Top mental health podcasts

And now it’s 2017! Happy New Year! Traditionally we kickstart January by recommending some of our favourite blogs. In the past we’ve covered mental health, dementia and vlogging. This year we’re looking at mental health podcasts.

Podcasting is a form of audio broadcasting on the internet. You can download apps or programmes to listen to podcasts, or alternatively you can just listen on the podcast webpage. It's usually possible to subscribe to a regular podcast and receive notifications of new episodes if you find one you really like.

Personally I love listening to the radio, so finding interesting podcasts is just taking that one extra step on a highly rewarding audio journey. You can find out more about other people’s views, experiences and stories around mental health – not just in the UK but anywhere in the world. An added bonus: they’re usually free. And the real joy is that you can listen anytime and anyplace that has an internet connection (or download for later if you’re going somewhere offline).

As usual the bias in our choice is mainly (although not entirely) towards medical distress as opposed to medical illness. (You can read more about the debate around the medicalisation of mental health on this blog). However, you only have to type "mental health podcast" into your internet search engine and you will discover that the choice of listening options is endless. So, if our top picks are not yours, just start looking. But now to our list:

Shrink Rap radio

Later this month I’m starting a free online course with Future Learn - Psychology and Mental Health: Beyond Nature and Nurture with Professor of Clinical Psychology Peter Kinderman of Liverpool University. And then, as luck would have it, I found this podcast with him: Exploring the Disease Model Debate.

It’s just one of hundreds of podcasts on the Shrink Rap radio site from US clinical psychologist David Van Nuys. “All the psychology you need to know and just enough to make you dangerous”.

The Psychology Podcast

Psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman brings us The Psychology Podcast.

“Each episode will feature a guest who will stimulate your mind, and give you a greater understanding of yourself, others, and the world we live in.” Recent topics have included – exercise and mental stamina, and the psychology of improvised comedy.

On Being – a social enterprise with a radio show at its heart

If you're interested in finding out how trauma can affect your mental health, then here's a podcast worth tuning in to: "Restoring the Body: Yoga, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Treating Trauma" with Bessel van der Kolk. Bessel is the Medical Director of the Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute in Brookline, Massachusetts in the United States.

Wellbeing podcasts from the Mental Health Foundation

The Wellbeing podcasts aim to help you relax and improve your sense of wellbeing. They feature a number of subjects including mindfulness, stress and relaxation, positive thinking, wellbeing and nutrition, and exercise and mental health.

All In The Mind - ABC Radio National

An Australian radio station has a podcast on the innovative Open Dialogue approach which was developed in Lapland and is now spreading around the world due to its high success rates in helping people experiencing severe mental distress. We hear about the way it’s working in Bradford at a Soteria House.

Wellcome Collection – Feeling Emotional

This podcast from the Wellcome Collection features psychoanalyst, psychotherapist and writer Susie Orbach in conversation with writer, campaigner, international speaker and trainer Jacqui Dillon, Chair of the Hearing Voices Network.

University of York podcasts

What’s it like being a Dialectical Behavioural Therapist or a Mental Health Nurse? Listen to interviews with mental health nurses who talk about their roles within the profession, what they get out of their jobs and why they followed these career paths.

The League of Awkward Unicorns

With a title like The League of Awkward Unicorns you just have to find out more! This is a podcast from friends and authors Alice Bradley and Deanna Zandt who talk about anxiety, depression and all the other ways your brains can play tricks on you.

Act for Change - A Night with Mental Health 

A trio of talks from 2014, including Professor of Clinical Psychology Richard Bentall on the social causes of psychosis. Hosted by YouTube but audio not video.

All in the Mind – BBC Radio 4

Another All in the Mind, this time from the British Broadcasting Corporation. These BBC Radio 4 podcasts explore  "the limits and potential of the mind, how we think and how we behave". Claudia Hammond is the regular presenter.

Medicine Unboxed

Medicine Unboxed engages the public and front-line NHS staff “with a view of medicine that is infused and elaborated by the humanities”.

