the stars themselves: musicians Annie Lennox and Labrinth among others have been named as patrons of the London-based organisation Nordoff-Robbins, which specialises in music therapy sessions and research.

For me personally, having a daily dose of music is my main form of therapy when dealing with London life, and I think it’s high time that we acknowledge the psychological profits of music in its varying applications.

So, I have enlisted the help of Lucy Sheehan to plan out your daily prescription of music, we hope you enjoy it! •

BY JOE BROOKES

MEGAN BEECH LIKE most bookish, teenage introverts who find themselves dealing with mental health issues, Morissey and Marr were the soundtrack to my depression.

The Smiths, much maligned for being the denizens of the morose and the miserabalist sounded like how I felt.

Jagged guitar providing the backdrop for the hauntingly hollow sound of Morissey’s singing voice made me feel a bit more human.

Surely that’s what great art should do - bring you back to life. •

ISHANI BAGGA

GIVEN that city life is a constant stress, people turn to their mp3 players in times of need.

Dealing with tube journeys and essay deadlines is difficult enough to manage for most people, let alone those with mental illnesses. Both as a means of escapism and a means of relieving stress, music is a godsend - an outlet for creative expression, and an outcry for those who live through the creative expression of others. Headphones help you to ignore everyone else, and more often than not, that’s exactly what you need. •

00:00

NOCTURNAL brilliance from Brighton’s incredible surf-doom trio, The Wytches – Beehive Queen and Crying Clown are both perfect for lonely nights in and strange nights out.

YouTube their new single Robe for Juda. for more swirling, dark psychedelica and impossibly heavy breaks.

18:00

NO 2013 playlist should be without the late master himself, Lou Reed.

Transformer’s anthemic Perfect Day will get you home in the highest spirits.

2nd year English

09:00

05:00

NICK DRAKE is your perfect companion for the lonely walk home, or the idle post-party stroll.

Quietly hopeful and sweetly melancholic, this is nostalgic rural psychedelica to beat any looming hangover. Put on Road or Pink Moon, and plan summer road trips.

2nd year English

BUFFETED by sour commuters? Lost your ticket? Smash on through the barriers to Beastie Boys’ massive Sabotage.

Anything is possible.

YOUR DAILY PRESCRIPTION

11:00

GROOVY and infectious even before it climbs into its devastatingly heavy chorus, Foals’ Inhaler is five minutes of pure explosive energy.

13:00

SIMPLE and achingly sweet with its twisted nostalgia, Neutral Milk Hotel’s King of Carrot Flowers is a lo-fi masterpiece - ideal for a sunlit walk along the South Bank.

15:00

DIIV’s strange and beautiful psych, held together with Joy Division-esque beats and sprinkled with Zachary Cole Smith’s ethereal vocals, will carry you through the city in a perfect haze.

Drake’s London depression

NICK Drake, an English songwriter who did not receive recognition or widespread acclaim during his lifetime, died aged just 26 in 1974 from an overdose of antidepressants.

A unique songwriter who only released three records in his short career, Drake was a shy and introverted character from a privileged background who battled with depression throughout his twenties.

Drake read English Literature at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.

While he said in letters to his sister that he felt happy at Cambridge, he was never committed to his studies because his interest in music demanded all his attention. Drake’s friend from Cambridge, Brian Wells, has said “We would get up late, smoke dope and not go to lectures.

We felt we were superior.”

In fact Drake dropped out of Cambridge just nine months before graduating in order to pursue his music career full time.

The bold choice to drop out and move to London led to his first album in 1969, Five Leaves Left. Yet due to its unique and uncharacteristic sound, with unorthodox tunings and distinctive finger work, as well as Drake’s reticence to do any promotional work, the album only sold around 5,000 copies at the time of release.

Heavy cannabis and suspected heroin use, coupled with further social withdrawal led to various visits to psychiatrists and a prescription for antidepressants.

He went for weeks without seeing anyone and released his third and final album in 1972, Pink Moon, arguably his most accomplished work.

His sister has pinpointed this as

the time when things started to go badly wrong. Following another commercial failure, Drake moved back to his parents’ home, which he saw as shameful. He believed he had failed, saying “I don’t like it at home, but I can’t bear it anywhere else.”

While Drake’s depression and disillusionment could be put down to his perceived failure in the music industry, there seem to be clear signs of depression before this, including his well-documented trouble with insomnia and shyness around people.

His music has brought solace and support to thousands of young people who have trouble with mental illness. The song Fruit Tree on Five Leaves Left is a haunting prophecy of the belated recognition Drake would achieve: “Safe in your place deep in the earth/That’s when they’ll

know what you were really worth.”

Was Nick Drake’s condition a product of the music industry, or would Drake have had the same mental afflictions or worse if music had not been a creative outlet for him?

Drake once said to a friend: “If everyone thinks I am so great, why am I broke?”

In life he was unable to bridge the gap between his vision of himself as an artist and the reality of his commercial success.

At this age, when we are told constantly that we are unique and special and could become famous in five minutes flat, people’s ambitions don’t necessarily match reality.

Equally, at a competitive university such as King’s, people feel inadequate or disillusioned when their degree does not necessarily guarantee a job, especially with the state of the

economic climate.

O n e positive t h i n g to take a w a y f r o m D r a k e ’s untimely death is the success he has had posthumously.

He once said to his mother, “If only my music had done anything to help one single person.” Today he could have truly said that his music has done so. •

BY Charlie Robertson

musicreviews.rogue@gmail.com

CHAPEL CHOIR IS THERAPY Online music editor Oscar King looks at choral singing, an activity as beneficial to our health as yoga

I SING in the King’s College Chapel Choir. As entry to the choir is based on receiving a choral scholarship, the standard is high and rivals many of the Oxbridge choirs.

For those of you who don’t know it, we rehearse Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the chapel: boasting an ornate red and gold décor, the chapel is hidden away on the second floor of the Strand Campus – you should go, if not for the singing, at least for the architecture.

There is something profoundly therapeutic in singing as a group. It allows you to create something that no individual can: harmony.

In King’s Chapel Choir our staple repertoire is renaissance polyphony (16th century), David Trendell’s specialty.

There can be several interweaving vocal parts, as many as 40 in the

case of Byrd’s ‘Spem In Alium’. I think it is amazing how a piece can start with a single line, a modest motif, and gradually grow, forming a rich wall of sound including melodies, countermelodies and accompaniments.

When the parts all finally come together at the end, a homogenous sound is created and it is hard not to feel a sense of achievement.

In London’s ever-changing state of flux, I can assure that this unity is most welcome.

Heart-wrenching However, the most therapeutic thing for me about singing is how emotive it can be.

On the one hand, there is something supremely uplifting in singing a ‘Magnificat,’ the first words being ‘My soul doth magnify the lord.’

Although I am not religious, you

can still sense the feeling of elation that one must get from praying to God and believing that something greater than yourself really does exist.

On the other hand, the sadness expressed in a piece like ‘Tristitsia et Anxietas’ can be heart-wrenching if it is sang well and with the right dynamics.

The point is, singing music can provide you with a release of genuine emotion, which I find refreshing in a world where a ‘like’ or a ‘tweet’ is meant to express something so complex, impossible to do accurately with so few words.

In a way, the act of making music transcends expressing emotion through language: while linguistic manipulation distorts emotion, music seems to bridge the gaps between emotions and human physiology.

Indeed, science has been hard at

work explaining the calming yet energising effect of singing on people.

The elation may come from endorphins, a hormone released by singing and associated with feelings of pleasure.

