Healing Image Hi – Social Media, Menopause And Wally The Alligator

Hello, this is Eva May, and I'm speaking to you from the Women's Radio Station for another in my series called Healing Image High. Um, this week I've actually been away. I'm, I'm actually still away, and, um, so I've been sort of thinking really about, um, my, my time away, uh with my family and some friends and sort of what I've learned from the week. Um, I want to— so what I'm going to talk about this week is, um, social media, the emotional support animals, and the menopause. So those are the 3 things that I've been speaking with people about this on my, my time away. Now, I'm always quite interested in social media and how many platforms and the different platforms. And I mean, I'm not a huge user of it. I do look at it and I do use it to keep in touch with people, but I mean, Instagram is something that I've never really got to grips with. I actually did a course with somebody who was, uh, who's a social media— that's her job, is that she helps people do social media. So I wanted to talk to her about Instagram, like, for me, what I could do with it and whether it would be helpful to have it, um, for, for this work, for my healing image, hi, um, to see if it might help people. I'm not I'm not really sure how much and what would be helpful. So really, my Instagram page only has my broadcast pictures on, and I just try and say something a little bit about what I'm going to do. But I'm not sure really if any more photographs of me or my life would really help people. I'm hoping that speaking through the radio is more helpful than me just putting up snapshots of, of moments, um, that aren't really going to tell the whole picture. And I've met influencers before. I've never had a chance to really speak to them about it, but this week I have, and Not just me, I mean, they were talking to sort of the group that we were with about it. So I explained a little bit about it. I've known this person for about 4 years, and I knew that they, they did use Instagram and they had quite a few followers, but I didn't actually know what quite a few followers were. Well, It's— she has 65,000, so that's, that's pretty amazing. So some of those people are going to know her, and some of them will never know her. They'll never meet her and get the opportunity to talk to her like I have and spend some time with her. And so it's, it's becoming really successful and is taking about 2 days of her week to do this, to keep this going. And it's, it's now a business. So she has a manager who— I don't know how they do it, but, um, show their pictures, or I don't, I don't really know that bit. But so they get, you know, free things, uh, which they can choose. And it could be clothing or accessories, anything really, and makeup. And they, they have to put them up. They have to put certain things up, and it also has to have what the item is, where it's from, so to show that it is an, like, an advertisement. And they get paid to do this. And, you know, it's, it's a, it's a fair amount of money really for, um, for getting some nice, nice free things every month and to be able to put up, have some nice photographs taken and then put them up and then be paid at the end of the month if you've met the quota of photos they want. So I was quite interested in this because There's— I don't know, I just worry about it a bit because from her account, you, you're not going to know her. You're not going to know what her life is, what she talks about, what her interests are, you know, the real person behind it. And it is— there's been, um, concerns around social media, especially at the moment, because we have problems now with fuel prices, energy prices going up, and then food's going to go up. Um, and young people— the, the research piece that I read were people from the age of 14 to 24 saying that they're spending a lot more time now on social media. There's more platforms, but there were a quarter of them were reporting some sort of symptoms or actually naming some issues that come under the umbrella of mental illness. So looking at things that they would really like or things that they— how they would really like to look. Losing sleep because they're up doing this at night, and also sort of worrying about the fear of missing out, and you know, what this person's got and what they would like to have. I've said it before on my radio, if you see a picture of me that advertises as a promotional piece for my shows, it's not real life. I don't walk around looking like that or sit cuddling and smiling with my dog every minute of every day. They are just snapshot moments. And I just was, so it's really interesting and I do admire somebody who's determined and they're working hard and they're doing a good job of this. But there is a backstory, you know, This person also has another job. They're very highly qualified in what they do, but you, you won't ever get to find out what that is. And that job will be the job that there's— that they probably do as a full-time job once this Instagram, um, job is no longer