The sanest bloke I know

Yesterday I met a man with a mission. I'm not going to name him, but he used to drum in a band with me. He's one of my best friends and if I had to rely on someone in a life or death scenario who I could implictly trust, he'd be the first person I'd ask. He is also an absolutely blinding drummer. I was watching him playing with a few friends at a local pub.  His band were meant to perform a St Georges night gig, but he was let down by a bandmate on Thursday. Most people would have cried off, but my friend spent the evening ringing around and cobbled together a replacement. It was a good night and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As ever, we ended up chatting and drinking until we were kicked out at 2am. As I had to run a stall for the Lib Dems at 9.30am, this wasn't the best move I've ever made.

St Georges day is a strange day in the calendar. Our patron Saint is a rather problematic character in some ways. I rather upset a right wing leaning chap in the pub last night who asked me if I thought we should have a public holiday for him. I said I thought that this was a splendid idea, which he rather happily agreed with. He was less impressed when I commented that I thought it was fantastic that so many people could be united by a Palestinian who became a Roman soldier. My new found friend was suddenly rather less friendly and asked if I was trying to wind him up. I suspect that if I'd been 5'1 instead of 6'1 he may have chosen to up the ante of our exchange but as it was he skulked off and looked miserable for the rest of the evening. I pondered on why St George was famous. We all know he killed a Dragon. There's only one problem. Dragons don't exist. This brings us back to my conversation in the pub at 1am.

My friend was telling me that he was doing rather well. He's been plagued by mental illness over the years. This hasn't stopped him from working, raising a family or being a great musician. He was telling me that he has discovered his mission in life. What is this mission? To get people with mental health problems to take their medication. He explained to me that he's come to realise that medication is the secret to happiness for him. He said that it has taken him years to find the correct dosage at the correct level. He explained that many people with issues such as his, have their lives blighted because they don't take their meds. He said that when people stop taking them, it is because the dosage needs a minor adjustment. He has a sympathetic doctor who explained all of this to him and told him that if he started having problems or issues, don't stop the meds, come back and have a chat so the dosage could be adjusted first.

He told me that since the realisation that he could chemically control his problems, he's become an evangelist for medication. He has helped many other sufferers to control their problems and deal with their issues.  As we chatted about life the universe and everything, the subject of St George cropped up. He said "You know that many of the Saints were Paranoid schizophrenics, thats why they had visions". I replied "How many dragons have you slayed". His reply "Not as many as I've laid". I've often wondered with my friend whether the problem was more one of he really sees the world for what it is. I can't recall him ever making a bad judgement call about anything. Could it be that perhaps he's actually the sanest person I know?