Mental Health Crisis Care & Promoting Good Mental Health
Jo Tym’s campaign for a personality disorders service in Gloucestershire. Jo Tym, who spoke so powerfully about “recovery from trauma in personality disorder” at our “Surviving Trauma” conference last month, has created a petition as part of her campaign for a specialist personality disorders’ service in Gloucestershire. The link to the petition is below, and Jo explains in detail her reasons for the campaign. https://www.change.org/p/gloucestershire-ccg-provide-a-specialist-personality-disorders-service-in-gloucestershire
Latest Suicide Crisis news Nov 2108
Suicide Crisis is a registered charity which runs a Suicide Crisis Centre
- Suicide Prevention Techniques: How we save lives. Learn about the techniques we use to help people survive suicidal crisis
- Our founder and CEO wins national award for mental health campaigning
- Patients newly discharged from psychiatric hospital are at greater risk of suicide, so why do they receive so little aftercare?
- Ask her to stand: How we’re encouraging more women with mental health challenges to stand for political office
- Our work with the Ministry Of Justice continues over inquest and legal aid reform
Suicide Prevention Techniques: How we save lives
You can now learn about the techniques we use which have allowed all our clients to survive.
Since we set up in 2013, all clients under our care have survived, whether they’ve been under our care for a period of days, weeks or months.
Joy Hibbins, our founder and CEO, has written a book which is being published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers (Hachette UK).
It explains in detail how we work and why all our clients survive – the techniques we use and our approach and ethos.
Every copy sold will raise money for our charity, as the publisher is paying the author’s royalties (the author’s cut) directly to our charity.
It’s called “Suicide Prevention Techniques: How A Suicide Crisis Service Saves Lives”
The book can be ordered now. It’s out on the 4th December. It can already be ordered on Amazon and costs £16-99. A link to order is below:-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Suicide-Prevention-Techniques-Crisis-Service/dp/1785925490
Our founder/CEO wins national award
Our founder and CEO has won a national award for campaigners who are “affecting real change in the mental health sector”.
The Janey Antoniou award was presented to her by the Chair of Rethink this month.
The panel selected Joy on the basis of her work in setting up the charity Suicide Crisis and creating the Suicide Crisis Centre. They said:-
“She has been a driving force behind achieving the charity’s nationwide recognition. Alongside her work at the Suicide Centre, Joy’s campaigning encompasses contributions to parliamentary groups and inquiries, media work and authoring two books. Her dedication and extraordinary achievements make her highly deserving of the honour and opportunity bestowed by the award”.
Patients newly discharged from psychiatric hospital are at greater risk of suicide, so why do they receive so little aftercare?
Clients newly discharged from psychiatric hospital may receive as little as one visit from the crisis team 24 hours after discharge, it is being reported to us.
An article for Mental Health Today, written by our founder and CEO, refers to the lack of follow-up which may occur in the daysafter being discharged. She also describes how it can feel in the aftermath of a supportive psychiatric hospital stay. She explains, from her own personal experience, how vulnerable she was during the first few days after discharge:-
“I had very quickly lost the ability to cope with everyday life. I had a strong sense of being separate and disconnected from the rest of the world, as though I no longer belonged. In some ways, my stay in psychiatric hospital, although supportive, had made me more vulnerable once back out in the community”.
The link to the article is below:-
Ask Her To Stand
The 21st November marked 100 years since women could stand to become MPs.
Our CEO was nominated by a carer in Gloucestershire to attend the “Ask Her To Stand” event in parliament this week. Our local MP Alex Chalk invited Joy to the event on the basis of the nomination. Although Joy has no intention of entering politics, she is passionate about encouraging other Gloucestershire women to stand and become involved.
“It was a really inspiring event in parliament. What was very clear is that many exceptional female candidates are unlikely to put themselves forward and stand – and so we need to encourage them to do so. That is one of the powerful messages from the Ask Her To Stand event. Some of the most able women may lack the confidence to stand for political office. It would be wonderful if we all looked around at the women we know, either in our personal or working lives and started to think who we know who would make a difference as MPs. Let’s encourage them to consider standing.