Synchronised heartbeats

Additionally, a hormone called oxytocin is released while singing which alleviates anxiety and stress, which explains why many studies have found that singing lessens feelings of depression and loneliness.

Group singing is cheaper than therapy, healthier than drinking, and certainly more fun than going to the gym.

A study from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden found that choristers’ heartbeats may synch up during group singing, bringing about a calming effect that is as beneficial to our health as yoga.

The more structured the work, the more the singers’ heart rates increased or decreased together – slow chants produced the most synchrony.

When I told a friend I sang in the chapel choir, their reply was something like ‘Wow, so you’re part of those angelic voices I hear on the way to my lectures?’

Although angelic is probably an overstatement, singing allows you to access another realm of consciousness, always ethereal and always otherworldly.

Why don’t you come to one of our carol concerts on 4, 5 and 6 December?

Tickets are free (hooray) but are a required for these services: to attain them you can email chaplaincy@ kcl.ac.uk. You can then decide for yourself whether listening to choral music is therapeutic without spending a penny! •

THE BEST OF THE REST THE RESISTABLE RISE OF ARTRURO UI SUGGESTED BY? Kristina Foster WHERE? Duchess Theatre WHEN? Until 7th December HOW MUCH? Varying, but there’s an offer on at the moment for the best seats for £36.50 WHAT? A satirical portrayal of Hitler, aligning him and Nazi Germany with Artruro Ui

Read Kristina’s full review online

SARAH LUCAS WHERE? Whitechapel Gallery WHEN? Until 15th December HOW MUCH? Free!

WHAT? Bawdy erotica, and very sexually explicit, Lucas turns every day items into provocative sculpture.

LAUGHTER REALLY IS THE BEST MEDICINE EVERYONE enjoys a good chuckle now and then, but is it true that it could actually be beneficial for our health?

We all know that laughter’s contagious, but it’s becoming increasingly apparent that this is an infection we want to make sure we catch!

Laughter releases endorphins in our brains, which promote a sense of well-being and relaxation.

For many of us, laughter’s a major coping mechanism for stress, so much so that laughter therapy’s actually being prescribed to more and more people suffering from depression.

It’s been scientifically proven that laughter almost completely dissolves distressing emotions, and it’s impossible to feel angry, anxious or sad while giggling.

So next time you’re feeling swamped under with all that coursework, pop on your favourite comedy or grab a couple of mates and have a good old chuckle! •

by daisy bartlett

‘DEPRESSION IS MY MUSE’ Mental illness shouldn’t define a writer’s work, says Steph F DOES pain really breed creativity? Steph F discusses this difficult question, whilst giving us an insight into depression.

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a writer.

For nine years of that ‘as long as I can remember’, I have suffered with depression and anxiety.

At age 12, I recognised my own unhappiness.

At 19, I admitted it and began to get the help and support I needed.

And, at 21, I’m ready to talk about it.

There are many who believe that mental illness and ‘the creative’ are intertwined.

Statistics state that creative people, writers in particular, have a higher risk of developing anxiety and bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, unipolar depression, and substance abuse.

Writers are also twice as likely to kill themselves as the rest of the population.

It’s debated what comes first?

The chicken or the egg, the illness or the creativity?

Are creative people more likely to suffer with mental illness, or are those who suffer from mental illness more attracted to creative professions?

There’s also a question mark over how well they work together.

Are those with mental health issues struggling creative geniuses, or does mental illness hold back and inhibit creative success?

As a clinical depressive/anxiety sufferer/mental health patient/ whatever you want to label me as, and a writer, I can only approach this issue in one way: with my own personal experience.

Of my body of creative writing

work, 100% of it is based in some way on something or someone that I have experience of, and I’d say at least 70% of it is inspired by my struggles with mental health.

They say the best writing comes from writing what you know, and after so many years of struggling, there aren’t many things I know better than my depression.

I know what it’s like to be a friend, a family member, a student, a traveller, a worker, but nothing seeps into your every moment, every thought you have, like depression does.

For that, it is my most loyal friend, and my most hated enemy.

If I were to look for the positives in my problems with mental health, I could find many.

Depression is dull, draining, and destructive.

It tears lives apart.

However it’s also, in my experience, character building.

On coming out of it, it gives you a new appreciation for the world and what you have, and it gave me a lot to write about.

I can’t say I wrote any masterpieces while in the depths of my illness.

I used writing as an escape, a therapy of course.

For a writer, nothing heals like having a pen in your hand and letting the ink express your emotions.

But in those instances, you get out what you can.

Your life and your mind are so dominated by the force that is depression, that you can’t ask for poetic lyricism, or the next great British novel.

All you can ask for is a bit of truth, and I believe that with mental illness, that’s the best thing you can get.

One of my favourite books is The Bell Jar, the first and only novel by Sylvia Plath.

It’s seen by many as a parallel to Plath’s personal experience with what is presumed to be clinical depression.

A month after its UK publication she committed suicide.

Plath wrote the novel when in the depths of depression, which I think is a remarkable feat.

At my lowest points, when my mind was screaming at me to find a belt and hang myself from my curtain pole, I can assure you that no critically acclaimed novel was coming out of me.

My brain was so full of these thoughts and feelings of self loathing and self destruction, that I could barely put a normal sentence together.

But maybe that’s what the beauty of it would have been?

Maybe I should have picked up a pen and just written during those moments, and whatever came out I could claim to be creative genius.

Yet I always find myself wondering, would that really be me writing, or would it be my illness?

In the same way that I, and every other mental health patient, do not want their life to be defined by their mental illness, I would hate for my written work to be defined in such a way.

Mental illness is a part of me, it is something that befell upon me, yet it is not me, and nor should it be my writing.

When I write now, I write about depression, but I do not write as depression.

I would be a fool to deny the half of my life which has been spent not only battling depression, but learning both about myself and the

world around me.

Therefore I feel it is my duty to write about my experiences.

I’ve written poems about getting into depression, being in depression, coming out of depression.

And every single one of these poems is written by me, not my illness.

That’s where I think we need to draw the line between mental illness and creativity.

Mental illness is what, in some strange way, I would call my muse.

It’s given me a body of work that I, in all likeliness, could not have got from anywhere else.

Yet it has not given me my talent.

In the same way that depression is not me, and I am not depression, depression is not my writing.

Just like my life now, my writing is all mine. •

by Steph F

The power of the human mind EMMA Wyeth looks into how the infamous novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest portrays and explains the treatment of mental illness.

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a novel that dramatises the conflict between the demand for conformity in society and those who are constricted by this.

Ken Kesey tries to galvanise a yearning for individuality, and stresses that treatment of mental illness will only ever be successful when it also embraces a patient’s humanity.

“It’s the Indian’s storynot McMurphy’s or Jack Nicholson’s.” - Ken Kesey Kesey places his narrator within the confines of a mental hospital, whose clinical and colourless routine is oppressive.

Chief Bromden, a tall, half

Native-American who pretends to be both deaf and dumb, describes the efforts of the ward’s tyrannical Nurse Ratched to quash the individuality of its occupants.

Kesey tries to strike a balance in his writing; one that allows the reader to wholly trust Bromden’s account, but at the same time articulates Bromden’s own mental fragility.

It is manifested beautifully, I think, in Bromden’s use of language: both with regards to Nurse Ratched and the industrial nature of the ward, and in Bromden’s dependence on McMurphy’s rebellion.

As McMurphy’s determination wanes, Bromden’s mental clarity begins to unravel and ‘the fog’ of his mind rolls in to trap him.