possible. Maybe because certain age or new people coming up, I don't know. I don't think we really know how it's going to go. So it is, it's good in a way that you've got, if you want to put posts up and things, you've got a place to express yourself. And there's also opportunity to expand some sort of community and build friendships with similar like-minded people. But a lot of people were saying that it is leading to anxiety and depression, exposure to bullying, and worries about body image and fear of missing out. So the person that I'm talking about uses fillers and Botox, and that's very young to be doing that. But it won't say that on— you won't know that from the pictures. I only know that because I've had a conversation and, you know, she's very, very open about it. I mean, neuroscientists have done some studies on Facebook, 'cause that's been around quite a long time now, and it's saying that people who go on Facebook, it can trigger some the impulsive parts of the brain that are seen to be triggered, which lead to gambling and substance abuse. And addiction, you know, it's a really, really real thing. I think we've just got to be very, very careful. It's like— so people who are just light social media consumers they seem to be pretty happy. So a survey was done, and these 14 to 24-year-olds, they were asked every week how they felt, whether they were happy or sad with the amount of time that they spent on the platforms. And 63 of them said that they actually felt quite unhappy and miserable. And that was particularly when they were looking at Instagram, which was, um, 63%. So it's the highest of all the other platforms that were looked at. And these— they were spending an hour, an average of an hour a day on Instagram, and, um, and just not happy about the time that they spent and not happy about the way they feel. The one thing that I found quite interesting too was that the numbers absolutely shot up to 91% of this survey sample feeling really happy when they use FaceTime. So that's looking at somebody, engaging, talking, you can see them, you can see what they're doing, their expression, it's very real time. And then 84% said that they felt really happy when they were actually talking to somebody on a phone. So I think this really highlights that, yeah, it's lovely looking at nice things, but if you're a 14 to 24-year-old and you're in your room on your own at night and you're losing sleep because you're looking at all these things, it's not real. It's just not real life. But if you're on FaceTime to some friends, that is real. And I think humans, we are social beings, so we need to talk. And it also made me realise that I'm not very good at phoning my family. I mean, even my own kids. I'm more send them a message. When really, you think, you know, every single day that passes, they're doing things that deserve more than a message. And I need to, you know, I'm someone that suffers with mental health issues, so if I can feel happier if I'm FaceTiming somebody and talking to them, then I think I need to look at these figures. I mean, obviously I'm way over the 24-year-old age range, but I think people of my age, I mean, I'm 57, that I need to talk to people. And certainly being away for Just these few days and being with my husband, one of my kids, and two of our friends. And then there are people— I come to the same place really on holiday. It works best for me. And the people that I know here, they do the same. So there's a group, there's always somebody that I could go and see or people to meet up with. And what's just so nice is spending time sitting and talking and laughing. So I wouldn't have had the chance to have spoken to this, this person who's, um, in the group who is doing all her Instagram pictures. And she's done a few since we've been here, so they were quite nice to see as well. Um, But sitting down chatting to her is— I prefer that than looking at her on her Instagram. But, you know, good luck. She's working hard, she's doing a good job, and she's enjoying herself. But I think people just need to be made aware that, you know, this is how it works when you're looking at people whose pages are very easy to access. They check all the statistics that Instagram give you about how many views, the age of the viewers, the time, everything. And, and then the manager works with that information to, to monetize it. Um, you know, that, that's what this is about now. It's about money. And there are some things that she might like to post. She couldn't post any pictures of all of us away. That wouldn't be acceptable on her account. Now because she has a manager. But she certainly does not spend all her days just standing around in nice outfits. She does talk and is a very interesting person to get to know. So I was there. I also, at the same time when I was with a group of people, when we were all like mixed ages, we all just get on and we've all known each other for a very long time, years really. Really. And one friend I've not seen for about 3 years, partly because of COVID and also it's not been very