1. Was read and admired by the Soviet underground

George Orwell. Nineteen Eight-Four

George Orwell (born Eric Blair) clicked with Russian readers. First, because1984and the parableAnimal Farmdrew clear parallels with Soviet society. And second, because his works were banned for many years inside the USSR, which meant only thing they were worth reading.

Orwells books began to be printed in thesamizdatof the 1960s, and brave readers were able to get hold of a copy for one nights reading. Vyacheslav Nedoshivin, the author of a new biography of Orwell (AST: Elena Shubina Publications, 2018), recalls how he spent such a night with colleagues from the newspaperKomsomolskaya Pravda.

I clearly remember how the door to the editorial office was locked, a pencil was surgically inserted into the telephone after removing the rotary disk (which supposedly thwarted wiretapping), and the conversation began in hushed tones. It was heart-pounding stuff, especially learning that your newspaper was just a tiny cog in the machine of the sprawling Ministry of Truth; that the disconnected phone was not to protect against the KGB, but from Big Brother, who sees everyone in the world; that Stalin, Khrushchev, and the immortal Brezhnev were Napoleon and Snowball inAnimal Farm,or simply power-hungry pigs (at this point my heart stopped pounding and leaped out of my chest!).

Nedoshivin was so impressed that he wrote his dissertation on the topic of dystopia, carried out the first philological analysis of1984in the USSR, and co-authored a translation ofAnimal Farminto Russian. He believes his biography is just one of many, many more to come.

George Orwell. Animal Farm (A special edition of the book with pictures by Ralph Steadman, is published by Secker & Warburg)

There was tremendous sympathy for the Russian Revolution in Britain, and revolutionary ideas pervaded the country. Orwell recalls a school test in which he had to list ten outstanding contemporaries he and almost the entire class named Vladimir Lenin among them.

At Eton College, where Orwell studied, it was fashionable to behave "like a Bolshevik." The future writer, like most well-read English teenagers, regarded himself as a socialist.

Naturally, the adult Orwell sympathized with the leftist movement. In 1936 he went to fight in the Spanish Civil War in the ranks of the left-wing Workers Party of Marxist Unification (POUM). There he was wounded, but after recovering did not continue fighting, since the party had been banned as anti-Stalinist, and it was vital to keep such an ally as Stalin on the side of the International Brigades.

Later, in 1943-44, Orwell wrote his famous fairy-taleAnimal Farm a satire on the Russian Revolution and the Stalinist regime. At the time, it was considered too radical even for British censors. With the war in full swing, it seemed inappropriate to criticize a crucial ally, so it remained unpublished until 1945.

The KGB archive contains a dossier on Orwell in which he is described as the author of the most vile book about the Soviet Union. For many years his name was taboo in the USSR (Read more: 10 books that were banned in the USSR).

For his part, Orwell was eager to ensure that sympathy for the USSR did not spread throughout England. It is known that for many years he kept a special notebook in which he wrote down the names of people whom he suspected of having criminal leanings toward communism and the Stalinist regime. In 1949 he was offered a government job in counter-propaganda, but he declined, opting simply to give his list to the British Foreign Office (it was later published). The names included J.B. Priestley, Charlie Chaplin, George Bernard Shaw, and John Steinbeck with notes on each.

According to some accounts, Orwell had long-standing links to the British intelligence services, which allegedly even paid for his novels to be printed abroad, using them as anti-Soviet propaganda.

Eric Blair (George Orwell) from his Metropolitan Police file

As a young man, Orwell went to Paris in search of "writers inspiration." These years would later be chronicled in the autobiographical workDown and Out in Paris and London(1933). Like many writers eager to partake of the moveable feast (as Ernest Hemingway called Paris), Orwell was crushed by poverty. He was saved from starvation by a Russian migr who had fled to France to escape the Bolsheviks. He found Orwell a job as a washer-upper in a restaurant, which was frequented by Russians of various stripes.

Orwells social circle included several of them for example, he was acquainted with Russian migr artist Boris Anrep, known for his mosaics (four of which decorate the floor of the entrance to Londons National Gallery) and his affair with Anna Akhmatova.

Another of Orwells Russian acquaintances was migr Lydia Jackson (ne Zhiburtovich), who later became a writer under the pen name Elizaveta Fen. She was a friend of Orwells wife, and at some point she and the British author became drawn to one another. It is not known for certain how far things went. Lydia responded warmly to his hugs and even kisses, though she may have done so purely out of sympathy.

In the 1930s-40s, despite the choking censorship, the Soviet magazineInternational Literaturestill managed to print excerpts and reviews of Western novels (even JoycesUlysses, which was banned as immoral in many countries, including England). Editor-in-chief Sergei Dinamov is known to have written aletterto Orwell in 1937 asking him to send a copy of the latters bookThe Road to Wigan Pier, which he found interesting and wanted to review.

A few months later he received a response. Orwell apologized for not writing sooner he had just returned from Spain. He also wrote that he had reconsidered some of the views expressed in the book. Enclosing a copy as requested, he nevertheless warned the editor-in-chief that he had fought in Spain on the side of the POUM, which was now regarded as anti-Soviet: I tell you this because it may be that your paper would not care to have contributions from a POUM member, and I do not wish to introduce myself to you under false pretences.

The editor-in-chief was required to hand the letter over to the NKVD, and reply to Orwell that he was grateful for the latters sincerity, but was forced to break off their relationship.

A portrait of Yevgeny Zamyatin by famous Russian artist Boris Kustodiev

Penned in 1920, Yevgeny Zamyatins novelWewas immediately banned in the USSR and first published in the West only in 1927. Orwell read it much later, writing areviewof it in 1946.

He describesWeas certainly an unusual [book], and it is astonishing that no English publisher has been enterprising enough to reissue it. Orwell was greatly impressed that Zamyatin had written the book before the horrors of Stalinism, noting that he cannot have had the Stalin dictatorship in mind, and conditions in Russia in 1923 were not such that anyone would revolt against them on the ground that life was becoming too safe and comfortable. What Zamyatin seems to be aiming at is not any particular country but the implied aims of industrial civilization.

Orwell also drew in-depth parallels between Zamyatins novel and Aldous HuxleysBrave New World, exposing the source of much of Huxleys nightmare vision. Orwell acknowledged his own literary debt to Zamyatin, and numerous scholars have since highlighted the similarities between the two.

