Lifestyle

Denise is 49-years-old and is struggling in the benefits system. She’s currently living in Bristol, but is from Leicestershire. Denise’s diagnosis is Bipolar type II. She was diagnosed in 1991 when she was around 24 or 25. But she’d experienced mental health problems since age 16. She was misdiagnosed with depression and PTSD before getting the right diagnosis and the right treatment. Denise also has physical health problems - fibromyalgia, mobility issues and inflammatory bowel disease. Her energy levels vary...

There is a certain sort of person who likes to talk a great deal about the importance of etiquette. There is also a lot of discussion about the decline of modern manners. At the same time we live in a time of the decline of ritual – if you want an emblem, my former employer, the House of Commons, has decided that the clerks should no longer wear wigs and court dress (the House of Lords has not followed suit,...

By Bex Bastable When the organiser of a Vegfest challenged me to try going vegan I was at first dubious. But if you’re going to do it anywhere, it’s got to be Brighton. If you throw a Linda McCartney sausage in this city you’ll hit a vegan. And I thought if Beyonce and Brad Pitt can do it so can I. That’s what I thought until I realised most Quorn products aren’t vegan. Disaster. To be honest, I don’t have...

You don't walk into a car dealership before you did some research first. The same should be true for choosing a personal trainer. But it might be challenging to do the research, when you don’t know what to look for in the first place. Right Path Fitness team did some preliminary research for you and shared what great personal trainers are made of. 1. Experience You don’t want to be practicing with a generalist or an amateur. In that case,...

Limitations are often seen as things that hold us back and most would see a heart condition as exactly that. However, for Jonathan Stretton-Downes a 28 year old fraternal twin nothing could be further from the truth... I’ve had five heart surgeries and I’ve never let in hold me back. I don’t want my surgery to define me or dictate my life. But there have been a number of occasions over the years where people have discovered my condition and...

By Rebecca Benson Just when I thought women were making some progress towards equality in society I turned on the TV and accidentally came across the behaviour of Stephen Bear on the show Celebs Go Dating. Also known as, People You’ve Never Heard Of Date Other People You’ve Never Heard Of, the programme involves a group of z-listers – 99 per cent reality TV alumni – who join The Celebrity Dating Agency in search of ‘the one’. Over the course of...

Not so long ago I was making a trip down to Cornwall when I overhead a conversation between two mums about what they feed their children. One said their child had developed quite a taste for quinoa before the poor beggar burst into tears.  "Pass the humus" -  she yelled, as if posh nosh acts as a pacifier to the modern gentrified kid. The whole experience left me quite horrified, but given that I was going for a long weekend in...

"'And you, Ring-bearer,’ she said, turning to Frodo. ‘I come to you last who are not last in my thoughts. For you, I have prepared this.’ She held up a small crystal phial: it glittered as she moved it, and rays of white light sprang from her hand... May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.'" – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers Gift-giving is an act from the heart. Much has been...

These shocking videos show a 22-year-old woman ‘clicking’ herself back into place due to a rare condition which sees her joints dislocate ‘60 times a day’. 22-year-old Danielle Shield was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome – an inherited condition which leaves her joints ‘loose’ and susceptible to ‘stick out at odd angles’ – in 2014 at 19 years old. Two years on, trainee nurse Danielle has 60 breaks or dislocations a day and has given up sport, is often reliant on...