well. So I didn't know that. I'm sorry to hear that. And I just said, I hope that you're feeling better. Sometimes I don't really know what to say to people if they say they haven't been well. Other than, gosh, I hope you're feeling better now. Um, don't really like to pry, but, you know, I'm concerned, and I'm— I hope I'm seen as a genuine person. And she has a job that she absolutely loves, and she's the same age as me, and she's not been at work for a year. I felt kind of bad that I didn't know that. Maybe if I picked up the phone more, used FaceTime, I might have known, but I didn't know. So, of course, I was like, gosh, well, I hope, you know, are you going to be going back to work soon? No, I'm not, I'm not. Um, she's had, uh, she said, I've had meetings with them, HR, and it's been decided that I'm going to retire. I'm not going back to work. I haven't been there for a year. I'd have to do some retraining, and I'm not up to it. And I honestly didn't really— I didn't know. I have no idea what's happened. No idea at all. So she said, well, it's the menopause. I thought, it's the menopause? It's, like, kept you off work for a whole year? Like, yeah. And I don't— every time I hear somebody talk about the menopause, I learn something different about it, about the people, how it's affecting them. And, you know, to have somebody off work for a whole year who's pretty well strong, fit normally, because of the menopause It's— that's a real tough one. That's, um— So, it's a— I didn't realise that it can actually affect your joints quite badly, so she couldn't work because of that. Plus, there was a whole list of other things too. I tried HRT because all my friends seemed to be getting on very well with it. They didn't talk to me about how they'd felt before. They just told me how great they were on it. And when I went on it, I just put on 2 stones. So I've stopped taking it and I'm trying to lose the weight. Now, I don't know if it's the right thing to do that I did stop it or if I could have tried something else, but there was no conversation about this with my doctor. I know doctors are very, very busy, but I have, um, I have a family member who is a GP, and when they did their training, menopause wasn't one of the things that they focused on as a specialty or an interest. So I, I don't know why this is, because it's something, you know, if they've got 50% of their patients are women, it's going to occur. So it would be quite good if they knew a bit more about it. But she had to actually— nobody in her surgery could really help her, and she went to a menopause specialist. Well, I never heard of that before. And I think that's probably quite a good idea for people who are really suffering to really insist that they get somebody to talk to who's really knowledgeable about it and has studied it and knows all the upstate things and then can sort of alleviate your worries and help you, because being ill for a whole year with sort of physical and mental— not feeling well at all. It's— that's pretty bad. And I mean, we're in 2022. You think that we would have all this information and that we should— it should be shared. I mean, I don't know when people give you the information about menopause. I wish I had some. I mean, I can't— my mum, it's not in her generation. They didn't talk about it. I remember quite clearly one day my dad said to me and my brother that, like, Mum really needed us to be, um, to care for her a little bit more because she wasn't going to be feeling quite herself and for a few weeks. And then Mum said that she was going through the change. Well, I don't mean anything. I mean, I don't even think she probably knew what was going on, but, you know, she couldn't even use the word and it was just called the change. Then we just knew that we had to look after Mum, that she wasn't going to be very well for a few weeks. And that's all I can remember. So I found it quite interesting, so I've spoken to them, so the influencer and then this poor lady with the menopause. So she's going to retire. Also, the job she does is like super interesting, um, and I've really enjoyed hearing about her job before, and it's something like, you think, gosh, that would be really a really like great thing to do, and she absolutely loves it. You know, her face lights up, she loves to talk about it, but it's a very male-dominated industry. In fact, the, um, the place that— the, the center that she works, she is the only woman. There's some younger one— well, there's some younger ones now coming in, so she really wants to try and sort of trailblaze this for them because they're going to come up to this stage one day. And there's no menopause policy and there's no understanding with her, like, HR or her manager. They almost find it— they just know the word, but nobody knows what it is or what it can do. Um, I mean, for me, I'm still a lot bigger than I used to be, and I'm trying really hard to try and lose weight. And I don't know if I'm worrying too much about losing weight that I'm forgetting the fact that I am going through the menopause