We see clients at our Suicide Crisis Centre who have huge potential and ability. A mental health diagnosis should not be a barrier.
I picked up advice and information from MPs about how to start out on the road to political office, and the steps to take on the journey, and am happy to share that.”
The Parliament Project is providing workshops to try to encourage more women to stand
http://www.parliamentproject.co.uk/
Our ongoing work with the Ministry of Justice
This month we attended a Consultative Group meeting at the Ministry of Justice. We spoke about the experiences of families who had been bereaved by suicide, quoting directly from families who have described the long-term psychological impact of representing themselves at inquests. We were approached afterwards by the MOJ in relation to extracting further information and data from our research, and we have been working with them through this month. This relates to legal aid reform and whether families bereaved by suicide should receive funding for legal representation at inquests, when the state (NHS, police etc) is legally represented. We of course argue strongly that they should.
We also learned that our full report “Research into deaths by suicide in Gloucestershire” is being shared with other MOJ colleagues who are looking at other aspects of coronial reform.
Our thanks to Joy, Tim, Viv and Rebecca who worked on the research project. Tim regularly travelled from London to attend inquests and we know that families were immensely grateful for his support and kindness.
With best wishes from
the team at Suicide Crisis
Website: www.suicidecrisis.co.uk
Suicide Crisis is a registered charity which runs a Suicide Crisis Centre and a Trauma Centre.
We have been providing services for five years and have never had a suicide of a client under our care. Our work has been described as “inspirational” and “extraordinary” by the South West Zero Suicide Collaborative, one of three pilot schemes for the Government’s zero suicide initiative.
Suicide Crisis is a registered charity (charity no. 1170444) and a limited company (no. 8326320)
Registered as a charity in England and Wales.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SuicideCrisisCentre
Twitter: @SuicideCrisis
Over 6,650 people take their lives every year, 75% of which are men. The aim of the following Rethink video is to promote life after thoughts and/or attempts of suicide and identify support that really was important to them in their journey to recovery. It is a message by men for men that they are not alone.
Great News. Support at The Cavern is set to continue beyond the pilot period. Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group is continuing funding to the service. Kingfisher Treasure Seekers say, 'We have been so pleased at how this low level out of hours mental health service has made such a difference in the lives of those attending. Since July 2016 we have had over 3,500 visits and it has become a second home for many. Thank you to everyone who has made this innovative service a reality and a special thank you to all our volunteers who give up their time to support those most in need'.
Men, Suicide & Society: Suicide strategies have failed to highlight the fact that it is disadvantaged Men of low social position that are at greatest risk, read Samaritans Report. The individual risk factors for suicide are well established in the quantitative literature – low socio-economic position (poverty, poor housing conditions, living in deprived areas,... ), relationship breakdown, isolation, gender, mental health problems. There are systematic socio-economic inequalities in suicide risk. Socio-economic position can be defined in many ways – by job, class, education, income, or housing. Whichever indicator is used, people in the lower positions are at higher risk of suicide. As you go down each rung of the social ladder, the risk of suicide increases, even after taking into account underlying mental health problems. There is debate over precisely how low social position increases suicide risk. Suggestions include having many more adverse experiences, powerlessness, stigma and disrespect, social exclusion, poor mental health and unhealthy lifestyles.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry are spearheading the Heads Together campaign to end stigma around mental health. Duke of Cambridge gets Heads Together with Lady Gaga to help show young people that it's #oktosay. There are loads of different ways to talk - #HeadsTogether ...
Gloucestershire Directory of Services for Mental Wellbeing, Healthwatch Gloucestershire PALS. This Directory is no longer updated but may still be helpful..link to Directory HERE.
Mental Health & Money Advice Service.
Mental Health UK has launched Mental Health and Money Advice, the first UK-wide online advice service designed to help people understand, manage and improve their financial and mental health. You can watch a short video introducing the service on YouTube.
A new perinatal mental health service.