The Combine is a corporate and industrial mechanism that Kesey aligns with the role of a government.

Bromden envisions the workers

of the ward to be machines, exposing their ‘wheels and cogs’ when they think no one is looking.

The ward is merely a ‘factory of the combine’, that works to wrench the individuality from men, dispose them of their humanity and in this way ‘fix’ them.

“Did you ever have people l-l-laughing at you?

No, because you’re so b-big and so tough! Well, I’m not big and tough.” Billy Bibbit When McMurphy is introduced to the ward, he brings with him a gust of naturality; a beacon of human nature, with just as many flaws as strengths.

Importantly, Bromden’s mental tranquillity depends on McMurphy’s continual fight.

As McMurphy runs his hand through the glass screen of the nurses’ station, the ‘ringing’ in

Bromden’s head stops.

Perhaps Kesey’s attitude toward mental stability hinges on hope, and the belief in the basic goodness of men as individuals.

Through Bromden, Kesey dramatises a yearning for independence and yet a fear of it.

McMurphy exhausts himself to try and prove that the patients don’t need to be ‘corrected.’

By smashing the glass of the nurses’ station, McMurphy gives Bromden permission to break free later in the novel.

McMurphy guides Bromden to his own liberation and transition into the natural world.

Kesey is looking forward to a time when men are not constricted and corrected for their humanity.

Kesey writes a rejection of the cold and systematic conformity in favour of the power of the human mind - even if it is fragile. •

by emma wyeth

artstheatre.rogue@gmail.com

Virginia Woolf: A voice of one’s own King’s alumnus and patron of the new Kingsway campus also suffered from mental illness.

Was her condition a help or a hindrance?

BORN into an intellectual and well-connected family in 1882, Virginia Woolf resided in Kensington with her parents, as well as her three full siblings and four half siblings from both her parents’ previous marriages.

When she was six, she was sexually abused by George and Gerald Duckworth, her two step-brothers.

At 13, after her mother’s sudden death, she suffered her first nervous breakdown.

Two years later, the death of her sister Stella deeply affected her, but her father’s death when she was 22 triggered her second and most alarming breakdown, for which she was briefly institutionalised.

All her life, she would suffer from dramatic mood swings and severe depression, but she managed to find some relief in her writing.

During her episodes, birds would talk to her in Greek, her dead mother would be resuscitated and voices would tell her to do wild things.

In 1913 she attempted suicide for the first time, overdosing on veranol, and she was only saved thanks to a doctor living nearby who pumped her stomach.

She hadn’t written anything yet.

She saw the renowned psychiatrist George Savage intermittently for ten years, but like many of his colleagues, he subscribed to the focal infection theory: mental disequilibrium being caused by a tooth infection.

He insisted on extracting three of her perfectly healthy teeth.

Having to wear fake teeth for the rest of her life, Woolf retained a profound distrust of doctors and modern medicine.

The publishing house she owned with her husband Leonard Cohen, whom she married in 1912, published Freud, and she read him voraciously.

Her writings were also an attempt to understand who she was: the white pages were the analyst’s sofa and the black ink the stream of her consciousness.

There was reality only in what she wrote.

Peter Dally, a psychiatrist who wrote her biography in 1999, said: “Virginia’s need to write was, among other things, to make sense out of mental chaos and gain control of madness.

“Through her novels, she made her inner world less frightening. Writing was often agony but it provided the ‘strongest pleasure she knew’”.

She befriended the Bloomsbury Group, a circle of intellectuals and free thinkers who shared her unconventional values and felt oppressed by the rigidity of Victorian England.

They encouraged her to write.

And write she would: it would be interrupted, hampered and hindered by her manic depression, but all in all she wrote approximately 20 books.

She was recognised as a brilliant writer with a unique style and an authoritative modernist voice.

Her most famous novels include To the Lighthouse, The Waves, Mrs Dalloway and A Room of One’s Own, in which she famously stated that a woman needed to have a room of her own if she were to write fiction.

Between the Acts, Virginia’s last novel which she finished the year of her death, takes place on a single summer’s day.

Eaten alive by her old demons, away from London and while Leonard was battling with his own depression, she surrendered on a winter’s day in 1941, drowning herself in a river next to her Sussex house, her pockets full of rocks.

In a heartbreaking note to her husband she said, “If anyone could have saved me, it would have been you.”

Her literary genius did not stem from her mental issues, but her battle against the voices in her head made her the writer she struggled to be.

Her life was devoted to two activities: literature and battling mental illness. •

by Charlotte le maignan

PHOTO CREDIT: Ella Cooper

DON’T TELL ME TO TAKE A CHILL PILL

AS third-year students, stress is rife for all. The difference is that people deal with stress in different ways.

Some people thrive off stress and find it a motivational factor to drive them forward.

Others don’t get stressed out and let it wash over them.

Or there are people like me, who cannot deal with it in the slightest.

I mean, I bloody crumble.

Everyone gets stressed

There is a great debate as to how much stress can be considered an issue of mental health.

Surely it is something that everyone deals with, right?

Everyone gets stressed, not everyone deals with depression, or bipolar – illnesses which are a chemical im-

balance or due to extreme extenuating circumstances.

Well I beg to differ.

Stress management impacts my life on a day-to-day basis and sometimes consumes and dictates my whole day.

The pressure sends me into a spiral - I can’t see a way out.

Cue tears, copious phone calls to my mum, chain smoking and possibly the worst consequence: compulsive tendencies to try to control everything else in my life.

So yes, stress which leads to some kind of OCD I would consider to impact my mental health.

I made an appointment with the counsellor I guess you’re all thinking, oh boohoo.

BOO BLOODY HOO, you can’t

deal with the stuff that normal people can.

Get a grip.

And what the f**k has that got to do with arts and culture?

My counselling sessions have really helped me out

Give me a theatre review already!

Once I had established that getting slightly lost for five minutes doesn’t warrant crying, and disintegrating in the office over a tax rebate doesn’t either, I got my arse in gear.

I made an appointment with a counsellor at the KCL Health Centre.

My counselling sessions have really helped me out.

Working with my counsellor, I have identified that what I’m crap at is doing nothing.

I’ve been signed up for ‘mindfulness’ classes to create a blank mind

and relaxing start to the day.

I need to be able to do things independently, things that are outside of a working environment.

Therefore, I am advocating for arts and culture as a way out of stress.

When s**t piles up, getting myself out to go and see some culture is a great way of alleviating and forgetting about everything that is piling up on my intense to do list.

Go out and see some culture

I can, in some kind of pseudoFreudian way, project my own s**tty, stressy life into what I’m looking at.

The best thing is comedy: Micky Flanagan’s tour at the O2 was a three hour window where the amount of work I had to do could be ignored.

I can be absorbed into someone else’s life and experiences.

So, get out and see some culture.

Dissertation reading piling up?

F**k it.

Go and get a fiver ticket for the Globe.

Don’t know what you’re going to do after you graduate?

Put it off, and go to the V&A and have a look round the exhibits.

Broken up with the boyfriend?

Well, have a little cry and then hop on the tube to Covent Garden and see an opera.

Get out. See something different. Let someone else’s problems be more interesting than yours, even if just for a few hours.

And if you’re still struggling, make an appointment with the KCL Counselling Service - they have helped me no end. •

by Anonymous

18 ROAR!

careers@roarnews.co.uk

THE NAME’S BOND, JAMES BOND KCL Careers Service discovers what a career in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office looks like THOSE at King’s Careers were swooning, batting eyelids and laughing hysterically when four members of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) strutted into the offices.