and maybe I could have a slightly easier ride if somebody could give me the right information. There's loads on like Google and all that, but to sit down, you can't be— it's going back to this study, it's almost like they didn't need to do a study because it's obvious if you talk to people and listen and like learn and share and see them or hear them, then it's got to be so much better than just sitting on your phone and just looking at random stuff and actually not getting a huge amount that's going to help you. So that leads me to the next thing. Now, I'm always going on about how in the UK we're behind other countries. So what I have is complex PTSD, which is recognised but not easily to get treatment. But I also have something— I have a dissociative disorder. So dissociative disorders, if you have a ladder, And you've got PTSD, then complex PTSD. So that's really sort of trauma that's been repeated or over a long time. Uh, PTSD seems to be more, I think, for people who've experienced a trauma. Um, doesn't mean to say they can't have more, but, um, so dissociative disorders come up above that. In the UK, it's not recognized. I mean, they know about it. There's 40 years of research done worldwide about it, um, and in depth, and there's some experts too. But in the UK, we don't have guidelines set out by NICE to treat this. So that means there's nobody trained to diagnose it, no one trained to treat it, and it's taken me 33 years to actually get to the Centre for Dissociative Studies in London, where my consultant psychotherapist is trained in dissociative disorders. So she did her training— I don't know if it was in Europe or in the US, but it certainly— I do know it wasn't in the UK, because you can't do it. It's just not possible. And, you know, like 33 years of waiting to get to the right person. It's like I'm actually getting better, and that's really nice to be able to say that what I'm getting is effective and they know what I'm talking about. That's just apparent, and the information that I get back and the support is like nothing that I've had before. So I have to— it's not— the NHS don't have it because we don't have the people trained. So I have funding from the government, or CCG, which is the part that pays for things that the NHS can't support. And my treatment is, you know, I've been through some pretty hefty, well, probably about 4 or 5 hours worth spread over time of some really hefty assessments that were really distressing, like really, really distressing. To get this help. So I get 2 hours face-to-face a week with my therapist. If for some reason, like we've had train strikes and whatever, then we do Zoom. Zoom's great, but it doesn't actually replace the face-to-face at all. Plus I get an extra hour spread over the week how I want. So that could be like messaging or telephone, or we can FaceTime. And, you know, that's incredible to have that support. And once— my treatment is predicted to last for 6 years, so I've not even done a year yet, but, um, I just worry that You know, there's so many people who, like me, have gone through this and we're not getting the support. Similar to so many people, like women going through the menopause without specialist support. So I think things need to change. And the only way that I can— break this up myself is by talking about this on the radio. So we know that we've got all this like mental health things going on, but one area that, um, there's been some new research and developments in is to help kids. And researchers found that— I don't know how, but They found that children find it difficult to talk to adults when they're asked questions about their mental health. So, because they feel that they're gonna have to give the answer that the adult wants, or maybe is expecting to hear, or they haven't understood what they're being asked, or they don't actually know how to answer or articulate what they want to say. So there's this new thing that's being tried out, and it's by using a robot. And this robot is— I've seen a picture of it online, and it's kind of cute, you know, sort of be a nice thing to have as a toy. So it's only 60 centimetres high, And it's got like, well, a robot head, arms, body, and legs, but it's interactive. So the child can sort of touch it, and it, which they can't do with a, you know, an adult, a mental health professional. You're not allowed to sort of touch people and do things like that anymore. They found that because kids are so used to interactive technology, then using this, like, little robot is a really good idea. It has a child's voice, so it doesn't sound like an adult, and it's obviously, like, the size of it makes it look a little bit more friendly. But the parents or carers or guardians and the doctors, they stand behind a one-way mirror so that This session is being observed. And then they collect the data. And then they use this data to try and see what help and support can be provided. But the study sort of stopped there. It didn't say where this support and help is gonna come from or in what form. If you give a kid, like, a