I’m terrified of leaving the house, I have palpitations – the last time I ventured out was months ago

BUNS, choking, cuts and more – children face all kinds of problems, some scarier than others, some life-threatening.

Would you know what to do if your child or friend was in a situation like this?

If not, it’s a good time to brush up on some skills as it’s Child Safety Week.

Follow the pages on social media to keep your memory updated – @tinyheartseducation@MargaridaFirst Aid It is @cprkids they are great Instagram pages.

Some groups, such as the London Ambulance Service, list pop-up events on their websites.

You can pop in and learn life-saving skills for free at lunchtime.

If you really want to start using first aid, visit redcrossfirstaidtraining.co.uk.

Could you suggest that your children’s school organize a training course one evening for parents who are eager to learn more?

Some of my top things to remember.

Firstly, in relation to the little ones who were burned.

Remove clothing or diapers around the injured area (but do not do so if they are stuck to the burned skin) and place the burn in cold water.

Second, if someone is choking, don’t try to remove the obstruction with your fingers.

Ask them to cough, and if that doesn’t work, hit them on the back (between the shoulder blades).

Here’s a selection of what readers asked me this week. . .

FAMILY HAD CANCER – CAN I TAKE A PSA TEST?

Q: I AM a 61-year-old man. Would it be advisable to have a PSA test?

I’ve asked my family doctor for surgery, but they don’t seem that interested, even though I lost my mother and brother to cancer within six months of each other, and my sister had breast cancer.

A: PSA tests are available on the NHS for all men over 50 if they choose to ask for them.

Many men are frustrated that the PSA test is not a regular NHS screening programme.

But the test is not good enough to be used in this way because the false positive rate is up to 15% and there are also false negatives.

The PSA test measures prostate-specific antigens in the blood.

An elevated level suggests a prostate problem, but not necessarily cancer – other causes include an enlarged prostate and prostatitis.

It can help detect cancer before you experience any symptoms, which is really helpful for fast-growing types of prostate cancer.

And they are useful if you have an increased risk of prostate cancer – having it in the family and being black increases risk levels.

But the disadvantages are that there are some cases of cancer in which the PSA level is normal, which does not definitively exclude the disease.

The next steps after a high result can be invasive – if necessary a biopsy can result in pain, infection and bleeding, although most hospitals offer an MRI scan first.

Prostate Cancer UK has an information leaflet that may be useful to complete and take to your GP.

This will reassure your GP that you have read and understand the pros and cons of a PSA test and are therefore making an informed decision.

Mention that your family history is part of your concern.

I’m desperate to find happiness

Q: I can’t be happy about anything.

What can I do?

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A: The specific symptom you seem to be describing is anhedonia – the lack of interest, pleasure, or enjoyment in life.

Sometimes people stop participating in the things that bring them joy, like socializing, hobbies, or seeing their grandchildren.

Other times, those things just don’t bring them joy anymore.

Potential causes include tiredness, stress and the overload of everyday life.

You may have already come across the term burnout, which is a state of physical and emotional exhaustion. It can occur when you experience long-term stress.

Anhedonia can also be a symptom of a mental illness such as anxiety or depression, so it should not be ignored.

Have you spoken to your GP or a nurse about how you are feeling?

Have you had mental health issues in the past or are these feelings new to you?

For women, the decline in hormones around the time of perimenopause or menopause can cause anhedonia along with other mental health symptoms.

In men, low testosterone levels can also cause these types of symptoms.

Other medical problems that can affect our mood and mental well-being include thyroid problems or head injuries.

Track your sleep, exercise, diet and work patterns.

You may begin to see triggers and patterns, and if so, establish behaviors that alleviate some of the feelings of discouragement you are experiencing.

Notice aspects of your world – do you eat processed foods, talk on the phone late at night, or wake up feeling restless?

Doing a thorough inspection of your lifestyle can help, but I emphasize that you should do this in conjunction with getting medical help.

You can refer yourself for CBT and other talking therapies on the NHS website or speak to your GP about your options.

Please don’t settle for feeling this way.