In between their dreamy stories about their latest visit around the globe, they - the FCO Quad, as they soon became known - got a chance to talk about careers in the diplomatic service.

While many a King’s student was dreaming about a career with the FCO, the King’s Careers Service were treated to a description of consular support, prosperity and security, the three career routes available with the FCO. If you have ever lost your passport or been taken ill in another country, then it is consular support that came to your rescue.

The FCO in London and in UK embassies worldwide had to deal

with 19,000 cases of holiday-goers, party animals or just the downright unlucky in 2012/13.

Don’t be fooled if this career path sounds slightly lacking in action, they also support British nationals in crisis overseas.

In these instances teams will descend upon the global crises units in the UK, and liaise with the employees on the ground.

“If consular support didn’t catch your fancy, there is always the prosperity team” King’s Careers heard from the energetic FCO Quad.

The aim of this section of the FCO is to break down trade barriers, promote trade agreements and support British growth abroad.

It isn’t all hunky dory for the Prosperity bunch though; they also have to help combat corruption and help safeguard against political crisis.

“This Prosperity bunch sound like James Bond to me” one of the King’s Careers team leaders

announced while sidling up to the FCO Quad.....

The Prosperity bunch may sound rather dashing and James Bondesque, but wait till you hear about the Security work at the FCO. These 007 wannabes tackle threats from terrorism, piracy, organised crime and trafficking and cyber-crime, while at the same time engaging in counter espionage.

“This all has to come with a catch?” the King’s Careers team shouted as they prepared to send their CVs off to the FCO. To work for the FCO you have to spend two years based in London.

In the first year you will be handed a brown paper envelope with your job written inside.

“These can vary from drinks maker to secret agent” the FCO Quad joked.

A second year with the FCO involves learning a new language such as Mandarin or Arabic.

After two years, you’ll go abroad

for a posting, where you’ll spend the next three or four years.

Soon the FCO Quad were on their way back to their fancy London offices, leaving King’s Careers to ponder.

Through work with the FCO it is clear that you are thrown in headfirst, with a lot of responsibility early on.

You are also given feedback, so will need to be able to take constructive criticism to help you develop. If you are posted abroad you are representing the UK Government, so may be targeted by the press.

Regular relocations may be more complicated when employees have families.

For more information, and help with the recruitment process, please go and talk to a careers consultant. •

‘BEYOND THE STAGE’ CAREERS FAIR

BOOKING is now open for TheatreCraft 2013, the ‘beyond the stage careers fair’ that takes place on Friday 22 November from 9am to 3pm.

Hosted by the Royal Opera House, TheatreCraft is a free event for anyone aged 16 to 25 who is looking for a non-performance career in theatre.

From directing to stage management, make-up to marketing, lighting to costume, TheatreCraft offers a glimpse into the behindthe-scenes world of theatre.

Attendees on the day can take part in workshops led by theatre professionals; explore the vibrant marketplace of theatres, training providers and theatrical suppliers;

and join in at the ‘Ask the Experts’ zone for one-to-one careers advice.

New for this year, there will also be networking hubs where attendees can make connections with their peers.

You can reserve your place now and register for news updates on the TheatreCraft 2013 website.

TheatreCraft is organised jointly by Creative & Cultural Skills, Masterclass at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, Mousetrap Theatre Projects, the Royal Opera House and the Society of London Theatre. • See more at: careers.lon.ac.uk/ blog/humanities/

ROAR! 19

comment@roarnews.co.uk

TROOPS DESERVE MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT VICTORYOUS OUS BEN JUDGE IS

THE subject of mental health of army personnel is at the top of the MoD’s agenda.

Some of the most startling evidence as to why it needs to be was researched here at King’s.

In 2012, research from the King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) found that 12.6 per cent of UK military personnel were violent on their return home from deployment in Iraq.

Dr Deirdre MacManus, forensic psychiatrist and clinical lecturer at the KCMHR, led the research and published the statistic in the journal Psychological Medicine.

The study was funded by the Ministry of Defence.

Data was collected from a total of 4,928 UK Armed Forces personnel who had been deployed in Iraq in 2003.

The question Dr MacManus asked to each of them was simple: “Have you become violent and hit someone?”

It is harrowing to hear of the horrific stories of soldiers with mental

trauma coming back from the frontline.

One such story was reported by James Denselow in the Guardian on 21 February 2010; a US army sergeant had appeared in court, accused of waterboarding his fouryear-old daughter after she refused to recite the alphabet.

Rip lives apart This is just one story out of many thousands of soldiers being unable to cope with the civilian world in the last decade.

It is so shocking, it’s almost unbelievable.

Even more worrying, was that Dr MacManus’s study found that army personnel who experienced mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were five times more likely to report violence on homecoming.

The effect that the frontline can have can rip lives apart, destroy families and result in tragedy beyond all recognition. The cost to the NHS is millions of pounds.

It is a serious problem and eve-

rything possible should be done to increase awareness of the subject.

This is why I feel, along with billions of others, that Remembrance Day is so very important. On this day in November, we do not just remember those who fought and died, but those also who are still suffering.

During the two minute silence, I think about the families who watch and have watched their husbands, wives, mothers, sisters, brothers and fathers go off to fight.

Remembrance Day is an apolitical day. Creed, colour, class, nationality, culture and political beliefs are irrelevant. It is a day to remember and think about those past and present who have suffered from the heinous effects of war.

ULU’s actions stink Last year, Daniel Cooper, acting President of the University of London Union (ULU) at the time, decided that he would pull an utterly appalling political stunt by not attending the University of London Remembrance Day service.

This year, ULU is doing it again.

On Tuesday 22 October, ULU Senate passed a motion, giving “ULU’s elected representatives the liberty to choose whether they wish to attend the Remembrance ceremony or not, in line with the political beliefs they may hold.

However, if ULU officers or staff members want to take part, naturally they can, as long as they do not claim to be representing ULU as an organisation”.

Narrow-minded individuals ULU’s actions stink. They politicise Remembrance Day. As I have already stated, Remembrance Day is not a political day; it is a day to remember people, people who have died, suffered or are still fighting regardless of the theatre of war.

Even in our own Student Council, ten narrow-minded individuals voted against the motion that Henrique Laitenberger and I submitted to ask KCLSU to condemn ULU’s actions and for the President of KCLSU to

attend the University of London Remembrance Day service. The newly elected Chair of Student Council, Robbie Hirst, abstained. The actions of ULU have generated fury across the capital and country, making the Evening Standard, BBC Radio 2, BBC London, the Telegraph, the Guardian and a number of other blogs, and smaller newspapers.

If you have five minutes, watch Chessum’s car crash BBC London debate – it’s pitifully embarrassing, almost painful to watch him attempt to produce any coherence in his bumbling and disastrous rant.

In sum, Michael Chessum and Daniel Cooper have abused their supposed ‘mandate’ given to them.

The have defamed students across London.

KCLSU should condemn this narrow-minded, politically extreme parting shot of ULU; Student Council has now given you the mandate to do so. • Ben Judge is the Chair of King’s College London Conservative Society and a Student Trustee

MENTAL HEALTH: LET’S GET THINGS DONE We must review our mental health policies, says KCLSU President Sebastiaan Debrouwere I HAVE a view, arguably an idealistic one, of what the university experience should and should not be.

University should be a transformative experience, in which students meet new friends and discover new skills.

University should be a challenging experience, where we discover and overcome our personal limits.

It is, and should be, a seismic shift in the personal lives of millions of young people across the country.