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5 things that connect legendary '1984' author George Orwell & Russia - Russia Beyond

The house I grew up in was not bookish so Ive made amends by filling my home with novels, biographies, travel books, works of popular science; every conceivable genre. When I was a child it worried me that I might not manage to read every book in the world. Now it seems entirely possible that I wont even get to read every book in my house. A recent brush with cancer brought this fear into sharp focus but Im on the mend now. My book stacks seem less daunting, although they never grow shorter since I add to them every week.

My definition of wealth is having the wherewithal to buy any book that takes your fancy, including hardbacks. All I remember from my childhood home are random editions of those Readers Digest condensed books, anthologies of abridged bestsellers of the day. Decades later, I still recall the searing heat and harshness of the Australian outback as Neville Shute described it in A Town Like Alice. Abridgement made the shark attacks more frequent in Peter Benchleys enthralling Jaws. I can trace my passion for crime fiction back to a bookcase stuffed with battered Agatha Christie novels that stood in a corner of my grandmothers sitting room. I worked my way through them over the course of a rainy summer.

When I was about nine years old, my mother changed my life by steering me in the direction of our local library in the Dublin suburb of Terenure. Her small act of kindness was transformative. I remember swapping my junior library card for an adult one, green for blue, or perhaps it was the other way around, and starting shyly on the shelves just inside the door. With no one to guide me, thank goodness, early choices included Asimov and Austen. The books that stayed with me, I left behind in the junior library. My favourites, borrowed so frequently that they may as well have been mine, were gripping tales of magic and adventure written by a person called E Nesbit. Im not sure when I discovered that E stood for Edith.

The best of these was a time-travelling thriller with the intriguing title The Story of the Amulet. Lost between its covers, I accompanied Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and their baby brother, Hilary, known fondly as the Lamb, back in time to ancient Egypt. In historical Mesopotamia, we stood awestruck before the gates to Babylon as they shone like gold in the rising sun. We marvelled at the beauty of the Temple of Poseidon in the lost city of Atlantis. In their company, I encountered Emperor Julius Caesar as he stood on the shores of occupied Gaul gazing across towards England. I too longed to live in Nesbits verdant, utopian London of the future, where school is delightful, mothers and fathers share the burden of childcare, and everyone wears comfortable clothing.

At the height of her popularity, literary magazine John OLondons Weekly declared, Take a book by E Nesbit into a family of young boys and girls and they will fall upon it like wolves. A profile from the September 1905 issue of the Strand Magazine, where her stories were serialised, praised her almost uncanny insight into the psychology of childhood. The key to Nesbits appeal, the enduring devotion she engenders in children, is her ability to write just like one of us. The adventures she describes, though clearly impossible, feel utterly authentic. Surely, they could happen to you or me if we were fortunate enough to dig up a grumpy Psammead or stumble upon a broken amulet in an old junk shop.

In Wings and the Child, Nesbits manual for a successful childhood, she explained how she achieved this: Only by remembering how you felt and thought when you yourself were a child can you arrive at any understanding of the thoughts and feelings of children. Of the children in her Psammead trilogy Five Children and It, The Phoenix and The Carpet, and The Story of the Amulet second cousins once removed to the Bastable children from her earlier books, she wrote: The reason why those children are like real children is that I was a child once myself, and by some fortunate magic I remembered exactly how I used to feel and think about things.

Nesbit came of age in the Victorian era but she had no interest in leaving us more of the moralising tales she was exposed to as a child. In Treasure Seekers and Borrowers, Marcus Crouch, English librarian and influential commentator on childrens books, explained how she threw away their [the Victorians] strong, sober, essentially literary style and replaced it with the miraculously colloquial, flexible and revealing prose which was her unique contribution to the childrens novel. Nesbit wove her whimsy into the everyday lives of children in such a convincing fashion that we, her devoted readers, will not easily let it go. She offered us the potential for magic at a time in our lives when the boundary between reality and imagination is at its most porous.

Nesbits own early experiences fueled a vivid imagination capable of conjuring up phantoms at every turn. A nervous, solitary child, she experienced loss and displacement from the age of four. Circumstances conspired to deny her a formal education, but she read voraciously and indiscriminately during her peripatetic early years. As a teenager, she wrote poems, which her mother sent to the editor of Sunday Magazine. He published several. When I got the proof I ran round the garden shouting Hooray! at the top of my voice, to the scandal of the village and the vexation of my family, Nesbit recalled.

In Secret Gardens, Humphrey Carpenter described the adult Nesbit as an energetic hack, keen to try anything to support her wayward husband and her odd household. Her abiding passion was for poetry with a socialist theme but she rarely had time to indulge this since she was obliged to write for money, a constraint that generations of children have reason to be grateful for. It fell to her to support her charismatic but unreliable husband, Hubert Bland, and their three children. The first of these, Paul, arrived two months after his parents were married, suggesting reluctance on one side at least. Nesbit added to her household by adopting the two children Bland fathered with her close friend Alice Hoatson, and taking Hoatson in as well.

After Blands business failed and he fell victim to smallpox, Nesbit would put her small children to bed then stay up late, composing verses to accompany the greeting cards she painted for Raphael Tuck & Sons. Later, when she was commissioned to write stories for the Strand Magazine, she would work feverishly to meet looming deadlines, filling page after page of the glossy paper she favoured before flinging each one to the floor until her desk became an island in a sea of unedited work. At the end of each session, she would gather these pages together to revise them. Literary success came relatively late. The first of her Bastable books, The Story of the Treasure Seekers, inspired by her childhood adventures with her brothers, Alfred and Harry, was published in 1899 when Nesbit was in her early 40s.

Nesbits experience of poverty engendered a strong sense of social justice, which she channeled into her stories. During a time of astonishing political upheaval, she was instrumental in introducing socialist thinking into British intellectual life. A founder member of the Fabian Society, she counted fellow members George Bernard Shaw and HG Wells among her closest friends. One practical manifestation of her campaign for the alleviation of poverty in London was the annual party she hosted for impoverished children living just beyond her doorstep in Deptford. She was an early environmentalist and some of her finest writing celebrates the natural beauty of the English countryside. She detested creeping urbanisation, the ugly little streets crawled further and further out of the town eating up the green country like greedy yellow caterpillars.

