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Originally Posted by Jancis

Times newspaper investigation - "Scandal of 1 million hooked on Benzodiazepine tranquillisers".

According to the Times reports today: Benzodiazepine-based tranquillisers (known as 'benzos' - branded as Valium and Xanax) should be prescribed for four weeks at most, and only in cases of extreme anxiety and trauma. They are thought to be more addictive than cannabis and heroin. A million Britons have been taking them routinely for years, and in some cases decades.

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Originally Posted by Jancis

I was interested in the article as it's possible that my uncle might have been addicted to valium. He was being treated for sleep disorder and severe depression after his wife died in 2001. I'll never know if this was the case of course. Very difficult to research but good that different studies are being investigated and reported.

Imagine an elderly person living on their own in a remote village in the middle of nowhere. Isolated and being aware that their personality was changing. ...

When we visited my uncle he was sound asleep. He looked as if he'd crashed out on his bed and was lying in the foetal position. His wife's toy dog was at his head - the toy seemed to me to look faithful and protective. When I kissed him and spoke to him he woke up for a few minutes and said he was pleased to see us but then relapsed into deep slumber once more. He didn't look at all comfortable with one arm tucked under his body so we tried to encourage him to sit up but he cried out with pain and ...

I've been posting on here for a while now and it struck me tonight that my avatar pics might need an explanation.
The one I use for posting is a pic of my uncle's poodle, Sophie. The one that appears on this blog is a mermaid statue wearing my uncle's fisherman's cap. Here is the original picture. He popped the cap on the mermaid spontaneously - so still has a sense of humour somewhere deep within. And look at that smile.

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The key to the garden

I had some really fantastic news today. Norrms McNamara now has his very first Planting Memories Garden in the UK! I've been helping behind the scenes and can't believe that we've had the good fortune to achieve this. The wonderful owners of the nursing home who have offered their garden to the Dementia Awareness Campaign are known to me as they look after my uncle in one of their homes. They've helped him so much and I'm over the moon that I can help them in some ...