Almost £1.5 million worth of funding is being dedicated to developing a new specialist mental health service for pregnant women and new mums in Gloucestershire. Gloucestershire is one of only 20 areas across the country to be awarded this national funding. It will be used to set up a new community mental health team, which specialises in supporting pregnant women, new mothers, their babies and families experiencing post-natal depression and other emotional difficulties.
Mums & Babies in Mind team | Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MABIM) have published a new post on their website: Tackling stigma around perinatal mental illness. View the latest post at http://maternalmentalhealthalliance.org/tackling-stigma-perinatal-mental-illness/
The Mums and Babies in Mind (MABIM) project is based in Blackpool, Haringey, Southend and Gloucestershire. We work with local leaders in these areas to improve services for mums with mental health problems during pregnancy and the first year after birth, and their babies.
Mums and Babies in Mind is a Maternal Mental Health Alliance project, hosted by the Mental Health Foundation and funded by the Big Lottery Fund. It lasts for three years, until September 2018.
The Health Foundation.
Interesting article 29th June 2017, on mental health in the workplace initiatives around tackling stigma / Time to Change / Workplace Pledge. http://www.health.org.uk/newsletter/bold-ideas-better-wellbeing-workplace
Time to Change - lets end mental health discrimination.
The Let’s Talk service has a new website.
The Let’s Talk is a service for adults experiencing mild to moderate anxiety and/or depression. An individual can be referred into the service via their GP or they can self-refer themselves. The site can be accessed through the same link – www.talk2gether.nhs.uk – however it has an updated look, improved layout and a wide range of improved functionality.
This includes:
• A quick self-assessment tool which uses the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) and Generalised Anxiety Disorders (GAD) questionnaire to give a quick guide to the person’s level of depression and/or anxiety.
• A self-referral form linking directly to IAPTus (the clinical system used within Let’s Talk). This will streamline self-referral and be a helpful option for those people who prefer to book online, rather than speak to someone on the telephone.
• Sections on each of the health conditions Let’s Talk treats, including further reading and resources.
• A password protected area for service users, giving them access to online learning materials and self-help workbooks.
The site also features a series of short films, giving an overview of the service and sharing the personal experiences of service users who have benefitted from the support Let’s Talk provides.
Mental Health Problems fall of the radar for men, new research confirms.
Men's Health Forum.
Key data: mental health. Statistics on mental health and men.
ONS. Office for National Statistics. Statistical Bulletin. Suicides in the UK : 2014 Registration
Suicides in England & Wales by Local Authority.. up 2016 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/suicidesbylocalauthority
stats
Men’s Health Forum has compiled some data on men’s mental health, and it’s concerning:
- over three quarters of suicides are by men
- suicide is the leading cause of death for men under 35
(ONS)
What’s more, men are:
- nearly three times more likely than women to become alcohol dependent,
- more likely to die from drug use, and
- more likely to be incarcerated and homeless
(Health and Social Care Information Centre)
Men are not getting the support they need. As psychologists Angst and Ernst bluntly put it, ‘Women seek help – men die’. But why, and what can we do to make sure men have equal access to mental health support?
MHFA - Mental Health First Aid England - Newsletter October 2018
Independence Trust - 1 Mill Place, Bristol Road, Gloucester, GL1 5SQ.
Independence Trust - Gloucestershire Mental Health & Wellbeing Service. Wellbeing Plus Prospectus May – July 2017; a registration form is available from IT. To make a referral see here; self or other.
The Gloucestershire Mental Health and Wellbeing Service is provided by the Independence Trust, and commissioned by Gloucestershire County Council. The service forms part of a recovery pathway, as well as being a preventative service for people with an ongoing mental health problem. The overall purpose is to improve mental wellbeing by:
- Supporting personal recovery
- Increasing social inclusion
- Increasing the control that people have over their own support
- Promoting independence
There are four main parts to the service:
Bridge Building – One to one support from a Bridge Builder worker, to identify what will help in recovery, and how to access it. Each person’s plan will be different, and the Bridge Builder will work with that person for up to six months (this can be extended on an individual basis), supporting each Client to move towards a more independent life within their own Community.