Edith Nesbit is one of the worlds most important writers. She has entertained and inspired generations of us. She put the best of herself into her books for children. Some of her closest friendships were with her young fans and she often wrote them into her stories. A strikingly attractive woman with a keen sense of fun, she attracted a circle of admirers who left fascinating accounts of her in their letters and memoirs. As Marcus Crouch points out, no writer for children today is free of debt to this remarkable woman. CS Lewis borrowed his wardrobe from one of her stories. JK Rowling identifies with her more than any other writer.

Jacqueline Wilson brought the first installment of her Psammead series up to date with Four Children and It. I was astonished to discover that just two full biographies had been devoted to E Nesbit, both long out of print. It has been my great pleasure to write a third, The Life and Loves of E Nesbit, published by Duckworth this month.

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E Nesbit: JK Rowling identifies with her more than any other writer - The Irish Times

City staff and students train body and mind with celebrity fitness guru, Faisal Abdalla.

Trading star names like Ellie Goulding and Ella Eyre for City, Faisal Abdalla spoke to staff and students about the importance of keeping a positive mental attitude (PMA) when approaching work and exercise.

The event which was organised by Sodexo, Citys official catering partner, allowed attendees to sample naturally sourced energy drinks and healthy protein balls while asking Faisal questions about how they can improve their own fitness levels.

Faisal said: I apply PMA to every single part of my life as it is amazing what you can achieve when you approach things with a positive attitude. Being happy is just as important as being strong, fast or fit when training. If you have a healthy mind then there is no stopping you!

My job as a personal trainer is to help get my clients to be the best possible versions of themselves. I tell all of them that it is ok to fail and in fact failure is what we are after as that is the best way to learn and improve.

It cant all be about the aesthetic your mind and body need to work as one and be as strong as each other.

Whoever my clients are, the one piece of advice I always give them is to be happy. You will never run out of excuses, but one day you will run out of tomorrows. So get out there and live your best life today!

Faisal Abdalla, Fitness Coach and Celebrity Trainer

Praising Citys focus on wellbeing, the gym consultant and bestselling author, Faisal said: The CitySport gym was massive! It was great to see such a variety of equipment and studios for students to use.

The staff all seemed really passionate about fitness and that says a lot about the university. If I were a student here I would be more than happy to train there.

After an impromptu group exercise session, fitness addict and third year student Giulia Basana, (BSc Journalism), said:

Fitness is so important to me as when I train I just feel happy. It is easy to feel stressed and worried when meeting deadlines and writing my essays, but when I am running on a treadmill or lifting weights I feel so powerful and that can make a bad day good again.

Even just yesterday I was in the library and I couldnt focus after going to the gym for just a quick 30 minutes I was able to go back and concentrate on my work again. Sometimes stepping away and focusing on your body can really help your mind.

Meeting Faisal was so inspirational, I can relate so much to what he was saying about staying mentally positive.

"It isnt just about exercising to look good, it is so important to ensure that your mental health is just as good as your physical health as then you will truly succeed.

Giulia Basana, (BSc Journalism)

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Training body and mind - City, University of London

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You are your habits. Every single one of us has habits that impact our lives, but theyre not always good ones. Smoking cigarettes is a habit, after all, and so is watching television for hours on end. These bad habits can prevent us from reaching our potential, but they can also cut our lives short.

Of course, the opposite is also true. The good, positive habits many of us have habits like exercising regularly, eating nutritious meals, and meditating can make our lives better in immeasurable ways. This is especially true if youre old enough to see why habits matter but still young enough to make your positive habits count.

As you age, you will rely on your habits more and more. As our physical and mental abilities ebb and flow with age, our habits takeover as an autopilot. Build great habits and those will be the autopilot youll rely upon to remain healthy, active, and engaged.

Heres a good example of positive habits at work: Recently on my retirement podcast, we profiled a listener who was navigating a health crisis (her husband had cancer). You can hear her resilience radiate during the show. Their habit of being proactive has helped them continue to live even with the difficult situation. The couple loves cycling, but his condition has made him weak. But with the aid of an electric mountain bike, he is still able to hit the trails. That attitude has served them well.

Build poor habits and your autopilot can lead you to a constant struggle to maintain altitude. Here I think of an older client named Roxanne who smoked for decades, never exercised, and has a poor relationship with her children. Roxanne is now a widow in her early 80s who struggles to get out of bed every day. Her bad habits dictate how she sees the world and her view of the power she has in it.

The Best Habits to Help You Live Well in Retirement

If youre in your 50s or 60s, you may have twenty, thirty, or even forty-plus years of retirement ahead of you. This simple fact means that the habits youre able to pick up and stick with could make a marked difference on your physical health once you enter the final stretch of your life on this planet. When it comes to your longevity, also consider recent research published in the Journal Circulation which shows that around 60% of early deaths can be attributed to lifestyle factors, including those bad habits we talked about. Based on my observation, even if someone doesnt die early from their bad habits, their joy in life is diminished. To put it more bluntly, they live just as long but dont get to enjoy life the way the rest of us do.

On my retirement podcast, I am constantly talking about how retirement shouldnt be about survival it should be about thriving and enjoying life during a season when you have the time and hopefully the money to live the way you want.

Longevity may be the underlying goal, but what about the quality of your existence? Even if youve had not-so-great habits in the past, now is the time to establish good ones. Here are some habits that could lengthen your lifespan and help you rock your retirement now and later:

Regular Exercise

Plenty of research shows that regular, vigorous exercise is crucial when it comes to maintaining your physical health as you age. This means you should go out of your way to take part in difficult, uncomfortable exercise that feels like work. In other words, you arent helping yourself that much if you hop on the treadmill and watch The Price is Right while you walk at a snails pace.

In addition to strength and endurance training, your exercise habit should also include stretching. In my eyes, stretching is a lot like flossing because everyone knows they should do it but few people actually do.

The less flexible you are, the more likely you are to fall, break your hip, and wind up in a nursing home like Aunt Karen. Make sure youre exercising and stretching your body because thats the best way to protect yourself against preventable injuries and the physical signs of aging.

Do Something Meaningful

Having a purpose in life may be more important than people realize, but your purpose doesnt have to be something over-the-top or mind-blowing. For some people, their purpose is being an awesome grandparent, volunteering for an organization that matters to them and hardly anyone else, or maybe even learning a skill like woodworking or gardening. It doesnt matter so much what your purpose is as long as you have one.