really nice session with a— a nice, friendly-looking robot that's talking to them in Latin, using language that they— and sounding like them, and that they can interact and touch. There's buttons and all sorts of things, and it moves, and, um, they're, you know, they're in— it's an enjoyable experience, as good as it can be. But what happens after that? Like, if the robot goes and then it's replaced by, you know, an adult professional, I'm not sure whether we're going to be confusing kids or whether we go down the robot route. But I mean, these robots, they cost thousands and thousands of pounds. So I think technology is great, but You know, like we've seen with these surveys going back to— if you get away from talking to people, then we're getting problems. So if you're using children to be assessed by mental health professionals using robots, we're just adding another sort of platform of, um— a type of social media, although it's interactive. I don't know if the children know they're being observed or if they think they're just on their own, you know, playing with this, supposed to be a bit like a playdate. But I— so I'd like to know the next bit of the story, what happens with this data and how children cope. I mean, is it accurate? I don't know, because I don't think they've done enough research yet. And how kids cope that when they realize that they're not— when they go to this building again, they're not going to get an hour playing with a, you know, a really nice looking, like, robot, like, you know, like your best birthday present ever, something that can talk to you and listen to you and interact with you, and then have that replaced by of a sterile room and an adult to talk to. So that leads me to my other thing that we were talking about, was I mentioned it before. So in the UK, we don't recognize emotional support animals, and I've said many times that we— 7 years ago, we got a dog Our first dog, um, not my choice, but one of my kids was like, it's the only thing I want. Don't ask me what I want ever for presents. The only thing I want is a dog. Now I'm talking about an adult child. We're not talking about small kids. My kids are, you know, in their 20s and 30s. So yeah, so, so she, she was, um, how old was she, uh, like 18, wanting a dog? Well, it's like I wasn't going to work anymore because I, um, I had to leave work for my, my mental health. So, um, so we got a dog as a surprise, and, uh, I actually found this puppy, went and got it, and fell in love with it instantly, really. Um, hard work but enjoyable, and a family and loved her and everything. And then they're all busy and I'm left looking after the dog, but actually, in a way, the dog was looking after me. It gave me someone to care— something to care for. And it meant that to be able to care for our dog, I had to be able to care for myself. So that was really positive. Plus, dogs need exercise. You can't just keep them in all the time. They need to go out and they need to socialise. And, I mean, all this was a whole new ball game for me. Previous to this, we only ever had cats, and I had a tortoise, so dog was definitely different. But when you go out with a dog, I mean, I talk to her, um, and we, we interact. So probably a bit like kids interacting with this robot, I'm interacting with my dog, and it's, it's really, really nice. And now I go out, I take my dog. I don't go to many places where she can't go. The only place I, I can't take her into is the supermarket. And I usually take my husband shopping with me. I don't like going out on my own, but I can go out with the dog. So I think in America, emotional support animals are recognized. They also seem to say at the moment they have a, you know, a mental health crisis. They're really quite open about it. They also say that they have an emotional support animal crisis as well, bit of an epidemic going on with people finding that animals actually help them. And you can register here in the UK for an emotional support animal, but it's not going to be recognised by law, so you can't rock up to a supermarket, or you can't take it on a plane, or go into a restaurant that doesn't allow animals, just because you've got a letter from your doctor saying that you're feeling a lot better when you're with this animal and it's actually supporting you emotionally. But, I mean, you can do it and you have to pay to register, but it doesn't really get you a lot. What it might do is if more people do it, it might show in this country that there's a need for it. But I'm not quite sure where that is on the list of priorities. But in America, you can have an emotional support animal. Well, I read this thing and I couldn't, I couldn't believe it, but I can believe it because, well, any strange things do happen. And you can actually, you can actually Google it and watch. There's some videos about it, and it's an alligator called Wally. And, um, there was a man who, um, he lived on his own. He'd had an interest in reptiles, like, for most of his life. He was always interested in them. And he was given a 20-inch alligator