Author Archives: Fredrik Westlund

A week ago since I wrote. I have been busy and also, I am waiting for my new website. This week I finally got my books. I am very happy about the covers, and the photos are taken by me. Photograpy is one of my hobbies. I wish I could paint, but I cannot. However, playing with colours, brightness etc gives some satisfaction. It is a way of expressing myself. But, of course, I will, some day have a course in learning advanced photo settings. Sharper pictures.

I am waiting for a text message.

Finally, I have donated blood for the very first time. It started by that I felt sorry for one of my characters in the book, and that made me think about my own blood group. I went to the blood center and made a health declaration. Then I had to wait a few weeks for the results. Unfortunately, I had a cold, and therefore I had to wait a little longer for blood donation.

I learnt that I belong to the most common blood group, namely A with presence of the Rh + antigen. Men and women donate the same amount of blood, but women cannot donate blood as often as men do. I did this on a day off since I didn’t know how I would feel afterwards. I didn’t feel anything, only a little pain in my arm. Now I am waiting for a text message with information that someone has used my donation. I will only get a text if it is in Stockholm or Dalarna county. This kind of service is used in Canada as well.

Currently, I am trying to find a balance between exercise and healthy food. That is difficult. Slowly, I have started with my own home made food. And that is the best. Cooking has been a great interest in my life, and still is. Sometimes, I have these cravings, like yesterday. Dessert for dinner. Pancakes with strawberries and cream. Something only women can understand I suppose?

I will be working this weekend at the pharmacy so I am having a peaceful Friday evening. Reading some. The first of December it will be 14 years ago I had my dissertation, and even though I am not within drug dependence any more, it feels good to stay in touch. I will see my former mentor, professor Jörgen Engel, at the yearly drug dependence meeting.

At the pharmacy, I mostly meet customers with nicotine dependence. Nicotine is as addictive as cocaine, so it is a real challenge to motivate. I talk about physiological (withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, nausea, headache), and psychological (craving) dependence. One of the most challenging tasks is to find a new reward instead of nicotine. And that is very individual. There are so many health benefits to quit smoking, but even though that is so evident, it still is difficult to change a habit. And maybe, that is dependence in a nutshell.

It is important to have rewards in life. Personally, I like training a lot, and indeed, there is ample amount of evidence supporting that exercise stimulate brain reward systems. Another is food. I like to read cookery books. To find inspiration. Food also reminds me of traveling and memories connected to various journeys. Every country has its own typical food. What is your favourite food?

I was not going to write this evening, but I feel some kind of frustration when I read the news. It is now some time ago since it was election in Sweden, and still, there is no prime minister. I think it is a threat to democracy since, I believe, a lot of people voted for “Alliansen” in Sweden. This is a four party coalition. Now they have separated and it is rather messy. What should voters believe?

Ok, I just had to write this. Now I will continue with some other writing, I am working on summaries. Accompanied by music.

I put much focus on training right now. And I enjoy it a lot. I was very lucky to get such good advice about how to avoid inflammation. I watch my steps, and I am more careful with stretch. There are so many schools about stretch. If needed or not. Probably it is very individual and you have to find your own way. I need some and that is for sure.

My books (novel and poetry) are being printed this week. Even though they are ready, there is still some writing to be done. Summaries and so on. It reminds me a little of the work at the department of pharmacology. So I remembered the film “A beautiful mind” with Russell Crowe. I like the university scenes. Do I miss the university? In a way I do, I miss teaching. Today I have changed to pharmacological humanities. I write some pharmacology but from a different perspective, and I am rather eager to get comments from readers, and also from my former mentor at the department of pharmacology. There is a lot to discuss and there are no answers but only speculations.

So, what else? This website will be re-built and I will get some help from professionals. I will continue to write this evening, and I still keep my focus on books, so I share this photo of a book shelf with tranquility.