On the flip side, not having a purpose can lead to bad habits that can affect your longevity and your mood. Think of it this way: When you have nothing to do, you might wind up sitting in front of the tube all day, or worse, diving into the pointless void of social media.

Train Your Mind

As you get older, training your mind is just as important as training your body. Your body carries you around, but your mind also needs training to stay in great shape.

Constantly learn and challenge yourself so you can stay sharp and potentially even avoid diseases like dementia. While brain-engaging activities like Sudoku or puzzles can help, learning anything can make a positive impact.

Consider this: Research analyzed by John Hopkins Medicine recently showed that staying in school longer reduced the prevalence of dementia in the United States, particularly among those ages 65 and older.

Maintain a Healthy Weight

Eat well and pay attention to the food youre putting in your body. Take special care to consume foods that support your mental health and spiritual well-being while staying away from empty calories and foods that make you feel unwell. (Im looking at you, refined sugar!)

A recent article from Catharine Paddock, Ph.D. in Medical News Today also suggests keeping your body mass index (BMI) under 25% if possible.

Cultivate a Positive Mental Attitude

If your glass half full or half empty? Your current outlook on life can play a huge role in how well your mind and body hold up. According to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, people who embrace positive stereotypes about aging are more likely to recover from a disability.

Improve Your Mood

Depression and anxiety can become rampant as we age. Do anything you can to improve your mood whether that includes exercise or stimulating mental activities. Go for walks in the park, get back out in the dating scene, or volunteer for a cause you love or basically anything that will make you feel better about yourself and the world.

Stay Social

If you dont have an expansive social network, you may wind up having one by default your family. This can be a good thing if your family members are happy and successful, but not so much if they arent.

If you find your default social network is overly negative, look for ways to build a new one. Try to make friends with younger people who may have different interests than you, and be sure you continue cultivating friendships you already have or may have had in the past.

Remember: Who you allow in your inner circle matters just as much as who you dont allow.

Own Your Life

Finally, take steps to be a participant in life, not a spectator. Stay out and about instead of sitting at home and watching the world pass you by.

This can be a difficult feat in todays internet age where we can see what other people are doing on the hour without even leaving the couch. But sitting on the sidelines wont help you maintain optimal physical or mental health.

Make sure youre not just watching other peoples stories; get out and create your own.

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Longevity And Retirement: 8 Great Habits To Rock Life As You Age - Forbes

When Meredith R., 28, prepared to go on her meticulously planned vacation to Paris, she wasnt thinking too much about her mental health. In fact, she kind of hoped her depression and anxiety would take a vacation of their own while she was living out a lifelong dream. How could I be anything but happy in Paris? she thought. I didnt realize it until after the fact, but as I was planning, I was working around a very specific fantasy of what my vacation would look like, she tells SELF. That fantasy didnt involve me being depressed or anxious.

But Merediths mental illnesses didnt take a break just so she could enjoy her vacation. She had her first panic attack after navigating crowds to climb the stairs to a lookout point at Sacr-Cur. I was so thrown for the rest of the trip, she says. I was even more anxious because I thought another panic attack could strike at any time, and I got caught in a hell of a negative thought spiral about how my trip was ruined, which was basically a flytrap for my depression. It was awful.

Looking back, Meredith says she wishes she had planned ahead instead of just hoping for the best where her mental health was concerned. Experts typically agree that thats a smart call no matter your history of mental illness because travel can be stressful or triggering for just about anybody, Claire Westmacott, M.P.H., a research specialist with the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers (IAMAT), tells SELF. Traveling can get overwhelming quite quickly, she says. The processlike jet lag [and] navigating airports, unfamiliar places, and crowdscan all be physically and mentally taxing.

Its so, so normal to be overly optimistic about how your mental health will fare on vacation. A common misunderstanding among some people with depression, anxiety or other conditions is that when I leave my surroundings, my problems will also leave, clinical psychologist Ryan Howes, Ph.D., tells SELF. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Your [condition] will likely come with you.With that in mind, we talked to experts and travelers who have been there about their best tips for protecting your mental health while on the go. Heres what they had to say.

Its helpful to plan ahead for how youll deal with things like travel anxiety. You can keep it simple.

If deep breathing, positive affirmations, seeking support, exercise, or journaling worked for you at home, it will probably work for you on vacation, says Howes. The same goes for things like clutching stress balls, listening to grounding playlists, watching downloaded episodes of your favorite shows, or whatever you use to practice self-care on a regular basis.

If you dont know where to start, try packing a journal, which Howes says can be an incredible tool. Writing a journal helps you tame the tsunami of activity [of a trip] and forces all those feelings and experiences into a linear narrative, he says. By journaling, youre beginning to write the story youll tell your friends about the trip when you return, which helps you feel more in control and grounded.

Even if you dont anticipate being hit with a wave of homesickness, being away from everything thats familiar to you can be unexpectedly stressful. For some people, travel can feel like youre floating in space, untethered from your day-to-day world, and this is scary, says Howes.

Do what you need to do ahead of time to make sure you can check in with people back home, especially if you know for sure that will bring you some comfort. Make sure you have the right phone plan so you can call, text, or FaceTime from wherever youre going. (Bonus: Sorting this out ahead of time means you wont wind up with a surprisingly high, anxiety-inducing phone bill when youre back.) You might also want to give your friends or family a heads up that you anticipate wanting to say hey occasionally or even regularly. When depression, anxiety, or unhelpful mental health thoughts kick in, it can be easy to convince yourself not to burden other people. Planning in advance and getting reinforcement that they cant wait to hear from you can help mitigate that.

[Check in] to remind yourself there are people at home who miss you and are holding down the fort, says Howes.

If youre worried about your mental health while traveling due to past experiences or because you deal with a mental illness, Westmacott suggests making an appointment with your mental health care provider or even your general practitioner before you go. Use it as an opportunity to make sure youre mentally and physically fit for the type of traveling you plan to do and to make a game plan. Really take this time to talk about any anxieties you have about the trip and make sure you have good coping mechanisms in place, says Westmacott.

Just like with your friends or family, you can also ask to keep in touch with your care provider during your trip and schedule regular check-ins. On that note...