by, um, I think it came from like a Disney park where they had alligators, like, obviously safely away from people, but one of the alligators attacked another one, so they had to get rid of them. So they went to rescue. So this gentleman got this, um, very small alligator, so just 20 inches long, and He was gonna— he's taking care of it because he knew a lot about reptiles, so it's a rescue. Then in the space, a very short space of time, he lost, uh, 6 people very, very close to him, so family and friends. And this alligator's like growing, um, it's got somewhere to swim. Doesn't eat very much, but you can watch it. It's quite— it's quite— it's really interesting and it's absolutely fascinating. I've never ever thought of an alligator as being something that could be domesticated. Um, I, I guess that's what it is. So now, um, Wally is registered as an emotional support animal, and he has like, you know, a proper card with his photograph on it and confirming that this is what he is. So he goes out for walks. He's now 5 foot 5 long. He's big. I mean, I'm 5 foot 6, so he's only an inch shorter than I am. And he goes in the car, sits on the back seat or the floor, goes shopping. He goes— I think he's quite— well, obviously he draws a lot of attention when he's seen. And this alligator, it actually hugs And you need to watch the video, the online, because it really, really does. It hugs. It lies on this gentleman's, um, body, and it puts its head on its— on his— so up near his neck. And then it actually puts its arms around his shoulders, and it hugs him, and he can stroke it and He takes it into restaurants. I'm not sure how I would feel if I was out having a meal and somebody walked in with a 5-foot-5-inch-long alligator on a lead and then sat down and had it on his body and just stroked it. I think I'd be quite freaked out. But, you know, he's— He can go everywhere and he's taken into old people's homes and it shows you, you should see this clip. So it's Wally the alligator and these old people are just absolutely like holding this alligator and stroking him and he's got his paws again around their neck and they're in an embrace for quite a long time and they're like, I feel so much better. Oh, that was just what I needed. And I mean, I get that from my dog, but I'm not, I don't think we'll deviate and go to alligators, but I do understand what that feeling of support is like. I've tried, I have done quite a lot of equine therapy in the United States because I went to a trauma facility there for 70 days. And they had a barn, and I got to do quite a lot of equine work, nearly every day actually. And I must say, it was incredible. And if there was a way I could have brought that horse back from the States and got it on the plane and brought it home, I would have done, because it certainly helped me in so many ways. So you've got now emotional support animals in America that are recognized by law. You can take them on a plane, in restaurants, shops, wherever. So this alligator has got these rights. Well, other people now have found that they're getting emotional support from other animals, so including a peacock, um, and then, um, hamsters, guinea pigs, goats, miniature horses, horses. Like anything really. So airlines and some other organizations are drawing up their own laws because they will allow on a plane a dog, a cat, and I think it's a miniature horse, and they can travel for free as long as they're registered. And all you need to register your animal is a letter from your doctor. So Wally the alligator, his owner was suffering from a really terrible depression and bereavement because he'd lost— I'm sure, I think it is 5 or 6 very close family members and friends in a very short space of time. And the doctor gave him antidepressants, so he started taking them and then was just I don't like the way this is making me feel. Um, and then by chance he got given this rescue 20-inch alligator and he put his time into, to caring for, for the alligator. So, but if you're caring for someone else, you've got to care for yourself, otherwise you're not going to be able to do it. So it made him better, he went back to the doctor and the doctor was like, well, what have you been doing? You know, you're not taking the medication and you're looking so much better. He said, it's, it's, it's Wally, my, my alligator. So that's how it got, um, emotional support animal status. But, um, there was another gentleman who had sadly lost his son, and his emotional support animals were goats. And he lived, I think it's like a small, a very small town, and he had his goats. They were getting him through his life. They were his emotional support animals. They weren't treated as farm animals by him at all. But— and his whole— the community, they were fully supportive and really were interested and got a lot from these goats as well. But the authorities were trying to get his goats removed from his property because they were saying they were farm animals. And the sheriff had been round and served him with these like papers, like huge great books really