Cigarettes, zinc and men in sheds

I'm very excited to be once again writing about sheds. I wrote back in January about an Australian project to help men "interact and unburden" in the familiar and comforting surroundings of a shed. But it seems the Aussie shed movement has inspired a similar project in the UK.

Age UK has been running a Men In Sheds pilot project in Greenwich, Nottingham and South Lakeland which aims to provides older men with a shed, tools and equipment so they can "use existing skills, learn new ones and get involved in productive activity, while enjoying the benefits of working in a social group." It always seemed a good idea to me to get social care services out of institutional/health settings. And if you want to find out more, there is a Discovering Men's Sheds conference taking place in Leicester on 29 September.

Elsewhere, Zinc supplements may be a useful add-on treatment for depression although more research is needed.

And Boing Boing has a short post on treating mental illness with cigarettes. Thanks to Rethink for pointing that one out.