Happiness should be a transient emotion – we shouldn’t feel it all the time, but we should be satisfied with our skin, life, work and environment.

Q: Whenever I am invited, I feel palpitations, chest pains and nausea.

The thought of leaving the house is too much for me, so I let people down at the last minute. I am 63 years old.

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I just feel happy at home, but I know it’s not good.

I’m disabled and I think people feel sorry for me, or I feel like I’m bothering them by needing wheelchair access.

I even canceled appointments at hospitals I don’t know.

I’m usually the life and soul of the party, and everyone says they love seeing me.

The last time I left the house was at the beginning of March.

A: I can’t imagine how hard it has been to admit this, so writing for me is a huge step in the right direction.

You are describing symptoms of anxiety triggered by the anticipation of leaving home.

You may be heading towards agoraphobia, which is usually only formally diagnosed when symptoms have been present for more than six months.

This is treatable and the sooner you get help, the easier recovery will be.

If you haven’t already done so, have an electronic consultation with your GP (by video or telephone).

Explain that you don’t want a physical appointment.

The most effective treatment approach is exposure therapy using the principles of CBT.

This means taking small steps towards achieving your goals, along with psychological support.

Call the hospital where you are supposed to have your appointments and ask if there is any solution.

If it’s a scan or something you need to be physically present for, we hope they can help.

If you want to talk about next steps, your consultant can do this over the phone.

People with anxiety and agoraphobia have good days and bad days.

On good ones, try sitting with the front door open or going into the garden.

Look on social media for some local wheelchair groups.

I’ve seen groups where able-bodied skaters take people in wheelchairs for a ride – this might not be to your liking, but it’s worth seeing what’s around as you won’t be alone in feeling like your wheelchair is holding you back. back.

What was it about your last trip that made you not want to go out again?

Think about when you started feeling this way and write things down.

Providing your GP and therapist with as much information as possible during your appointment will help them get back to being the life and soul of the party.

JOIN SWIM… AND BACK THE DAME DEBS CAMPAIGN FUND

EVERY 15 minutes in the UK, someone is diagnosed with bowel cancer.

That’s why, this August, leading charity Bowel Cancer UK is running its Swim15 fundraising challenge.

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People are encouraged to sign up and set their own swimming target using the number 15, whether that’s swimming 15 minutes a day, 15km every week or throughout the month.

September’s charity event, Walkies 2024, asks dog owners to walk 43 miles during the month with their pets, in a bid to highlight that there are 43,000 bowel cancer diagnoses every year.

Register for both events at fundraise.bowelcanceruk.org.uk.

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK and more than nine in ten new cases are diagnosed in people over 50.

Before Dame Deborah James died from bowel cancer in June 2022, aged 40, she used her column in The Sun to help launch our No Time 2 Lose campaign.

She rigorously lobbied for the government to lower the bowel cancer screening age from 60 – and won.

As a result, thousands of people in their 50s in England are now eligible for life-saving screening.

This will save around 4,500 lives every year.

Called a fecal immunochemical test, it simply requires you to collect a small amount of poop and send it to the laboratory in a test tube.

In Scotland, screening starts at 50.

Although bowel cancer is the second deadliest form of the disease – killing 16,000 people a year – it is treatable.

But early diagnosis is essential.

Dame Debs decided to dispel the embarrassment and encouraged people to check their stool and speak to their GP.

She also set up the Bowelbabe fund with Cancer Research UK, which has raised more than £12.6 million.

If you have symptoms, regardless of age, ask your doctor about an at-home test.

The five warning symptoms of bowel cancer are bleeding from the anus or blood in the stool, a change in normal bathroom habits (such as going more frequently), a lump or pain in the belly, extreme tiredness and weight loss.

Not everyone will have all the symptoms or they may be slightly different.

For example, ribbon-shaped poop may indicate a tumor in the rectum.

It may be embarrassing to raise these questions with your GP, or even seem trivial, after all, there are other potential causes of bowel cancer symptoms.

But it could save your life or be the difference between having a curable or incurable form of the disease.