The voices in my head

The Ted video I have chosen for our health related blogpost is called "The voices in my head" by Eleanor Longden. It was filmed in February 2013 and is about 15 minutes long. As a student Eleanor suddenly started hearing voices in her head. When a friend told her that something was wrong with her and that she needed medical help, schizophrenia was diagnosed. She spent many years in the psychiatric system but still managed to earn a Bachelor's and Master's degree in psychology. Today she is cured and wants to help other people suffering from that mental disease by giving lectures and publishing articles. 

Summary

In the video Eleanor Longden tells her very own story about the sickness schizophrenia. She starts at the very beginning when she first heard voices in her head, talks about how she managed to get cured and finishes with the situation today - how she wants to help other people suffering from schizophrenia. 

Vocab work

medical record: detailed record of all the background of a person or group under study or treatment

Synonyms - anamnesis, medical history

"Now it's down on my medical records that Eleanor has delusions that she's a television news broadcaster"

schizophrenia:any severe disorder in which contact with reality is lost or highly distorted

"I'm now very proud to be a part of Intervoice, the organizational body of the International Hearing Voices Movement, an initiative inspired by the work of Professor Marius Romme and Dr. Sandra Escher, which locates voice hearing as a survival strategy, a sane reaction to insane circumstances, not as an aberrant symptom of schizophrenia to be endured, but a complex, significant and meaningful experience to be explored."

hospital admission: the act when a patient is admitted to hospital

" A hospital admission followed, the first of many, a diagnosis of schizophrenia came next, and then, worst of all, a toxic, tormenting sense of hopelessness, humiliation and despair about myself and my prospects."

Personal reaction

When I read the title "The voices in my head" my attention was immediately drawn at this video. It is a very emotional and touching video because Eleanor talks about her own experiences, her own feelings. For me the video is even more poignant because the daughters of my mom's friend have this disease and I often hear stories about them. She tells us about things you can't even imagine. People suffering from schizophrenia live in their very own world and no one from the outside can understand what they are going through. 

But this video also shows us that if you're strong enough and accept your fate you can be cured. It's a very hard process, but Eleanor shows us that there's help. For me the takeaway message is that you should never give up and that it is very important to have encouraging people around you to help. 

Presentation technique 

When it comes to the presentation I think Eleanor did a really good job. She uses her hands very much while explaining things to emphasise what she's saying. It also makes the presentation more lively and seems like she is very self confident. I also like that she uses short sentences for better understanding. Through quotes she gives the presentation a personal touch and makes it very moving and touching for listeners. 

All it takes is 10 mindful minutes

The TED video I have chosen is called “All it takes is 10 mindful minutes”.  The speaker is Andy Puddicombe, who is from Great Britain. He is a former Buddhist monk and mindfulness expert. Puddicombe has also founded a social platform called Headspace that offers guided meditation sessions. The video was published in January 2013 and is nine minutes and 25 seconds long.

Summary:

This video is not about physical health, but mental health. Andy Puddicombe introduces us into the topic of meditation, but in a different way to what we expect. He says it just takes 10 minutes a day to change our view on life. In these 10 minutes you should try to think about nothing; not about the past nor the future, not about happiness nor anxieties. We spend a lot more time than that caring about our look or material possessions. Our mind, however, is the most powerful possession we have, so we should take care of that one too.

We can’t change every little thing that happens to us in life, but we can change the way that we experience it. 

Vocab work:

preventative, also preventive: intended to stop something you do not want to happen from happening, for example an illness

collocations:

preventive measure, preventive  action

to be inundated: to receive so much of something that you cannot easily deal with it all

context/usage in the video:

“You get stressed, you do some meditation. I hadn't really thought that it could be sort of preventative in nature, until I was about 20, when a number of things happened in my life in quite quick succession, really serious things which just flipped my life upside down and all of a sudden I was inundated with thoughts, inundated with difficult emotions that I didn't know how to cope with”.

to be agitated: to be so nervous or upset that you are unable to keep still or think calmly
commonly used:

to be in an agitated state, to grow agitated

context/usage in the video:

You might find a mind that's really restless the whole time. Don't be surprised if you feel a bit agitated in your body when you sit down to do nothing and your mind feels like that. 

Personal reaction:

When Andy Puddicombe first said that we should try to do nothing, to not even think about anything, I was like “Not thinking anything? That’s not even possible!” I have tried to do that several times before but somehow I never succeeded. Maybe I didn’t have the right motivation. I was just curious to see if you can really do something like that. Another point Puddicombe addressed that affected me in a certain way, was that we spend so little time in the present. In the moment we are living right now. We are always thinking about the past, regretting chances we didn’t take and moves we didn’t make. And if we’re – for once – not thinking about the past, we think about the future. I believe that this is totally true. Even now, as I am writing this post, I am thinking about the future. I am thinking of which grade I will receive, if I will pass the upcoming exam, if I will be proud of myself. Or disappointed. All these thoughts take over my mind and make it hard for me to concentrate on the truly important things. Friends, family, love. That is what makes me happy and therefore keeps me mentally healthy. If I ever happen to be in a hopeless situation though, I will remind myself of Andy Puddicombe’s words and sacrifice 10 minutes for mindful thinking.

Presentation technique:

Andy Puddicombe starts his presentation with a statement, followed by a question to the audience. I think this is a very good way to start a presentation because people start listening and thinking about what you say if they are addressed directly. Puddicombe also uses gestures to emphasize his words. He shares his own experiences with the audience to make this topic more interesting. Sometimes he also tells little jokes. Additionally, he gives examples to help the people understand what he wants to say and uses juggling balls to demonstrate his thoughts. It really fascinated me how he can talk and juggle simultaneously. On the whole, I really enjoyed watching his presentation and it inspired me to try out meditation.