Black Cat Project

In July last year I posted about self-harm in Powys, and linked to the blog posts of Black Star on the TOWIP website (The Only Website in Powys) which is where young people in the county get to write about issues important to them. Black Star writes powerfully about child abuse, eating disorders and emotional distress. This week I found out that she is setting up a new project focussing on mental health and young people, and working in conjunction with a nationwide project called Fixers. Appropriately for Black Star it is called the Black Cat project.

Black Star writes: “I have decided to go into the colleges (and hopefully schools too) in Powys to educate young people about mental health, promoting good mental health, help young people recognise the signs of mental health and encourage them to speak up about it.”

It’s great to hear of the new project. We know from calls to our Information Line that there is a real need for more information to be widely available for young people, especially those in severe emotional distress. We signpost people to the Samaritans, Kooth and other support organisations – but how much better would it be if they knew who they could ask for help before things got really bad?

I didn’t know much about The Fixers project, so I checked it out online. It was launched in 2008 by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust. Young people (aged 16 – 25) receive professional support to develop ideas they are passionate about such as issues that have impacted on their own lives. They are helped to set up websites, make videos, or produce promotional material. In return they have to show that they have made a difference to at least one other person.

The social issues which are explored include bullying, child abuse, alcohol and drug use, prejudices and environmental concerns and the videos can be hard-hitting. But they work. They capture the attention, not just of other young people who check out the website, but of wider audiences, as some are featured on the ITV news slot reaching out to over 5 million viewers. In 2012 the award-winning project was expanded across the UK with a grant of £7.2 million from the Big Lottery Fund.

Some “fixers” have gone on to start their own charities and set up websites including Imogen Smith from Bristol, who has produced the Self Harm Organisation website. She says: “while there are support networks out there, a lot of the time young people simply don’t know who to turn to. Self-harming makes you feel very lonely, very isolated, and very different to anybody else. Through a website, I hope to offer support to young people throughout the country who want to seek help to deal with their situation. Also the site will give parents, teachers, and other people advice on how to spot self-harm signs, and how to deal with them.”

So keep your eye out for Fixers on the telly, and Black Star – if you’re reading this, let us know how it goes!

I’ll let Black Star sign off with a question which I found on her Black Cat Project Facebook page (love the emoticon!):

What mental health workshops would you like to participate in? One idea at the moment is a workshop on Psychosis. Any ideas?
>^..^<

Self harm in Powys

A couple of colleagues at Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations work with organisations supporting children and young people (you can be defined as a young person up to the age of 25 these days). Last week they told me that a recent Youth Forum meeting had highlighted an increased incidence of self-harm in the county amongst young people. I don’t know all the details (if anyone reading this knows more then please get in touch), but it makes me wonder what could be done to support young people who self-harm more.

There is an excellent website called TOWIP (“the only website in Powys”), – named by the young people who helped set it up with Powys Youth & Family Information Service “to express their views, reviews and creativity”. I’ve been following the posts of Black Star – also known as Cara – who writes about her own experiences of self harm. She is a 17 year old teenager living in Powys, and comments openly, honestly and eloquently about why she self harms and her efforts to stop - “...to me it’s an automatic reaction to stress, it helps, and it’s addictive. It’s the way I turn emotional pain in to physical pain, physical pain is easier to deal with, and all I have to do is shove a bandage on it.”

Back in April Black Star asked if there should be a self harm support group in Powys, as she had looked around and been unable to find one. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about peer support groups recently and they really seem to help individuals across the whole spectrum of mental distress. It makes so much sense. “A peer has ‘been there, done that’ and can relate to others who are now in a similar situation.” After all, how would it feel to be a self harming young person, isolated in a rural county like Powys, knowing no one else who self harms to talk to? 

There are many online forums and useful websites – I’ve listed some below – but whilst young people are the most ICT savvy folk in the world even they need to meet up and talk face-to-face with peers sometimes.

I’ve also been watching the BBC 3 TV documentary Don’t Call Me Crazy for the last couple of weeks – a distressing but again honest insight into life on a teenage mental health inpatient unit in Manchester – the McGuinness Unit. It’s described by the BBC as “a place of last resort for many adolescents with eating disorders or psychosis, who self-harm or are suicidal”. It’s not an easy watch. But in amongst all the images of cut arms and legs, the screams, the tears, the physical restraints, something shines through. And that’s the sheer positivity of the relationships the young people build, the way this can increase their sense of worth, their strength to overcome their distress and move on, and their inherent deep-rooted desire not just to survive but to flourish – and I’ve found it very moving.

So, what do you think? Is Black Star’s suggestion a good one? And if it is – who can start it off and give it a go?

PS: the support sites I mentioned:

Kooth - online counselling for young people in Powys.
Harmless - a national voluntary organisation for people who self harm, their friends, families and professionals.

Recover Your Life - one of the biggest self harm support communities on the internet.