of legal stuff to say you can't have these goats anymore. And he was asked if he understood what was in this. He said, "Yeah, I understand it. It's telling me that they're saying that I've got 3 goats and I do." And then The interviewer was saying to him, well, how are you going to deal with this? He said, I've dealt with it. I've got the one piece of paper that I need that can stop all this because I live in America. And he just got probably like a 4-line letter from his physician, so like his GP, saying that these animals were his emotional support animals. So they have cards, they are like legally allowed to go, well, into places now that I suppose you can't— I don't know where this would stop though, because if I got on a flight and there was an alligator, a peacock, 3 goats, um, hamsters, cats, and all these other things that are actually on this, this, um, the particular clip about emotional support animals, but with the main focus on Wally the alligator, I'm not quite sure how I would feel. Like, with all of— I mean, I don't actually know how peacocks behave, if they sit on you for— or they sit on their own. I don't know. I've only ever seen, um, peacocks not really wanting to be near people or making quite loud noises as they walk across roofs. So I don't know if you're— if you're— I don't know, exposing the public to— I mean, a lot of people are scared of alligators, so— but this one walks around shopping malls. He's on a lead. It's like a harness but a lead. And certainly as a schoolteacher, when I used to do school trips, we used to have to spend a lot of time prepping. There was so much paperwork taking children on a trip. And one of the things that you have to do is a risk assessment, and then that has to go to, you know, someone high up in the school who then can decide whether or not this trip is okay and that you've sort of covered all bases and acknowledged anything that might be a risk to anybody, not just the children you're looking after, but yourself and, um, the general public. Well, if I put down on a risk assessment that we might go out and there could be an emotional support animal that's a 5-foot, 5-inch long alligator, I'm not sure that my parents or my school would have wanted me to have continued with that trip. And the other thing they had, which was, um, something I'd never heard of before— so if you are going to college, I, I'm not sure of the way the American education system works fully, but I think they call college rather than university. I'm— but then I do think they have universities. But anyway, if you go away and you do further study and you have an emotional support animal, you can take it. It might say on the campus rules that you can't have any pets, but these aren't classed as pets. And there was, uh, one girl who'd gone off with, um, her dog. It like chewed a load of the carpet, but she just put a rug over it and said at the end of the semester she'd fix the carpet, and that he only did it as an accident, it wasn't something he'd normally do. And there was another girl who, her emotional support animals that she took away with her were guinea pigs. And she found that just really, really helpful, that she had an awful lot of studying to do, so she was often in her room on her own. And that would be when she would not be feeling so great. But having the guinea pigs there, it just made her feel safe and fine. And her study mates would come round and I think she had about 3 of them and they'd like have one as well and they all benefited. So I think spending time with animals can benefit everybody, but I'm not sure how we're going to manage if everybody then goes and gets themselves an emotional support animal or 3, as, as like 3 goats and 3 guinea pigs. Then they did another bit about, um, how one campus had actually set up a dorm So like an area with all student bedrooms where they actually had resident support animals. So you didn't have to take your own or go and buy the license and get all the legal paperwork and things that were needed. So these animals were actually living on site, but there was cats and I think they had hamsters. Don't think there was a dog. I think the largest animal was cats. And the students were saying that they really were benefiting from this, and they thought it was a really great idea. And it saved them having to bring their own animal, but they did definitely get a huge benefit. So— and then there was another side to it. There's a money-making side, like there often is to these things. So you need your doctor's letter. I'm presuming that you have to pay for that. Um, but you need a certificate. So you can apply to companies online, and in fact, the, the guy who did this piece, I think he's from The Guardian newspaper, He went to talk to somebody about it, um, who does the certificates. And you go online. He was making up a fictitious pet as his emotional support animal, 'cause he's a UK resident, so he wouldn't be able to do it. But just to enter and see what the process— The first page that comes up is they want your payment details. And he said