Peer Development – Clients who do not feel well enough to engage in Bridge Building can receive up to two years support including attending drop-ins and accessing one to one support from recovery workers. Clients who feel well enough to become Peer Volunteers receive training and support to develop their skills and confidence in leading/co-facilitating groups and activities for other service users and people within the wider community.
Safe spaces - (Gloucestershire Safe & Social Environments/GLOSSES) – Clients nominate local venues within the community within which they have personally experienced a supportive, caring and non-judgemental attitude towards their mental health. Often these places have offered them help when experiencing difficulties within their community. Examples of Glosses include cafés, sports clubs, shops, group activity venues.
A-Z Community based activities – Every 4 months, a new directory of activities is produced, detailing groups, clubs and activities which are facilitated by members of the community, Peer Volunteers or Staff and which take place within the Client’s Community. Non-Clients can also access these activities. Some examples of A-Z activities are aromatherapy, art, gardening, music, swimming and walking. The A-Z is created around Client interests and requests.
The A-Z follows Recovery College Principles (see section on frequently used words/phrases).
Activities in the A-Z are aimed at supporting social inclusion, reducing isolation and bringing groups of individuals together to recognise, use and develop skills.
People with mental health and drug and/or alcohol needs are still being neglected.
That’s the conclusion of a recent (3 August 2016) report from Turning Point entitled: Dual Dilemma: the impact of living with mental health issues combined with drug and alcohol misuse.
Advance Notice – Mental Health & Wellbeing Stakeholder Event. To be held at 12.45 pm to 4.00 pm on Wednesday 1 March 2017 at the Dowty Sports and Social Club, Down Hatherley Lane, Down Hatherley, Staverton, Gloucester, GL2 9QH. Further details to follow in the New Year. The Forum has an invite if you are interested. For directions visit http://dowtyclub.com/10.html.
Previuos programmes have been developed and by Sophie Norton who has a wealth of experience in supporting such events http://www.snclcoaching.com/. such as opportunities to contribute to workshops which looked at the recommendations in the Five Year Forward Plan for Mental Health https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Mental-Health-Taskforce-FYFV-final.pdf to ensure this was in line with the Gloucestershire Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy. Welcomed input from those with Lived Experience and Carers so please feel free to circulate this invitation to your stakeholders.
For Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy Stakeholdever Event on the 22 January 2016, presentations are available for information and to share with interested colleagues/organisations. A Power Point presentation Crisis Concordat Event & Develpoments can be opened here. All other powerpoint presentations are available on the Members page.
Children & Young People
Access to support before crisis
Ambulance perspective
Due regard
Frequent Attenders
Mental health Crisis Police Perspective
Recovery College Graduates
Workforce develpoment
The Mind guide to who's who in mental health. This online booklet is for anyone who wants to find out more about the different people who work in mental health. It lists the job titles and organisations you may come across, and explains what different people and organisations do.
Rethink Mental Health - Anxiety Disorders.
Mind news-campaigns. one-in-four-emergency-services-workers-has-thought-about-ending-their-lives
Police Professional. Unprecedented stress coupled with shrinking staff levels are driving police officers to the brink of suicide as a shock survey reveals one in four emergency services’ workers have thought about “ending their lives”.
The Forum has been invited onto the H&WB Strategy - Fewer People will experience Stigma & Discrimination Sub-Group. For more information go to Members Page.
Suicide rate in Gloucestershire almost 50 per cent higher than national average
http://glostext.gloucestershire.gov.uk/documents/s19689/Suicide%20and%20Selfharm.pdf
By Gloucestershire Echo | Posted: January 20, 2014.
A graph showing the rate of suicides in Gloucestershire, England and the South West from 1993, see Fig 1... LINK to County Strategy.
THE suicide rate in Gloucestershire is almost 50 per cent higher than the national average.
New figures show the county has suffered a dramatic spike in the number of people taking their own life since the recession hit.
The number of suicides per 100,000 people in the county stood at less than 10 between 2006 and 2008 – below the national average.
