One Day at a Time

I recently watched a programme which showed some of the disgusting eating practices elsewhere in the world. I won’t go into too much detail, but one scene which particularly stuck with me was that of a man breaking open eggs and eating the almost-ready-to-hatch chicks from inside. Not only did it turn my stomach, but it also turned my mind to the hypocrisy of my attitude. What was the essential difference, I asked myself, between eating fluffy baby chicks fresh from the egg, and letting them live for a few weeks and then killing and eating them?

So, in a rash moment, I decided to become a vegetarian.

This was a pretty big decision for me, because on the whole I don’t much like fruit and vegetables, and I love meat. It has led to some raised eyebrows and general dubiousness from my family, but since I do the cooking and I was happy still to cook meat for them, they couldn’t really protest.

I’ve now been vegetarian for a two months and have broadened my culinary horizons considerably. I’ve tried lots of dishes I would never have had before, and really enjoyed them. Carrot and cauliflower curry, pasta with pesto, pine nuts and parmesan, and soybean stir fry. (The alliteration of food is excellent when you’re vegetarian, as you’ll have noticed.)

I’m not saying it’s easy, but a few tips have really helped:
· Don’t think about never eating meat again. At the moment, I’m still telling myself that it’s temporary, and come Christmas I will tuck into the turkey and bacon rolls with everyone else. (But I’d really like it if I found I didn’t want to, of course.)
· Take one day at a time. I can cope with not eating meat today, or for the next meal. I’m facing this challenge in bite-sized chunks.
· Plan ahead. I plan in the morning everything I will eat that day, and make sure it includes something to look forward to. Today it is a piece of sun dried tomato focaccia to go with my mushroom stoganoff. I also make the decision in advance that, however tempting the buffet looks, I will not be putting the sausages on my plate.
· Avoid temptation. For me, that means keeping out of MacDonald’s. It also means that I will avoid people who challenge my resolve. When I announced my decision on Facebook, one of my “friends” told me he was going to waft a bacon sandwich in front of my nose. I may need to avoid him for a while.
· Get support. One of my best friends is vegetarian, and has been for several years. Speaking to her regularly is very helpful and she gives me lots of recipe tips and encouragement.
Remember the reasons. I feel a lot healthier, and a lot better about myself. I’m also feeling slightly smug at finding out that I can do something I had never thought I’d be capable of.

If any of this looks familiar, it’s because it’s the same framework of advice given by Alcoholics Anonymous to those giving up alcohol, and Narcotics Anonymous to those giving up drugs. Within the framework of a twelve-step programme, these simple principles have helped many thousands of people achieve sobriety and turn their lives around.

While it may be much harder to give up an addiction than it is to give up meat, I can testify that it really does work.

LawCare’s free and confidential helpline is available 9-7.30 Monday-Friday, 10-4 weekends, on:
0800 279 6888 (Solicitors, Law Students and Legal Executives in England and Wales)
0800 279 6869 (Solicitors, Advocates and Law Students in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man)
0800 018 4299 (Barristers, Clerks and Judges in England and Wales)
1800 991801 (Solicitors in the Republic of Ireland)
1800 303145 (Barristers in the Republic of Ireland)

PTSD

A few weeks ago, while I was slicing bread, the knife slipped and I cut my finger badly. It was very deep and very painful, it bled a lot, and we debated going to hospital to get it stitched up. However, having spent three hours in A&E with my daughter (who broke her thumb playing dodgeball at school) the previous week, I really couldn’t face doing that again, so we just wrapped it up as best we could, and now it’s perfectly fine.

The irony is that I’m not perfectly fine. I haven’t sliced any bread since it happened, and just looking at the knife block gives me a very unpleasant sensation somewhere between fear, nervousness and revulsion. At odd moments I find myself remembering, with a shudder, how it felt to have the knife slice through my flesh. I know this is stupid; it was a minor injury and healed quickly, and I’m a grown woman who should be able to forget about something so trivial and not let it affect my life. And yet there is still that strange residual anxiety which I suppose will only pass with time and plenty of practice with a Sainsbury’s tiger loaf as I persuade my subconscious that, yes, knives are dangerous, but not the extent that I need to avoid them altogether.

Bizarre as this sounds, it has given me the smallest inkling of what it might be like to have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Many people who have been through shocking and distressing circumstances, be it terrorist atrocity, the horrors of war, or a car accident, find their personalities changed and their mental health compromised by the nightmares, flashbacks, sleep problems, anger and gut-wrenching terror. However strong a person you are, traumatic events can seriously impact your ability to live a normal life.

To be diagnosed as PTSD the symptoms have to last more than a month and lead to avoidance of things that remind the person of the trauma. The trauma need not be something related to violence – receiving news of a serious illness, or being verbally bullied, can lead to symptoms of PTSD. Although up to 90% of people experience a traumatic experience at some time in their life, only 8% develop PTSD. Factors which increase the risk that a person will be susceptible to this problem include being in foster care or having an unstable childhood, being physically punished in childhood, or suffering from depression. Factors which reduce the risk include having a strong paternal figure, a high level of education and being older when the traumatic event happens.

Despite having a high level of education, solicitors are not immune to PTSD, and specialist counselling and treatment is required when it occurs. Whether your fear, flashbacks and anxiety are the result of losing your job or an encounter with a violent client, LawCare can be a good starting place for finding the help and support you need.

Right, I’m off to make myself a sandwich.

LawCare’s free and confidential helpline is available 9-7.30 Monday-Friday, 10-4 weekends, on:
0800 279 6888 (Solicitors, Law Students and Legal Executives in England and Wales)
0800 279 6869 (Solicitors, Advocates and Law Students in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man)
0800 018 4299 (Barristers, Clerks and Judges in England and Wales)
1800 991801 (Solicitors in the Republic of Ireland)
1800 303145 (Barristers in the Republic of Ireland)