Elisa D., 39, learned this lesson while traveling in Prague for three months. She had an unexpected mental health crisis set off by the dour winter weather and social isolation. I cried heartilylike heaving, sobbing, fetal position criesevery day for at least an hour for almost a month straight, she tells SELF. I left my apartment only to get beans and rice and an apple danish from the corner market 30 feet from my front door.

At the time, Elisa didnt have the bandwidth to seek help, a reality anyone who has been in the throes of a depressive or anxious episode knows well. Since returning from Prague, shes signed up for BetterHelp, an online therapy portal. She recommends it, or similar services like TalkSpace or even short-term resources like the Crisis Text Line, for anyone who is traveling and worried about their mental health. Armed with her teletherapist, Elisa continues to travel regularly.

Even if you already have a therapist, its worth asking them if theyll consider doing teletherapy appointments while youre away if you think that might help.

According to Howes, the unfamiliarity of traveling can feel mentally disorienting for some people. Bringing some familiar comforts from home with you can make a big difference. If you have room, pack your own pillow, bring the familiar shampoo, haul that novel around, or cram your jammies in your bag, he says. Pushing the limits of [your luggage] may be worth it if self-care is at stake.

This is especially important for travelers with a history of mental health problems who want to prepare in case they need to seek help. That said, Westmacott suggests every traveler put in this legwork just in case because, well, you never know.

Bree S., 24, was on a month-long European trip with friends when a serious case of homesickness hit. I was more depressed than I had ever been but I didnt think I could do anything but stick it out, she tells SELF. Thats exactly what she did, and it wasnt fun. In retrospect, she says, she wishes shed thought to seek help or even knew what that would look like.

Before you go, you should find a reputable mental health professional at your destination who speaks your language so that in the event of an emergency, you have someone you can immediately get in touch with, says Westmacott. You can do this on your own, through your insurance, or through a nonprofit like IAMAT, which helps travelers access care from reputable English-speaking doctors and mental health practitioners.

If youre specifically setting up a safety net for a potential mental health crisis, Westmacott suggests taking it a step further by making sure your destination is a smart choice in the first place. We recommend travelers worried about a mental health emergency research to gain a really good understanding of what mental health services are available and the countrys cultural attitude towards mental illness and mental health, she says. These factors can really shape the type of care that youll receive.

It might seem obvious that you should make sure to pack enough medication for the duration of your trip, but with mental health medication, its not that simple. According to Westmacott, many medications that are used to manage mental health conditions are considered controlled substances in some countries. Because of that, you have to make sure youre in compliance with your destinations import regulations, which may include a maximum amount of medication or a requirement for carrying a written prescription or a doctors note. Depending on the length of your trip and where youre going, it might not be possible to bring enough medication to get you through.

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has a list of controlled substance regulations by country and is a good place to start, but unfortunately, some countries dont have publicly stated restrictions. In that case, your doctor may be able to help offer some information. The INCB also has some general traveling guidelines you should check out to make sure youre being smart about your meds while away from home, and this IAMAT guide to traveling with medications offers some additional tips too.

Its also smart to check with your doctor to make sure your medication is available at your destination if you need it. It would really suck, for example, if you lost your medication while traveling and found out you couldnt get a replacement prescription because its not legal where you are.

When Meredith went to Paris, she was so excited to cram in as many sights as possible that she didnt leave any room for rest and relaxationsomething she depended on for managing her mental health back home. It doesnt surprise me now that I had an anxiety meltdown, she says. I can never be that busy in my day-to-day life without time to refuel.

While rest and relaxation are good for everyone to work into their trip, there might be other things you want to include in your itinerary to round it out, especially if youre a creature of habit. When youre at home, you know your routine, your restaurants, and your bedtime rituals, but on vacation, these may all be unfamiliar and require more mental effort, says Howes. There are no go-tos for lunch or evening entertainment, and you may need to step outside numerous comfort zones in order to make the most of your trip.

While Howes says just acknowledging this fact can help you make peace with the change and unfamiliarity, it cant hurt to fold an activity or two youre accustomed to into your vacation routine for comfort.

Its always a great idea to prepare for the worst just in case. Hopefully, that will put your mind at ease because you know youre prepared in case of trouble. But try not to anticipate the worst and let your preparation stress you out more.

If you go into it thinking it will be an overwhelming, chaotic, and stressful experience, it probably will be, says Howes. If you instead look at travel as an adventure that may give you exciting stories and good life lessons, this will probably be true. Think of the bumps in the road as details in the story youll be telling friends in a few weeks, and it all seems less stressful.

Related:

Original post:
9 Travel Tips That Will Protect Your Mental Health - Self

Stefanie Schaffer inspired a city on Thursday.

Schaffer, 23, of Rutland, spoke at Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce at the Paramount Theatre, addressing the theme of Strength and Resilience to a room filled with legislators, business owners and community leaders who didnt even cough or clear their throats while Schaffer talked about her recovery from her 2018 injury.

While in the Bahamas with family and friends, Schaffer got on a tour boat on June 30, 2018. The boat exploded, killing an Atlanta, Georgia, woman and injuring Schaffer so badly she would need to have both legs amputated. She had also suffered spinal cord injury and brain injuries.

She told the audience about her disappointment when a Boston doctor, whom she believed could fix her, told her she might not walk again.

Here I was again, facing another problem that felt too big. I cried myself to sleep that night, and then I woke up, and I took everybody by surprise. I looked at them, and I said, They said I wouldnt survive, and I did. They said I wouldnt get out of kidney failure, and I did. They say I wont walk. Watch me. Maybe there wasnt other people with the same injury as me that were out there walking. But why couldnt I be the first? she said.

On Thursday, Schaffer walked across the Paramount Stage on prosthetic legs, with assistance from a walker until helped to a chair behind the lectern where she spoke.

Early on, Schaffer talked about the position she had recently accepted as the ambassador for the 2019 Gift-of-Life Marathon.

On Thursday afternoon, Schaffer said she had accepted the offer to represent the blood donation marathon, which has allowed Rutland to set donation records, without having to think about it.

Without blood being donated at the time I had been hurt, if there wasnt that extra blood, I dont think I would still be here, she said.

Before her accident, Schaffer donated blood once, she said Thursday, but anemia had prevented her from being a regular donor.

She said she hoped potential donors would hear her story and understood how important it was to give blood.