But since that point the rate has risen to more than 14 people per 100,000, above the national average of 10.19. Figures are for those aged 15 and over.
While the county's overall situation is a sad one, with an estimated 60 people taking their life every year, things are worse in Gloucestershire's three major urban areas.
The latest figures, taking into account deaths between 2010 and 2012, estimate Cheltenham's suicide rate at 14.92, while Gloucester's is more than 50 per cent higher than the national average of 10.19 at 16.43, while Tewkesbury's is 15.43.
All of the statistics have been compiled in a Gloucestershire County Council report which also reveals the overwhelming majority of suicide victims in the county, 80 per cent, are men.
Between 2009 and 2012 there were 241 suicides in the county, with people between the age of 40 and 44 the most likely to take their life.
Only one third of those people who died had contacted mental health services before their death.
Suicide prevention has been designated as a local health priority with councils, police and health organisations working together to try and help people as much as they can.
Councillor Dorcas Binns, cabinet member for public health and communities, said: "Every suicide case is a tragedy for everyone involved and prevention remains a top priority for the county.
"The reason why someone might choose to take their life is varied and complex and no one single factor can prevent suicide from occurring.
"Gloucestershire County Council works with partners including schools, district councils, the health sector, the police and several voluntary sector organisations, to support a number of programmes focussed on building resilience and awareness, particularly in young people."
There is ongoing work to make sure colleges and schools in Gloucestershire distribute information to young people to make sure they know where they can go for support. Teachers are also being given new resources to help them address the issue of suicide with pupils aged 14 to 16.
A 'volunteer buddying' system is also being commissioned to help young people who have been diagnosed with a psychotic illness.
A new campaign, also aimed at young people, to promote emotional resilience and support is set to start in May.
Gloucestershire-based psychotherapist Jan Slater said more needs to be done to remove the stigma around mental health so that people with depression feel comfortable talking to others and asking for help.
"I hear from my clients how difficult they find it to admit to how they feel, often putting on a brave face for others," she said. "It therefore has always seemed essential to me that we work hard as a nation to remove the stigma of mental health issues.
"We would benefit from educating our children from 13 upwards that struggling with difficult, dark or disabling feelings is something that humans may sometimes suffer from. and just like if we are physically unwell, we should get help if we feel unwell emotionally."
THE suicide rate in Stroud is 40 per cent above the national average, figures released this week have revealed.
Between 2006 and 2008 the number of suicides per 100,000 people in the county stood at less than 10 – below the national average.
But since then the rate has risen to more than 14 people per 100,000, almost 40 per cent above the national average of 10.19.
The latest figures, which take into account deaths between 2010 and 2012, show Gloucester’s suicide rate at 16.43 per 100,000 – the highest in the county – and Stroud’s at 14.42.
The statistics have been compiled in aGloucestershire County Council report which also reveals that men are three times as likely to take their own lives.
Suicide rates in England fell to their lowest in 2007, however since then there have been rises in most regions including Gloucestershire.
Concerns have been expressed at the possible link with the recession especially as the report shows that men of working age – aged between 40 and 44 – were the group most likely to take their own life.
According to the report 241 suicides were recorded in the county between 2009 and 2012, nine of which were young people between the age of 15 and 19 of which 57 per cent of the deaths were thought to be a result of family discord and bullying.
Only one third of those people contacted mental health services before their death and the report indicated that 72 per cent of the cases were recorded as having nothing to do with mental health issues.
There is no single factor that can prevent suicide as the likelihood of a person taking their own life depends on several factors however suicide prevention in the county is run as a local health priority with councils, police and health organisations working together.
Cllr Dorcas Binns, cabinet member for public health and communities at Gloucestershire County Council, said: “Every suicide case is a tragedy for everyone involved and prevention remains a top priority for the county.
“The reasons why someone might choose to take their life are varied and complex and no one single factor can prevent suicide from occurring.
“Gloucestershire County Council works with partners including schools, district councils, the health sector, the police and voluntary sector organisations to support a number of programmes focused on building resilience and awareness, particularly in young people.”