But university should never be a living hell for those students; and all too often, it is.

Research by the National Union of Students earlier this year found that almost every university student experiences mental distress in the course of their degree, and that a

staggering 20 per cent of students consider themselves to have a mental health issue.

Nearly three quarters of those said they experienced severe distress once a month or more, and almost a third said they suffered from it every single week.

Yet counsellors across the country see only between three and ten per cent of the student population each year.

Only a quarter of students feel comfortable enough to tell others that they have experienced, or are experiencing, mental health problems.

Our students feel alone, misunderstood, and abandoned.

Not because our counsellors don’t care - believe me, they’re first class professionals with hearts of

gold - but because there are simply too few provisions for help and too many needless, stress-inducing barriers for our students.

Universities must recognise that providing mental health support is not just a key priority, but also an obligation towards their students.

Unions like KCLSU must campaign hard to eradicate the anomalies in the current approach.

This year, we want to work on four projects that will yield longlasting change regarding welfare.

Firstly, we’ll look into rolling out mental health ‘first aid’ training at KCLSU to ensure staff are aware of the issues that may affect students, and how they can recognise signs that someone may need help.

Secondly, we’re working hard to make sure that all personal tutors

are trained to provide good assistance to students in need, so they can be an optimal first port of call.

Thirdly, we want to work with the College to review the ‘Fit to Sit’ policy.

Research across the country shows that these policies can be discriminatory against students facing mental health difficulties, and we know from the many appeals that the current policy is not sufficient.

This review will fit into a wider project to improve the mitigating circumstances policy.

Finally, I’ve been working with the Counselling Service and a number of student groups on a yearlong project that was set out in my manifesto last March: the setting up of a College-wide peers support scheme, where students can go for

help, a refreshing chat or just to let off some steam when it all gets too much.

The MSA currently runs such a scheme very successfully, and I firmly believe that we must work with them, and based on their success and expertise, make this available to all students.

For that, we’ll look into funding, training and welfare support for the individual advisors.

We’re all human, so sometimes we will come across a rough patch on the road. But right now, mental health difficulties are too often ignored, or help is not provided.

What is really needed is a university system that cares for its students. Anthony, Areeb, Liam and I will fight for it this year - will you join us? •

20 ROAR!

POWER TO OUR STAFF

BY MICHAEL DI BENEDETTO

STRIKE day was incredible: the spirit of solidarity, the excitement, the chanting, the feeling that the staff can win their pay dispute.

Some, though, were critical of the staff’s decision to strike, labelling it “disruptive” and an “inconvenience”. Read on.

Higher Education staff have had their pay slashed 13% in real terms in the last five years. This, in the words of Will Hutton of The Observer, is “the most sustained cut in wages suffered by any profession since the Second World War”.

Union Unison estimates that this has cost individual members of staff between £600 and £1,200 a year.

But the strike was not solely about pay. Higher Education is now second only to catering as the sector which employs the most casualised workers. This is largely a result of universities focusing on research over teaching because it is more profitable - itself symptomatic of the wider issue of the marketisation of education.

Ultimately, even the Government’s economic case fails. The Tory-led coalition pontificates about the need for austerity, the need to “live within our means”.

There is a budget surplus of £1 billion in the education sector, enough to fund a pay-rise well above inflation for every member of staff. Further, we are not “all in this together”, most principals are on salaries of over £240,000.

Another facet of the dispute is the gender pay gap, which in Higher Education stands at 16.5% - above average. The average pay of a full-time male employee is £19.80 an hour, compared to £16.53 for a full-time female employee.

We need a serious discussion about the funding of Higher Education, a discussion that this fiercely ideological Government seeks to avoid.

After all, this is the same fight as the one fought against the increase in tuition fees. It is a fight for the very idea of a publicly funded education system. And it is a fight that, if we stand together, we can win. •

politics@roarnews.co.uk

IN CONVERSATION WITH THE DISABLED STUDENTS’ OFFICER Politics editor Michael Di Benedetto speaks to Alex Holland about his plans for the year ALEX Holland was recently elected as the Disabled Students’ Officer on KCLSU Student Council.

He is a second year English and Hong Kong Law student from Norwich. We caught up with him to find out more…

Why did you run for the role?

To improve student welfare support for disabled students across the College.

Several areas of student welfare provision are already excellent, but many students are not aware of what support is available to them, how to access it, or even whether they are entitled to it.

Any student who feels that they have a condition which may affect their studies should make themselves known to the College as early as possible in order to access support, ideally long before term starts.

Specific adaptations to King’s residences are currently done on an ad hoc basis, so if a student requires adapted accommodation they need to tell the College in advance.

The College’s Disability Advisory Service (DAS) contacts applicants who declare a disability on their UCAS applications or contact the College about it, but of course they can only offer support to those they know about.

What doesn’t help the situation is that some schools and colleges are reluctant to advise students to declare disabilities on university applications for fear that ‘17 November till it would disadvantage them.

Universities must work harder to dispel myths like these, by being transparent about how they use the information on university applications; students will only be disadvantaged if they don’t declare.

Unfortunately I think this myth is reflective of the stigma which still surrounds disabilities today.

How can the system be improved?

The DAS are extremely busy at the beginning of term and students have to wait up to four weeks for their appointments.

Part of the problem is insufficient resources.

It’s a real problem that the service is strained at the times when students most require support.

Given that approximately 10% of the student body has declared disabilities, I think the resources of DAS should better reflect the number of students they serve.

I am currently working closely with a member of the Disability Awareness Society, as well as the other Liberation Officers on the Student Council, to set up a disabled students’ forum, a safe space for students to give feedback about the student services at King’s.

In the past, disabled students have had little opportunity to voice their concerns to the College beyond individual complaints. A forum would allow students to meet and identify areas where the College can do more.

Also on my agenda is a meeting with the Accommodation Office to ensure they’re properly catering for students; King’s need to provide more affordable accommodation for disabled students because adapted accommodation in the private sector is often expensive.

I notice that you passed two motions at Student Council,

what

were

they about?

The first motion will create a portal on the College website which would include key information about disabled access to the end of term’ university buildings. This was in response to a report published last month by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign which assessed how accessible universities are for disabled students, in which King’s scored very poorly, meeting only one out of five criteria.

The main issue is that accessibility information on the website is currently dispersed across over several web pages, making it difficult for current and prospective students to easily find accessibility information.

The other motion concerned the KCLSU website, which doesn’t include any accessibility information whatsoever. KCLSU have

COUNCILLOR: Alex Holland promised to put me in touch with the website manager to address this.

What are your other plans for Council?

I think the present lack of union affiliation with a service such as Nightline is unacceptable. I think the recent report in the Evening Standard of the suicide of a Brunel student highlights the importance of these services. I will be pressing Student Council to make this issue a priority. I am also supportive of establishing a Peer Support Network across the College, which is in its early stages.

Is there anything else that you want to focus on?

Disability History Month is from 17 November until the end of term. I am working closely with student societies and KCLSU to put together some interesting events. I can’t say too much, but keep an eye on the KCLSU website!

The role of disabled people in society has been sorely neglected and it’s important that disabled people don’t feel invisible. The 2012 Paralympics brought greater awareness of disability, but only briefly. I hope we can reinvigorate some of the same spirit we saw in 2012. •

Politicians just don’t understand mental health

BY NADINE ALMANASFI But here’s an object more of dread Than ought the grave contains-A human form with reason fled, While wretched life remains.

DAVID Cameron insensitively used the word “nuts” in reference to mental health.