like, "So it's money-making?" And she said, "Well, when you think about it, when you go and see, you know, a doctor or any specialist or for any service, you do know you're gonna have to pay and usually have to provide those details up front. So this is the same." And this one company alone got over a million pounds a million applicants a month. And they're one of many, many, many. I mean, this woman, she was saying that she actually gets some abuse about it, like you're making money out of people who are trying to register sort of, you know, pets that shouldn't be kept in this way, you know, peacocks generally aren't known for being, you know, a human peacock relationship, and certainly the alligator people relationship, that you're encouraging all of this and it's now turning into an epidemic. Her answer was that they have a mental health epidemic— epidemic— I'm sorry, I can't say that— first. So this is actually helping She has her own horses and she said, you know, she got a lot from spending time with her horses. She also said she had been adopted and didn't always feel the same. She felt sort of different and she had siblings who were also adopted, so she felt that She was in a different situation and she learned to stand up for herself. And she found that standing up and not closing her business down because of people, the criticism, which was at hard times to take, was at times hard to take. Sorry, I got that wrong. But she wanted to stand up for the people who maybe couldn't always stand up for themselves. So that was why she was providing this service. So it's really interesting. I don't know what would happen if we have this in the UK. I would love to have my dog registered as my emotional support animal. I'd be able to go into the supermarket by myself. Well, with my dog, I understand why they don't want animals around food. But at some level, we do know there's a lot of research even going on in this country for equine therapy to help people of all ages. I'm hoping to register my dog as a therapy dog. So as a volunteer, I would have— my dog has to go through an assessment, and I need to— when I went to set up and try and do this, I didn't realize that they'd want a photograph of it, vaccination records and things like that, and I didn't have that information to hand. And I've not got back to Hamming that and to get on and continue this process. But then my dog would need to be assessed. By a proper assessor to check that they were okay and suitable for me. I don't know where I would take it to. Maybe we'd go to places like hospitals or, um, sort of homes for elderly people. Um, I know my dog— I've had her for 7 years— that she would absolutely love it. She loves people. And I think that they would really, really love her, and I'm hoping it's something that I'm going to pursue. And I'll be able to keep you updated on that and also what's involved, because there might be people out there who've got animals who they know are great with people and great with, you know, you as an owner, and then to go and do something as a volunteer with your animal that's going to really help other people. And I think that's a really nice thing to do. And I think for me, it would really help me to get out more and feel like I'm doing something to take care of other people. So I would say that, you know, living with a mental health diagnosis and being in treatment It's— sometimes I need to get away from that world and introduce some new things into it because it's not a world I want to be in forever. I'm hoping that I'm going to be able to get through it, and you can't live your life living for your next therapy session. It's just— It's just not healthy. It's, it's not good. It can't be the scaffolding of my life. I need to build some new ones. So I think talk to people if they're, you know, about how they feel about social media, what, how they use it. I don't even really know how my kids use it. I think we're going to have that conversation. 'When I next see them, I'd like to know. I'm interested.' I'm not going to give my opinion on it, whether or not they should spend their time doing that or not. But I know what it's like to be isolated, as I, um, did have a tendency to isolate myself. And I can see that maybe following people could make you feel isolated, and I'm certainly a bit concerned about the sort of online bullying and people really not having the tools to deal with that. So that needs to be spoken about. The robot thing, you can have a look at that. The robot was called Nao. I think that's how you say it. And— in a— oh, um, but anyway, you could— you can see the picture of the robot and just, you know, bear in mind what things are coming up and what might help people. But also sort of think— I think we need to think as a population about where this is all going to end up, um, when really we just want people to live good and happy lives. So anyway, thank you for listening. I hope you've learned something, um, have a look at Wally the Alligator because it's really, really some interesting, and he's, he's really special.