They may not see the people who are receiving their blood, or they may not know them, but they really can save lives. Maybe its an inconvenience to go out and donate blood on the day of a drive, but there are going to be people, and its really a life or death situation. I would hope to just be a reminder that its people like me that are here because of people that choose to donate, she said.

During her speech to chamber members, Schaffer talked about how a positive mental attitude had turned around her recovery. As an example, she said she knew she faced real challenges the first time she tried to use prosthetics because her lengthy recovery to date had left her weak.

But I didnt care. No longer worried about how cool I was, if my bald spot was showing or even how terrified I was in that moment. I went down in front of that huge crowd that had gathered, and I strapped those legs on, she said.

While Mary Cohen, executive director of the chamber, said Schaffer was chosen as the speaker because she embodied what the chamber leaders considered the Rutland areas strength and resilience, the annual meeting covered other business.

Donald Billings, owner of Roots: The Restaurant and The Bakery in downtown Rutland, was named the 2019 Business Leader of the Year.

A new award, the Community Leader of the Year, was given to Terry Jarrosak, locally known by his on-air radio alias, Terry Jaye, the program manager for Catamount Radio. Jarrosak was introduced by Steve Costello who said Jarrosaks contributions included working with the Gift-of-Life Marathon, the Stuff-A-Bus event collecting food for the needy and other charitable events.

But Schaffer was the final speaker for the event and shared lessons shes learned since her life changed so drastically. She said if she could have known what challenges she faced, she probably would have pictured herself as someone who had been defeated and given up.

I think we all tend to underestimate ourselves and until we jump into a challenge with everything that we have and all the support that we can find, we will never know what we are truly capable of. I may not be walking unassisted yet but what I have done is, I have gotten through more than 30 surgeries while keeping a smile on my face. I have stood on my own brand-new feet. I have walked with crutches. I have learned to bike with my hands and to swim with no feet. I have kayaked and traveled. I have met new people, cheered my sister on, laughed with my family and had glasses of wine with my friends. I havent just survived; Im learning how to really live. And the best part is Im just getting started, she said.

patrick.mcardle

@rutlandherald.com

More here:
Schaffer talks 'strength and resilience' to Chamber | News - Rutland Herald

British sailor Alex Thomson says tales of Leicesters shock Premier League title success have aided his ongoing mental preparation for the worlds toughest yacht race.

Skipper Thomson is set to embark on a maiden competitive voyage aboard the 5.5million boat he hopes can end his wait for glory in the solo, around-the-world Vendee Globe.

The 45-year-old, who on Sunday begins the double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre (TJV) warm-up event from France to Brazil, regularly works with psychologist Ken Way to focus and train his mind.

Way was part of Claudio Ranieris backroom staff when the Foxes defied 5000/1 odds to be crowned champions in 2016, and Thomson has taken plenty of inspiration from stories of one of sports most unexpected triumphs.

Weve talked about that quite a lot, learnt lots of interesting stuff out of it, Thomson told the PA news agency.

It reinforces the ability that Ken has when people buy into the thinking and the possibility of making gains through your mental attitude and mental techniques to improve your sport.

I think in this particular case with what we do, there are so many tools, so many possibilities to make improvements, so its a really fascinating subject.

For me, the Vendee is as much a mental game as a physical, maybe even more so. Training your mind and I cant understand why you wouldnt do it its an absolute no-brainer.

But each to their own. I very much enjoy working with Ken and find what we work out not only helps me with the race but helps me be a better human being, so its all good.

The 4,350-mile TJV, sponsored by a French coffee company, follows a former trading route, beginning in the Normandy port of Le Havre before crossing the equator to finish in the Brazilian city of Salvador.

It will provide the first test of Thomsons latest custom-built Hugo Boss boat, named after his teams principal sponsor and christened on the river Thames last month.

Gosport-based Thomson, who will compete alongside former Olympic sailor Neal McDonald, capsized off the north coast of Spain and was airlifted to safety the last time he entered the TJV.

With the long-term aim of becoming the first non-French winner of the gruelling non-stop Vendee Globe the next edition of which starts in November 2020 his primary objectives during the forthcoming fortnight are a safe passage to South America and developing a greater understanding of his new vessel.

Its about the bigger picture. Thats the main thing. If we can avoid a big problem and get to the finish, thats the first objective, said Thomson, who finished second in the 2016-17 Vendee and third in 2012-13.

The second objective is to make sure we get enough information to inform the next choices that we want to make, the next developments.

These are prototype boats, there are always little niggles and stuff to improve and stuff that doesnt quite work from the very beginning.

If you think about Formula One, the cars are launched and by the end of the season they are completely different because they are being developed and changed all the time to try and make then go faster and thats exactly the same for us.

We expect in a years time we will be 10 or 15 per cent faster than we are now.

Here is the original post:
Thomson inspired by Leicester title triumph as he seeks Vendee Globe glory - Aberdeen Evening Express

In the final part of the Behind Bars series, Warden Jim McKinney interviews inmate Joseph Hansen to show what makes a meth addict tick and what can be done to stop it. "I don't feel good about it. It's always been there," Hansen said. Hansen is talking about methamphetamine. A theme seen over and over with the three inmates KCCI has sat down with at one Iowa prison. "It is a full time busy operation," McKinney said. McKinney took KCCI crew around the entire correctional facility in Coralville, explaining how they're working around-the-clock to try and help each of the thousands of inmates who walk through its doors. "We're talking about guys that are allegedly one of the worst in the state, and turning their lives around," McKinney said. He has a positive philosophy that others can feel in the prison. "What changes people is holding them accountable if they do wrong, but also giving them encouragement to do well," McKinney said. As the warden made Hansen sweat, KCCI's Tommie Clarke listened to how difficult it is to quit an addiction that alters everything. "If your choice is you see the meth and you know where you're going to end up, why do you still choose the meth?" McKinney asked Hansen. "You can't shrug your shoulders! You gotta answer the question!""Because I'm a drug addict and that's what I like," Hansen answered. "It helps me escape reality because I don't like dealing with reality." "Is it fair to the victims and the society to have to pay for you to be here?" McKinney asked. "Nope," Hansen said. "And yet it doesn't matter? Just putting you on the spot," McKinney said. "It's not that it doesn't matter, but at the same time it doesn't matter. I don't know how to explain it," Hansen said. The warden hopes that direct conversations like this, coupled with treatment, will keep inmates like Hansen out longer. "I've always had the attitude of just saying, 'The heck with it,' and that's an easy way to escape and I don't want to do that no more," Hansen said. "The better job we do inside to try and get them to change, the better off society is," McKinney said. "Our main job is how well we do when they get outside the fence. That's really our true measurement." However, when inmates are released and they're still addicted to an artificial euphoria, the warden said their job is working to minimize that addiction while improving the mental health of each inmate.

