How comfortable are talking to your GP about your mental health?

 A recent study in Brighton suggsets that almost half of young people are uncomfortable talking to GPs about their mental health. Quite concerning when figures suggest that young people are increasingly experiencing mental health difficulties and half of those with lifetime mental health problems first experience symptoms by the age of 14. Follow the link to see more.

http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-news/news-archive/2012/181928/

Olympian opens up about depression

See attached link


http://mentalhealthtoday.co.uk/Content/Doc.aspx?id=1015

Mind Media Awards

I wanted to let you know about Mind’s Media Awards which are being held in November this year. 

There is a special category for 'Student Journalist of the Year'

It’s free for students to enter and a great way to celebrate the hard work that student journalists are doing around mental health. Entries are open now and you can find more information here 

http://www.mind.org.uk/media_awards/categories

Time to Change reveal biggest mental health clichés

 Have you ever been told to 'pull yourself together' when you are depressed or to remember that others are worse off than you. This survey looks at the unhelpful things people say to those experiencing mental health difficulites.


http://mentalhealthtoday.co.uk/Content/Doc.aspx?id=998

I haven't blogged in a while as the link to blogs disappeared off the uni site and I was not sure if anyone was following my posts. However, I undertsnad this is going to be changed so here I am. It has been a busy year and I have been overwhelmed at times with students needing support. I know that at times I have neglected my mental health and this is not sensible. It is so easy to allow stresses to take over and that can lead to more long term mental health difficulites. Still, I now have a plan to manage next year and intend to try and stick to it. I think we all need to reassess the stresses in our lives from time to time and above all look after ourselves.

Some thoughts on the Mental Health Debate

At last after several months of planning the third in a yearly series of mental health debates at the University of Bedfordshire came to fruition on 12^th October. There were around 60 participants, a mix of service users, carers, professionals, students and lecturers which encouraged some lively debate.

The three speakers gave very different perspectives on Mental Illness and the Family. Peter Beresford gave a national and somewhat political overview of the impact on service users and their carers. As a former service user himself he is well aware of the difficulties that families face. Martin Atchison from Meriden looked at how a specific therapeutic approach could enable service users and their family improve communication skills to reduce relapse and aid communication with services. Nicola told her story as a carer with a frank approach that was all the more moving for its honesty.

Planning these debates is like giving birth to a child. For those of you that are parents there is that moment of dread when you think ‘how is this going to be’ and ‘I shan’t be doing that again’. Well I have been through that stage and am now planning for the next event. Watch this space.

Mental Health Events