Bright gift ideas
Buying gifts for that difficult someone is always a challenge. Mark Brown, a difficult person himself, offers some advice
As the festive season rolls round once again, throughout the land goes up the cry: “What do I buy for the difficult person in my life?”
And few are more difficult than we people with mental health difficulties. While it’s true that even people with mental health difficulties need socks and hankies, what might you buy that might actually make life a bit easier for us?
Let there be light
Lightboxes are something that can make a particular difference during the dark days of winter. Put very simply, lightboxes are very powerful high lux (the measure of brightness) lamps that simulate the intensity of natural ‘white’ light, fooling the body into thinking that it is a sunny spring morning, rather than a dark and grim January afternoon. To get an idea of how bright they are, a 60W bulb is about 50 lux at 1 metre away. An average light box might give out light equal to over 1000 lux.
Lightboxes are not the same as sunlamps, so the person receiving one won’t get a tan, but, the thinking goes, they will feel less like they want to hibernate when there isn’t much sun around. Lightboxes are recommended for Seasonal Affective Disorder, a kind of mood disorder which occurs when people have less natural sunlight. Many people with mood disorders find things more difficult during the winter, the lack of light making it harder to concentrate, finding themselves lethargic, depressed and unable to get up in the mornings.
You can even get alarm clocks that slowly light the room, mimicking a bright sunrise. A lightbox is literally a bright idea for a present.
Dear Diary
People with mental health difficulties are disorganised. It’s what we do. We forget stuff, miss appointments, forget to take our medication. People without mental health difficulties do this as well, so it’s not just us. Diaries, organisers and planners are brilliant gifts, as long as you don’t make a point when you give them. Do say: “I’ve bought you a lovely diary”. Don’t say: “I’ve bought you a lovely diary, so now you won’t forget your appointment / medication / meetings / wedding”.
We’ll know you’re trying to help, but we still might find it difficult to smile appreciatively if you can’t resist pointing out that we’re disorganised. Even if it’s true.
Help Yourself
Self help books can be an excellent resource, providing useful and pragmatic information in an easyto-digest style. There are a number out there that will be particularly helpful for the person in your life who experiences mental health difficulties. How do you choose a good one? As a general rule, try to avoid anything with the word ‘cure’ in the title, anything that suggests that the secret to overcoming a particular condition is ‘easy’ or ‘simple’ and certainly avoid any book that suggests that mental health difficulties are a ‘scam’, a ‘conspiracy’ or don’t exist.
Especially important is avoiding giving any book that implies that the only thing that stands between us and happiness is a lack of willpower. We know it’s a minefield, which is why we’ll be really chuffed when you buy us something useful, informative and which tells stuff we don’t already know.
Or there are always socks.
This article appears in the Winter 2009 edition of One in Four magazine