In the final part of the Behind Bars series, Warden Jim McKinney interviews inmate Joseph Hansen to show what makes a meth addict tick and what can be done to stop it.

"I don't feel good about it. It's always been there," Hansen said.

Hansen is talking about methamphetamine. A theme seen over and over with the three inmates KCCI has sat down with at one Iowa prison.

"It is a full time busy operation," McKinney said.

McKinney took KCCI crew around the entire correctional facility in Coralville, explaining how they're working around-the-clock to try and help each of the thousands of inmates who walk through its doors.

"We're talking about guys that are allegedly one of the worst in the state, and turning their lives around," McKinney said.

He has a positive philosophy that others can feel in the prison.

"What changes people is holding them accountable if they do wrong, but also giving them encouragement to do well," McKinney said.

As the warden made Hansen sweat, KCCI's Tommie Clarke listened to how difficult it is to quit an addiction that alters everything.

"If your choice is you see the meth and you know where you're going to end up, why do you still choose the meth?" McKinney asked Hansen. "You can't shrug your shoulders! You gotta answer the question!"

"Because I'm a drug addict and that's what I like," Hansen answered. "It helps me escape reality because I don't like dealing with reality."

"Is it fair to the victims and the society to have to pay for you to be here?" McKinney asked.

"Nope," Hansen said.

"And yet it doesn't matter? Just putting you on the spot," McKinney said.

"It's not that it doesn't matter, but at the same time it doesn't matter. I don't know how to explain it," Hansen said.

The warden hopes that direct conversations like this, coupled with treatment, will keep inmates like Hansen out longer.

"I've always had the attitude of just saying, 'The heck with it,' and that's an easy way to escape and I don't want to do that no more," Hansen said.

"The better job we do inside to try and get them to change, the better off society is," McKinney said. "Our main job is how well we do when they get outside the fence. That's really our true measurement."

However, when inmates are released and they're still addicted to an artificial euphoria, the warden said their job is working to minimize that addiction while improving the mental health of each inmate.

Continued here:
Prison warden works to improve mental health of inmates with addictions - KCCI Des Moines

If you go to mental health, that will be the end of your career, the ominous warning that echoes through all branches of the military.

There is an unavoidable feeling of distrust for service members regarding mental health services. According to the Department of Defense Suicide Prevention (DoDSER) 2017 annual report, there were 1,397 non-fatal suicide attempts by active-duty service members. Over half of the members who were lost to suicide had seen a health care professional within the previous 90 days. These statistics illustrate the number of people that the system missed that were in crisis yet didnt speak up and ask for help. Current policies will continue to fail soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines until there is a change in how mental health is reported and trust in the system is secured. The risk of losing any more service members is too significant to ignore.

The military requires mental health professionals to disclose a military members mental health information according to specific DoD guidance. The DoD guidance list nine reasons for mental health treatment to be reported to the chain of command. These reasons are harm to self, harm to others, harm to mission, special identified person, inpatient care, acute medical conditions that interfere with duty, substance abuse, command-directed assessment, and other circumstances determined on a case-by-case basis. While many of these reasons seem like common sense, there is ambiguity around what might constitute harm to mission, and these terms are subjective and can be used to describe someone who is experiencing high stress, temporary anxiety or depression.

The commanders responsibility to the units and members under his or her command is enormous, and the commander needs to receive the relevant information to make mission-essential decisions. However, the commander may be forced to decide on a service members career, based on the limited information that the mental health professional can share. The context of the members issues is lost, and they could very well be deemed potential harm to the mission, needlessly ending a career.

If you had a broken leg, you would report to the medic, who might put you on quarters and develop an appropriate work plan so that you could heal. Should we not treat mental health the same way? The mental health professionals seeing activity-duty members should report the members status directly to the providers at the bases medical facilities. The physician and the mental health provider can then devise an appropriate care plan. Treating mental health with the no questions asked attitude that physical health is treated is the only way to break the stigma and regain trust. The chain of reporting should be from the mental health professional to the medical clinic, who would then report the plan to a command team. This ensures more confidentiality and creates additional insight for a commander to make appropriate decisions about a service members mental health.

According to the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS), the three military campaigns since 2001 have resulted in 6,828 lives lost to combat; yet since 2006, over 3,400 active duty military members have died by their own hands. This number is almost half of the total losses that the enemy has inflicted on our armed forces. DoD policies have not gone far enough to establish trust in the militarys mental health system. It is time to face the fact that service members are not getting the help they need for fear of consequences to their careers.

Until a policy and trust are established that allows service members to treat their mental health with the same dignity and understanding that physical health is treated, lives will continue to be lost.

Call the director, Dr. Karin A. Orvis, of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office at (703) 614-8840 or visit their Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DSPOmil/ and demand this policy change.

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If you, or someone you know, needs help, support is available 24/7. Service members and their families can call Military OneSource at 1-800-342-9647, or chat at militaryonesource.mil.

Service members, veterans, and their loved ones can also call the Military and Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1, chat at veteranscrisisline.net, or text to 838255. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available to anyone by calling 1-800-273-8255 (dspo.mil).

Sloan Fischer is a master of social work student at the University of Southern California. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Washington State University. She is an Army wife and a daughter of an Army veteran.

Thomas Weisner is a retired Air Force POL. He is now a master of social work candidate at the University of Southern California.

Continued here:
Why the military should treat mental health the same as physical health - Military Times

Since Princes William and Harry spoke out in 2017 in the UK and launched the Heads Together campaign, mental health has been firmly on the business agenda.But are we missing a great opportunity by not making the health and wellbeing of our employees a key strategic priority?

We all agree that the stigma of mental ill-health must be smashed.This issue is personal to me, having managed my challenges of bipolar disorder under the radar for 15 years.I owned my own business yet still felt the need to put physio in my diary every time I went to see my therapist.My lightbulb moment came when I heard campaigner, Geoff McDonald, share his story of anxiety and depression and the loss of his friend to suicide.My eyes were opened to the movement that was forming to create mentally healthy workplaces.From that moment I decided to share my story and look for a way to contribute.

