From today’s Grauniad.

Illness – even cancer – is the body’s way of communicating, but doctors don’t have time to listen. Psychoanalysis may take years to make you better, but it beats quick-fix therapies.

My GP in Canada was fond of saying that he treated people, not just symptoms, and it’s true that I’ve never met another doctor like him. He was well-known for being an excellent diagnostician and I think the main reason for that was that he took time to listen to what his patients were actually saying to him.

I think the article raises some good points about how health care systems tend to pigeon-hole patients far too much, though I’m not sure that everyone would benefit from psychoanalysis. Still, sometimes just being able to talk and feel like someone is really listening can make a world of difference in how we feel both physically and emotionally. It’s odd how in most western societies we often ignore the obvious connection between physical and mental well-being.

Do you get them?

Back in November it was suggested that the other “dreich” month of the year was February. Do you agree?

It’s a bit different here in Sevilla because, although it can be a bit rainy in February, it also starts warming up and feeling quite springlike.

What’s February like where you are?

This is the beginning of WEEK 13.

Cool, eh? It was quite hard at first, for both of us (Nog and I both quit smoking on the same day – November 5th). And we do still get occasional ‘jonesing’ moments. But the benefits are far outweighing the difficulties.

For example, what we didn’t spend on cigs for two months paid for our posh hotel in Barcelona. Also, we both feel so much better physically, mentally and emotionally.

I think Nog has had the harder battle as he was dealing with a 37-year-old habit. I didn’t start smoking until I was 36 (duh!) and so for me it was more about changing behaviour patterns than actually feeling addicted to nicotine. Still, we both went through quite a rough time at first and appreciate that we could never have done it alone.

You know what they say – misery loves company. 😉

But more than that it’s been the daily mutual support that has kept us going.

So . . . yay for us!

Excellent Grauniad article.

Women who fixate on their weight, unless we’re dealing with eating disorders, are not intelligent. Intelligence is not bestowed at birth, assessed through childhood and fixed until death. It is an aggregate of what you’ve got and what you do with it.

If you chuck it all away counting calories and wondering what size a Gap 2 really is in English, then that does not sit oddly atop your intelligence, like a monkey on a camel. The act of concentrating on trivia locks your mind like a bandsaw in one direction. It precludes the kind of inquiry that might make you extend yourself. It simply makes you less intelligent.

I know that might sound a bit harsh but I like the no-nonsense approach of what the writer has to say. Clearly when we are doing something stupid we are not being ‘intelligent’.