Eric Pickles made a thoughtless comment abut “adjusting your medication” to a victim of child abuse.

Tesco and ASDA stocked ‘mental patient’ fancy dress costumes for Halloween. In this context, the above verse by Abraham Lincoln

seems appropriate.

Understanding of and sensitivity towards mental health issues is currently very much in the public eye, exposing the problematic attitudes still prevalent.

There is a highly polarised atmosphere surrounding the topic of mental health.

There are those who trivialise it, putting it down to just feeling a bit sad, and others who reduce it totally to a biological phenomenon due to chemical processes in the brain.

Service users A friend who has been through the NHS mental health system describes the nature of care offered to

her: “Even within hospitals there is a distinct ‘you are a patient that can be treated with medication’ and a ‘you need counselling and emotional care’ divide, which isn’t helpful at all.

Personally, this didn’t help me understand my disorder in the least.

With a more common disorder like Bipolar Disorder, there seems to be a step-by-step approach; if this doesn’t work then maybe this will.

Mental health care in the UK seems more based around the treatment of the disorder itself rather than the patient.

Mental health patients are called ‘service users’ – I hate the term because it makes me feel like I’m a

customer at a petrol station or something.

She added: “I think it is being worse than trivialised, it’s just not really talked about.

“There is no real public knowledge about the mental health spectrum and how it is possible for ‘normal’ people to fall on to it.

“I think that’s linked to a very British way of not talking about our problems.

Institutional bias “But it means that when somebody doesn’t feel okay, they sit on it for much longer than they should.

“We don’t acknowledge depression, anxiety or similar issues that

most people go through, so it is much harder for us to understand disorders that are ‘bigger’ or at least shown in the media to be more ‘serious’.”

The care minister Norman Lamb claims that there is an “institutional bias in the NHS against mental health” and that he is “determined to end this”.

But with three quarters of the 1,711 NHS beds closed since April 2011 being in mental health wards, it appears that there is still a long way to go until mental health is re-humanised and, to an extent, depathologised.

Sufferers are not ‘diseased’ – they can and do recover. •

ROAR! 21

comment@roarnews.co.uk

WE NEED RACIALLY DIVERSE COUNSELLORS King’s Counselling Service must do more to understand race-related issues, says Rachel Williams

BY RACHEL WILLIAMS BETWEEN three and ten per cent of students will contact their counselling service within an academic year, according to the Association for University and College Counselling.

This suggests that between 750 and 2,500 students at King’s will be asking for help.

Like myself, a number of those students will be black and, unfortunately, a large portion of those students will be left disappointed.

A few years ago, I was an outpatient at King’s College Hospital after a series of panic attacks.

Over the years, I have been shuffled between NHS and volunteer services ranging from beneficial to downright awful.

Last year, I got in touch with the counselling services at King’s as I was struggling to deal with my anxiety on my own.

Despite leaving my past experiences at the door, the experience I had in that fifty minute slot was so triggering that I was not able to go back.

I cannot explain to you how it feels to have to explain racism in a situation where you are supposed to feel safe and understood.

I cannot explain how it feels to sit opposite a mental health professional who is visibly having trouble comprehending that the mental

abuse of racial discrimination is dehumanising and exhausting to fight against.

My experience is not an anomaly.

It’s mirrored by most, if not all, other global majority students I have spoken to about accessing mental health services.

T h e NUS Race for Equality report states that 16 per cent of black students experience racism in their educational institution.

Why then is dealing with racism, a common source of mental distress for students of colour, so over-

looked within our university?

The KCL Counselling Service makes no mention of racism in its “Common Concerns” section.

There is no mention of monitoring the Counselling Service for the benefit of global majority students.

There is no mention of providing a diversity of counsellors.

Providing a mental health service that represents the population is not a radical notion: the monitoring of ethnic diversity has been mandatory in publicly funded mental health services since 1995.

The same report also indicates that 24 per cent of black students did not feel adequately supported by their personal tutor.

Could this be the trickle-down effect of a colour-blind support system?

After all, it is the counselling staff at King’s who provide training

programmes for personal tutors.

A system that does not “see” colour ignores the specific problems that black students face in accessing mental health services.

King’s rightly acknowledges that students who deal with marginalised sexuality, disability or studying internationally have particular difficulties.

However, it does not consider how race impacts on these factors or how much of an impact it can have on its own.

What good is a health service that is not effective or positive for a number of groups in the student population?

After all, there’s no health without mental health. • Rachel Williams is Women’s Officer and Vice President of KCL Neuroscience Society

Our stiff upper lip stops people seeking support

BY JAMES LEEMAN OCTOBER 2013 saw celebrities such as Alistair Campbell and Stephen Fry passionately promote the Stop the Stigma campaign; in the same month, the NUS hosted its first ever Student Mental Health Conference.

This in turn coincided with World Mental Health Day on October 10.

The issue was on everyone’s lips; that is, everyone except the students at King’s, where neither KCLSU nor the university made any attempt to engage with World Mental Health Day. But this wasn’t just one day, or one month, where King’s students failed to get talking about the issues surrounding mental health. We have been failing on this issue for far too long.

Mental health issues have long

been seen as a minority illness, but earlier this month the NUS released a report which showed the widespread impact of the issue on university life.

The report revealed that 92 per cent of students surveyed identified as having had one or more feelings of mental distress during their time at university, and that a fifth considered themselves to have mental health problems.

Feelings of mental distress can include stress, anxiety, insomnia and depression, and the report indicates that university is a key contributor to these symptoms in young people.

This is hardly surprising, as university can be a tough experience for many, where feelings of loneliness and stress are brought on by academic, social and financial worries.

King’s and other organisations in London have taken big steps to set up a support system for students

who face symptoms of mental distress.

There are a number of different services for students who are having problems, big or small, with university life. These include Samaritans, Nightline, the King’s College NHS Health Centre and King’s Counselling Service.

But while the support system for mental health problems at King’s has improved, the awareness of the issue has remained poor.

While talking to fellow King’s students it seems obvious that people are not aware of just how widespread problems of mental distress are, or about the services in place to help sufferers.

The issue seems to be one that is kept lurking in the background due to a stereotypically British sense of not feeling comfortable enough to talk about these problems. Instead we choose to maintain a stiff upper lip and allow

individuals to continue their struggles alone.

It speaks volumes that two years ago KCLSU withdrew its financial affiliation from Nightline, an almost entirely student run organisation which is working tirelessly to deal with mental health issues.

The charity allows students to phone anonymously and confidentially between 6pm and 8am to discuss with an understanding listener any problems that they are encountering with student life.

Last month Roar! asked how KCLSU could use the £137k that it will no longer be spending on ULU affiliation, and one place to start would be to take a real stand on mental

health; to restore the financial affiliation to Nightline, and promote its services across the university in a highly visual way.

KCLSU should also become involved in wider campaigns run by the NUS to highlight the prevalence of mental health issues. These actions could be part of a wider drive to ensure that mental health issues are no longer a personal battle.

Only when we begin discussing it openly will students realise just how common these issues are. It’s time to lift the taboo, shake off the stig- ma and start talking about our mental health. •

22 ROAR!

THE SCIENCE OF MENTAL DISORDER

IT’S ALL IN Y

BULIMIA NERVOSA

BY HELENA REUT-HOBBS OVER the past twenty years, the number of people suffering from eating disorders in the UK has risen rapidly.

Although there has been a fair amount of focus on anorexia nervosa in the media, less is known about bulimia nervosa, the eating disorder that Princess Diana suffered from.