We need more CEOs and those in positions of leadership come out and talk about their mental health.

The Duke of Cambridge, Davos 2019

As we reach adult life, our role models are predominantly drawn from the workplace.Yes, we will look to our sporting heroes and celebrities, but we better relate to those that lead the organisations where we spend most of our time. The problem is that, because of the stigma of mental illness, we do not have enough of our workplace leaders who are leading on the mental health agenda.This was the message that I heard consistently in 2017 and this was the problem that I decided to try and help address.

The LeaderBoard is a list of senior leaders (CEO and 3 stages removed or equivalent) who have all experienced a mental health challenge and are prepared to be open about this fact.

The concept of the power list has been well used in other areas of inclusion and diversity with theDeloitte Out50in Australia having a significant impact in relation to showcasing diverse role models on the LGBTQ agenda.Could this be done for mental ill-health?InsideOut is a UK not for profit, formed to do just this.

Showcasing a list of role models is important for two main reasons:

The inaugural UKInsideOut LeaderBoardwas published in the Sunday Times in March 2019 and featured 42 trailblazing role models from a range of industries and size of organisation with a significant impact from social media, in particular the #SmashingTheSigma campaign on LinkedIn.

Anyone who speaks out and shares their story of mental ill-health is a role model and creates a ripple.If we generate enough ripples, we have a wave and it is this wave that will smash the stigma.Why, therefore, are senior leader role models so important?

When our leaders speak out and get behind the mental health agenda, they start the process of culture change. Initially, the culture shifts to one where it is OK to put your hand up and say that you are struggling with mental ill-health. It is OK to seek help and, in some cases, receive adjustments to your role.However, the culture change does not end there as the emphasis expands outwards from the people who are struggling and need help to include everybody else in the workplace.We end up creating cultures that encourage everyone to proactively manage their mental health and wellbeing.We move to a culture of prevention and one that truly values the humans that are the greatest assets of the workplace.

We see this culture change happen almost overnight in smaller businesses.

Mark Twigg is one of the Founding Directors of Cicero, the UKs leading financial PR business.Mark shared his story of clinical depression with the whole business over 2 years ago. Immediately, 7 or 8 people shared details of their struggles and some received adjustments to their roles.Mark believes that two people are still in post and thriving as a result as opposed to being lost to the business.

Rob Agnew had heard about the positive attitude towards mental health at Cicero before applying for a role.He felt comfortable in disclosing that he experiences bipolar disorder in the interview process.18 months after joining the firm, he has not had an episode of mania and puts this largely down to the fact that he can be open and himself at work.Furthermore, Mark himself has not experienced an episode of depression in the same timescale. Check out their interviewhere.

Every leader in the workplace has a personal story of mental ill-health.There is no CEO on the planet who has not experienced times of extreme stress; under-recovery; lack of sleep; bereavement or relationship breakup.There is also no CEO on the planet who does not experience mental health and wellbeing, one of the most beautiful and amazing things about being human.We all have a story where our metal health is concerned.The InsideOut Photography Exhibition showcases some of these stories of mental ill-health from the Leaders of our UK workplaces in this powerfulvideo.

Mental ill-health does not discriminate by nationality, by ethnicity, by gender or by bank balance. However, the stigma associated with mental illness is definitely not distributed evenly.You are much more likely to disclose a struggle with mental ill-health in a UK workplace than you would in Japan, or the Middle East or Asia.This is why we must work on smashing the stigma everywhere.

I pledge to bring the InsideOut LeaderBoard concept to all global regions in the next few years

Why am I doing this?

Because it is the right thing to do.

This year, we have launched the InsideOut LeaderBoard concept in the United States, Continental Europe and Australia.Seeherefor the US launch video. We are very keen on working with organisations across all of these territories to showcase senior leader role models and help inspire workplace cultures where everyone feels able to ask for help if they are experiencing a mental health challenge.

It was really interesting to see an evolution of the purpose of our corporations coming out of the Business Roundtable in the US recently. It is encouraging to see that investment in employees and impact on communities are being thought of as core purpose, alongside the creation of shareholder value.I would have liked to see the prioritisation of the mental health and wellbeing of employees more explicitly stated within this.

In his first month as HSBCs Group CEO, John Flint announced the vision of Creating the healthiest human system in financial services.The UKs Environment Agency has a core value of work being a life enhancing experience.We have seen a recent wellbeing budget in New Zealand and there are calls for measures of health and happiness to replace GDP growth as the measure of success of our economies.If we prioritise the wellbeing of our employees, will this result in a reduction in the growth shareholder value?Personally, I think that the reverse will be the case.

We need more hard data to back this up but there are good examples out there.Anglian Water in the UK have measured the return on investment in all of their mental health and wellbeing interventions and calculate and 8:1 return.What CFO would not take those sorts of returns in their investment decisions?

Treating the investment in the mental health and wellbeing of our employees as a strategic priority or core value is a very good business decision as well as simply being the right thing to do.

We have to smash the stigma of mental ill-health before any other interventions will fully work. Does your organisation have a senior leader role model who would be interested in exploring participating in the InsideOut LeaderBoard? If so, please contact me at[emailprotected]or nominate a leader on thewebsite.

We need our leaders to get behind the mental health agenda to realise this opportunity. One way they can do this is by signing up to theInsideOut Leadership Charter, a set of 7 principles that will catalyse meaningful change from including mental health and wellbeing on Board agendas to having a Board level sponsor.

The Global InsideOut LeaderBoards will be published on Thrive Global in 2020 as well as in local national publications.Watch this space..

You say tomato, I say tomato.I am British so use the term wellbeing.However, given that I tend to capitalize randomly for the InsideOut LeaderBoard maybe we could all agree on WellBeing?

But, if you are a US CEO who treats the Well-being of your employees as a strategic priority then, frankly, I dont care how you spell it..

Either way, Be Well.

Rob Stephensonis the Founder of the InsideOut LeaderBoard, Co-Founder of the InsideOut Mental Health Awards and Chief Catalyst of BetterSpace.

This article has been adapted for Thrive Global from a piece originally penned for the UKs Institute of Directors.

See the rest here:
Mental Health: One of the great business leadership opportunities of our time? - Thrive Global