TUESDAY 21st JULY 2015 08:24 BST

Read my book - ENLIGHTENMENT FOR ORDINARY FOLK
 
Also available - EMOTIONAL MANAGEMENT FOR ORDINARY FOLK
 
WISDOM, HUMOUR, AND LOTS OF OTHER INTERESTING STUFF CAN BE FOUND ON MY PINTEREST PAGE and FACEBOOK PAGE
TO FIND OUT WHAT I DO, CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE

1. THIS DAY IN WORLD WAR 2 (21st July 1945)
Germany...
With the Allied occupation regime fully established, General Omar Bradley departs for the USA

New Guinea...
Australian 6th Infantry Division captures the Japanese position at St Patrick's

Borneo...
Australian 7th Infantry Division expanding and consolidating beachhead in the Balikpapan sector

Tokyo...
The Japnese government instructs the Japanese ambassador in Moscow to persist requesting the Soviet Union to receive a special representative to negotiate a new relationship and an end to the war, but that unconditional surrender cannot be accepted
The IJN "F-go Project" is disbanded when the Navy is told that development of atomic weapons would take too long

Off Japan...
Japanese vessel Nichiyo Maru is sunk by a mine

East China Sea...
Japanese vessels Chio Maru and Yoshi Maru are sunk by USN submarine Sea Robin

Burma...
Isolated remnants of Japanese 28th Army take heavy losses as they attempt to break out toward the east

Today's Air Raids...
Luzon on Japanese pockets by US 5th Air force
Naze-Ko on Japanese shipping by US FEAF
Siang-Chiang valley, Wuchang, and Sienning, China by US 14th Air Force
Indochina on military targets by US 14th Air Force

2. TODAY IN MY LIFE
Blogging
Me Time
Quality Missus Time

Twitter Followers = 1,987 (down 1)
Non-followed eliminated = 2
both untraced
Unfollowers eliminated = 0
New Followers followed back = 1
@RomaneDerrick

Spammers not followed back = 0

3. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION

If your wife had Paranoid Schizophrenia, you'd probably want to keep it to yourself rather than make it a matter of public conversation. And indeed for quite some time I didn't, mainly for Missus' career prospects. However after Missus "had a turn" at work and she had to be psychologically assessed, confirming that diagnosis, I felt she let the cat out of the bag herself, and I started to openly discuss it.

Being an unusually open person, I not only found this therapeutic, but that it also opened doors. I find "playing the loon card" gets me more sympathetic treatment, I am cut more slack regarding my own behaviour, and as a purveyor of therapy and wisdom it gives me more cred. Consequently I'll now tell everyone who'll listen.

I tell everyone that Missus has Paranoid Schizophrenia because I have that diagnosis in writing and everyone's heard of it, but in reality she has the related condition of DELUSIONAL DISORDER. Whilst Bradford's Occupational Health Psychiatrist diagnosed Paranoid Schizophrenia, he based his diagnosis and report on a single encounter. Bradford Mental Health who have seen her reasonably frequently, diagnosed Delusional Disorder, and my own research and experience agrees with them.

In PS, the mind fragments into competing factions that consciousness interprets as voices in your head telling you lies about reality and instructing you to do things. In DD, there are no voices in the head, but paranoid ideas hijack the intuition and are interpreted as reality. These ideas, left unchecked, build into an elaborate conspiracy theory.

Now I'm not going to bother explaining all this to everyone I meet. It's much simpler to say "Paranoid Schizophrenia" and let pre-conceived ideas have the desired effect. The two illnesses are of course very closely related - they are both caused by excessive release of neurotransmitter hormones, particularly serotonin, and are treated in the same way by antipsychotic serotonin inhibitors such as Olanzapine.

Though Olanzapine is very effective at controlling these conditions, damping the symptoms right down, it doesn't cure it. It also has side effects, most notably weight-gain, depression (which therefore needs other drugs like Citalopram to counteract it) and making you sleep longer. The drugs are also not sufficient on their own - a calm stress-free environment is also required, as well as gentle daily guidance, support and routines to nip related symptoms of hoarding and OCD in the bud. 

As you can imagine, the process of acquiring all this information by experience and research was highly traumatic, made even worse by a completely unsympathetic hateful greedy self-interested narcissistic daughter who continues to be a dark unwanted presence via her access to Missus. However, having gained all the information, accepted how it is, banished Daughter from my own life and established structures and routines, life is now actually BLISS, lived happily my way.

The most important lessons I have learned are:
1. You're not imagining it, it's definitely THEM who are assholes with agendas
2. Happiness is NOT the absence of challenges and threats, but making a difference your way
3. Your happiness and freedom has to be actively fought for and defended on an ongoing basis
4. NEVER EVER give up on your dream life - fail as often as it takes to acquire the knowledge to succeed 
5. Ruthlessly exclude everyone from your personal life who makes you feel unhappy
6. Adopt the Attitude of Gratitude 

4. TODAY'S QUESTION FOR YOU
What have you learned?

5. TODAY'S WEATHER IN BRADFORD
Mainly dry and cloudy with isolated showers in the evening
A moderate south-westerly will blow throughout
Max Temp = 17 degC at 5pm
Min Temp = 14 degC at midnight
Sunrise at 05:03
Sunset at 21:03
Moon: 

Weathertrack: A weak but persistent depression south of Iceland will drive weak weather fronts east across Britain

Air Pressure: 1007 millibars and rising

6. TODAY'S ONELINER

If steroids are illegal for athletes, shouldn't Photoshop be illegal for models? :D

7. NOW THAT'S FUNNY!

John Oliver on snakes, bees, scorpions and Syria

8. TRIVIA

Actress Majel Barrett Roddenberry is the only actor to be in all Star Trek incarnations, including the animated series and films.

9. ZEN WISDOM

We are not defeated by adversity but by the loss of the will to strive. However devastated you may feel, so long as you have the will to fight on, you can surely triumph.