Bulimia is characterised by periods of excessive eating followed by ‘purging’ (vomiting, taking laxatives, or periods of not eating anything) to ensure that no weight gain occurs.

These ‘binge-purge’ cycles often occur as a way to cope with stress and emotional problems, and soon become an obsession that is hard to break free from.

Many people with bulimia suffer from other mental health disorders.

A recent study in the US showed that around half of all patients diagnosed with binge eating disorders such as bulimia have a history of depression.

Also, suffering from bulimia may cause depression and other mental disorders to manifest. Low self-esteem, stress and social pressures to be slim may also cause the onset of bulimia.

Bulimia is a mental health disorder but it causes physical health problems too. These may include teeth and gum problems, osteoporosis, chemical imbalances, bowel problems (due to excessive use of laxatives), an abnormal heartbeat and tearing of the oesophagus. Left untreated, these problems can become serious and even life threatening.

Although the risk of death of bulimia sufferers is lower than that of anorexia suffers, people with bulimia may still die from complications linked to the disease.

It is mainly women who suffer from bulimia, although the number of cases seen in men has steadily risen over the years.

The onset of bulimia is usually triggered by stressful life events or transitions, like going through a bad breakup or leaving for university, and it becomes a negative coping mechanism.

Interestingly, the average onset of bulimia nervosa occurs at 18-19 years old – the age of most first year students. Statistics show that 1 in 20 female university students in the UK suffer from bulimia. This is perhaps not surprising, given how stressful

5,000 more lives ruined each year from eating disorders

university life can be, but is a worryingly high percentage, and means that there are a lot of university students who need help.

If you are suffering from bulimia nervosa (or know someone who is), it’s important to get help as soon as possible. Admitting that you have a problem is the first step. Talking to someone, a trusted friend perhaps, about your problem is also a good idea – they can support you in getting help. It is also imperative that you seek professional help to regain healthy attitudes to food and eating.

Although a lot of progress has been made in understanding bulimia nervosa in recent years, there is still so much that needs to be understood.

The fact that 5 out of 10 sufferers of bulimia are still not completely healthy 10 years after diagnosis means that more work needs to be done to formulate more effective treatment plans for this eating disorder. •

ANOREXIA NERVOSA

BY DURR-E-MAKNOON TARIQ ANOREXIA nervosa is an eating disorder that has profound physical effects on an individual’s health.

The fact that many people might not be aware of is that this condition is actually caused by psychological factors that affect an individual’s mental health.

In fact, it is the psychological factors that lead to the biological or physical symptoms.

Though, the environmental factors i.e. the society an individual lives in, also play a major part in developing the condition, especially in teenagers aged 15 to 19.

At university, most first-years and some second-years come under this

age range.

The studies show that young females are more prone to develop an eating disorder compared to males.

Though a recent study performed

by King’s College London in collaboration with UCL Institute of Child Health shows that now more males are also developing eating disorders.

The study shows that overall, there has been a 15% increase in eating disorders since 2000 but for males particularly the increase has been 27%.

To put everything in actual numbers, the study came out with these statistics: 4,610 girls aged 15 to 19 and 336 boys aged 15 to 19 develop an eating disorder in the UK every year.

The figures above are shocking.

They make us question why, in a developed country like the UK, people

are suffering from eating disorders such as anorexia. Why are young people starving themselves?

This brings us back to the earlier point about environment playing a key role.

Unfortunately in our society, there is this concept of ideal bodily physiques for both males and females which emphasises that being thin is beautiful.

Western media constantly portrays this. There are advertisements for ways to lose weight in order to look slim and smart.

All this leads young people to question their own physique and resort to extreme measures just so they can fit in with the society’s standards of beauty.

Now, let’s get to the science behind it and see what takes place in the brain to initiate this condition.

Once a person starts to starve themselves, the brain does not receive the essential amount of nutrients it needs,

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RS: GOING BEYOND THE SYMPTOMS ROAR! 23

YOUR HEAD?

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CLINICAL DEPRESSION

BY VANESSA MEGARO WITH depression rising at a striking rate it’s only normal that people are looking for alternatives to antidepressants. But what are our options?

Depression starts as a mental disease caused by an array of different triggers often summarised as a “chemical in balance in the brain”.

But it’s so much more complex, to the point where we don’t even know the full extent of it.

So far, studies suggest that the hippocampus, a region in the brain that has partial control over memory, is actually smaller in some depressed people. However, the amygdala, in charge of potent emotions in relation to memories and the thalamus, a centre that receives sensory information and tells the brain how to act accordingly, are affected too. Genetics also has a stand-in. We all share the same genes (with some minute variation), but we have different variants of genes called alleles. Which allele we have determines whether we’re

more prone to depression.

With 8.9% of 16-25 year olds in the UK turning to self-harm, depression is a very serious issue. Data from the Mental Health Foundation found that 50 per cent of university students showed signs of anxiety and one in ten suffered from clinical depression.

For many, antidepressants are the first port of call. Some work by giving us a big boost of the neurotransmitter serotonin and/or noradrenaline - chemicals passed along our brain cells that stimulate emotion. So naturally, you think you’d feel happier straight away right?

Wrong. Increasing the neurotransmitter encourages nerve cell growth in the brain, which takes a matter of weeks. This allows new cell connections to be made which can promote the feeling of ‘happiness’.

There has been a massive increase in the herbal medicine industry and a lot of people see this as a valid treatment for depression. A popular choice is St. John’s Wort as it seems to have antidepressant-like benefits, although the mechanism of action is unclear.

Although mindfulness meditation has been practised for thousands of years, it has only recently been coupled with alleviating physical and mental pain. Mindfulness meditation can be thought of as training your brain to be obedient and has been dubbed the ‘passive form of meditation’. It works by first relaxing you, activating the parasympathetic nervous system. Then hormones, neural input and other chemical triggers come into play and activate the sympathetic nervous system, making you feel alert and focused. This leads to a mentally clear state and this sequence of events has been captured by MRI scans. Mindfulness training has been claimed to be just as effective as antidepressants.

These are just a few methods of treating depression. For anyone who feels they may suffer from depression, it is important to seek medical advice. If you’re curious about any of these methods because you feel you may suffer from depression, it is important to consult your GP, who may be able to assist in picking a method of treatment best for you. •

anxiety disorder is Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD). According to the Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma at King’s, 4-7% of the population will suffer from GAD at least once in their lifetime. GAD patients are in a state of constant anxiety and worry about various issues, however small they may be. GAD is due to a long-term, incessant ‘fight-or-flight’ response, in which the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems trigger a hormone-release cascade to prepare the body to counteract the cause of the stimuli. This includes: increased heartbeat, accelerated breathing which lowers CO2 levels and causes dizziness, muscle tension, constriction of gut that leads to stomach ache and nausea, dehydration due to frequent urination and sweating, and more.

The most relevant complications of GAD are how intensely it can affect student life. When faced with a new situation, GAD sufferers perceive an irrational fear of the unknown. They tend to avoid social events. Fatigue, insomnia and constant worrying hinder their ability to concentrate on studies or gain new experiences. GAD may also lead to secondary mental disorders such as depression. Furthermore, the afore-

mentioned ‘fear of the unknown’ may prevent sufferers from seeking help, exacerbating their poor mental and physical condition.

There are several ways to avoid and treat anxiety, along with the usual ‘eat healthy, sleep well’. When drowned by your worries, tackle them one at a time. Try to schedule ‘worry periods’ beforehand to meet important deadlines. Accept uncertainty - if you are worried by an issue, it is most likely to be unproductive as it is generated by yourself, not the environment. Assess the likelihood of your fear taking place and if you can’t substantiate your fear, it is unlikely to come true.

You should also talk to someone.

Talk to your close family and friends about your worries. More often than not, sharing your issues alleviates an invisible load off you. If you feel you are developing chronic anxiety, book an appointment with King’s Counselling Service.

If all else fails, study during the year rather than cramming just before exams. I can’t promise that you will approach the ExCeL Centre freshly awoken from last night’s beauty sleep. However, you will certainly have a lot less to be anxious about. •

GENERAL ANXIETY DISORDER

BY FATIMA BINTE ABDUL

The patient would have to go through several therapies to gain weight and would also be given antidepressants to help with anxiety.

These are the traditional treatments.

Researchers at King’s Institute of Psychiatry are working on something interesting in this regard, a technique called ‘repetitive trans cranial stimulation’ to see whether this reduces symptoms of anorexia.

The technique targets desolateral prefrontal cortex which is an area of the brain that is involved in selfregulation and self-control, problems associated with anorexia.

The process involves stimulating this area of the brain by holding a coil against the head adjacent to the above region.

Some trials have shown that the stimulation results in reducing levels of anxiety in the early stages of anorexia but not in the later ones. Though the work is still ongoing. •

WE are all familiar with that pre-exam panic situation where we replace sleep with eleventh hour revision and have coffee running through our veins instead of blood.

Sometimes the slight mention of ‘ExCeL’ makes many King’s students cringe as they’re reminded of days on end filled with anxiety.

A study by the University of Michigan shows about 15.6% of undergraduate and 13% of graduate students display anxiety disorders.

Short-term anxiety is more than common during exams or even at the beginning of your first year, due to the extreme change in environment accompanied by the sudden realisation that you are now an adult who’s supposed to take out their own trash.

However, it’s also common for students to become habituated to it and develop a chronic anxiety state.

A very common

‘SNOOKER’ THOSE BLUES With psychological help, sports stars can achieve

BY DAN BRIMSON ACCORDING to figures reported by the BBC earlier this year, approximately two in every three adults will suffer from depression at some point in their lives.

Given this statistic we should expect that many of our sporting heroes will also suffer from this all too common condition.

Living high pressure lives in the public eye, it is perhaps surprising that we hear of so few sports people being affected.

Undoubtedly this is in part due to the social stigma still attached to mental illness which leads many affected by the condition to try and hide their suffering.

The recent suicide of Wales football manager Gary Speed brought the issue of mental illness in sport to the fore.

With other sporting stars now choosing to go public about their struggles with depression we can perhaps hope that some of the stigma attached to depression is beginning to lift and that sport may be a force for good in persuading people to seek treatment for this debilitating illness.

This summer Clarke Carlisle the former Burnley footballer, and ex-Professional Footballers’ As-

sociation Chairman presented a hard-hitting documentary, ‘Football’s Suicide Secret,’ which drew attention to the failure of this country’s national sport to provide adequate help to those suffering with depression.

Drawing on his own personal experience, Carlisle explained that like many young boys across the country, when he signed his first professional contract with Queens Park Rangers in 2000, he thought he’d made it.

As he says himself though, he was just one bad tackle away from a career-threatening injury and in 2001, this injury came when he severely damaged his knee in an on-pitch collision.

Faced with the reality that he might never play again, Carlisle explained how he sank to his lowest point and attempted to take his own life.

Thankfully he survived, but was keen to point out that he still feels football clubs aren’t doing enough to help their players deal with mental illness.

He highlighted how, in the macho world of professional football, there has been a tendency to tell players to ‘pull their socks up and get on with it’ rather than take more compassionate action to deal with the condition.

Football Association Chairman David Bernstein even admitted in

July that looking after the mental health of the country’s players was an area the FA had neglected.

The key challenge that faces football, is attempting to change the stigma around depression.

Harnessing the work of charities such as the Sporting Chance Clinic which helps athletes recover from problems such as addiction and depression will help push this process forward.

The struggles with depression of snooker’s undisputed star, Ronnie O’Sullivan have by comparison, been widely known.

From sitting with a wet towel draped over his head for most of a match against Mark King in 2005, to conceding his 2006 UK Championship quarter final to Stephen Hendry because he was ‘fed up’, O’Sullivan’s problems have been plain for the world to see.

Although he won the World Championship for the third time in 2008, by 2011 it was clear that he was considering retiring from the game.

His reputation as a perfectionist and the long lonely hours of practice that are required to reach the top of his sport have been linked to O’Sullivan’s struggles.

But I believe that such comments are wide of the mark as depression is something that anyone can experience. The key for O’Sullivan was that he sought

help for the condition.

In 2011 O’Sullivan started working with sports psychologist Dr Steve Peters. Focussing on teaching O’Sullivan how to control his emotions, Peters has helped O’Sullivan play to the best of his ability. The transformation is evident in O’Sullivan’s recent results.

He has won back to back world titles and has finally silenced any remaining doubters who claimed that his record in tournaments failed to do justice to his talent.

What the stories of Carlisle and O’Sullivan show, is that if professional sportspeople are given the right help then depression need not be a barrier to success.

The backing of sport’s governing bodies is essential in changing longstanding attitudes towards mental health.

While top teams and individuals may have the resources to access one-to-one support, this isn’t the case at lower levels of sport.

Affirmative action is required at all levels of sport to offer easy access to help for mental illness.

Achieving sporting success offers no cloak of protection against depression as Ronnie O’Sullivan has shown.

Let’s hope that his example will cause others to acknowledge their problems and seek the help they need. •

PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY

ROAR! SPORT

RUGBY’S VARSITY COMEBACK

BY TIM FAWCETT

This season promises to be a very exciting one for King’s Rugby.

Hard work on the training pitch has ensured that the 1st XV have started the season with 3 huge wins; 63-0 vs Hertfordshire, 42-5 vs LSE and 39-7 vs The Royal Veterinary College.

Off the pitch, KCLRFC is also playing its part in making sure the new look London Varsity is bigger and better than ever, while ensuring that the rugby match is still a showpiece in itself at a high profile venue.

The BUCS referendum issue has been dealt with in such a way that still allows for the King’s/King’s Medics rivalry to thrive, culminating in the Macadam Cup at the end of the season.

The league for the 1st XV is full of intense rivalries; UCL, King’s Medics and LSE are all in our league.

Significant victories over UCL and King’s Medics last year and a strong start to this season should fill the side with confidence.

The 2nd XV have had a slightly harder start to the season, with tough fixtures against Reading and Middlesex (both are undefeated).

With some hard work on the training ground and the spirit the side saw at the end of last year, the 2nd XV should still push for a high place in their league.

KCLRFC is excited to be entering a team into the LUSL (London University Students League) for the first time.

This league is aimed at new players, and focuses on increasing levels of participation as well as helping beginners to learn the basics in a safe environment.

In another effort to boost participation within the University, the club is also taking part in the RFU-led O2 Touch initiative.

This is every Friday at 17.30 at Tabard Gardens, and is ideal for those new to the game to improve people’s skill sets, and also for those who feel like doing some extra exercise.

The club is particularly pleased to announce that Prostate Cancer UK will be the Charity of the Year for King’s College London Rugby.

As a club, we will be doing fundraising events throughout the year for what we’re sure everyone will agree is a good cause, starting with Movember!

Those keen on playing should join our Facebook group - facebook.com/groups/kingsrugby. All ages and abilities are welcome! For updates on the club, you can also follow us on Twitter - @KCLRFC. •