Here we have Research Psychologist Eleanor Longden, Consultant Psychiatrist David Sturgeon and Professor Richard Bentall in discussion on The Heard Voice.

Royal College of Psychiatrists

Interview based podcasts from the professional medical body responsible for supporting psychiatrists throughout their careers. You can dip into a huge range of topics: everything from the Demonisation of psychiatrists in fiction to Tasers and tasering.

Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development

A podcast promoting and supporting good mental health in the workplace.

And finally...

Public Health Network Cymru will also be launching a new podcast series any minute now. It has been recorded over the past few months, with topics including LGBT health, the Knowledge Exchange, and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The Network will also create short 5 minute podcasts with topics including the Well-being of Future Generations Act, and the Public Health Wales Wellbeing statement and plan.

Dip into some of these podcasts and let us know what you think. We always love to hear from you – you can ring, email or post a comment in the box below. And tell us about your favourite podcasts too.

All the best for 2017 from the mental health team at PAVO – Anne, Carla, Jane and Jackie.

Positive Action for Change in Mental Health Services - Part 2

Last week I posted Part 1 of my report on this one-day conference which took place in November 2015 in Nottingham. It was organised by PCCS Books and looked at how services could try and break out of their medicalised approach to supporting people experiencing mental distress. Many of those in the packed audience worked professionally in psychology or psychiatry departments, and it was heartening to note their interest in the overriding theme and sense a real enthusiasm to drive some of these approaches forward in their own teams.

Clinical Psychologist Lucy Johnstone, and Professor Peter Beresford, had spoken passionately about their work in the morning session. This week I cover talks given by the two afternoon keynote speakers, Professor Sami Timimi and author and educator Pete Sanders. I will also touch on the work of organisations like the Soteria Network who attended to spread the word about their developing and ground-breaking work across the UK.

Sami Timimi – Beyond diagnosis: developing an outcome-orientated approach

Sami is the Visiting Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Lincoln. He began by focussing on the genuine issue that, despite the growing spend on mental health services on both sides of the Atlantic, there is a corresponding increase in the number of people classified with severe/enduring mental health illnesses.

He went on to describe the commodification of mental distress. Whilst large pharmaceutical companies are frequently attacked for profiteering from “disease” and “mental illness” through their growing sales of medications, Sami pointed out that psychotherapies are equally as vulnerable to this kind of criticism. Brands of psychotherapy compete, claiming they are the best option for a particular problem – producing associated books, courses, conferences and programmes. In this capitalist world of mental health people’s unhappiness is exploited for profit – even during a recession there is no dent in the profit margin of major pharmaceutical companies.

So, what did Sami advocate in these depressing circumstances? He spoke about differentiating between the relationship and the technique used when supporting a patient. If the relationship is primary, the technical aspects have to be slave to the relationship. So… if one patient who is depressed wants Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, the next, though reporting similar symptoms, may want to talk about what happens to them when they experience domestic violence, for example. “Treat each person on their merits – it is harder to turn (treatment) into a commodity as each person has a unique story and a unique model of change.” Sami calls this approach – Outcomes Orientated Approaches to Mental Health Services, and went on to describe in detail how it works in practice in his team’s service provision. This approach “is better at not creating chronic patients. Patients are leaving us.”

Sami closed by imploring people to go to commissioners with evidence of working in a different way – and showing that outcomes can be better. He believes that change really can be influenced at that level.

Pete Sanders – If therapy could be part of positive action for change, what sort of therapy would it be?

Pete is the co-founder of PCCS Books, and has over 30 years’ experience practising as a mental health nurse, counsellor and educator. He introduced his “unbalanced presentation” with a large dose of humour, warning the audience that he wanted it to be a “rude slap in the face for all helping professions!” If there is one thing I took from his talk, and there was no joking intended here: it is the importance of genuine human kindness – of just being nice. As he said - “do not act like an ‘expert’, be your real self as a helper; fallible, vulnerable, imperfect, not knowing any of the answers.”

He asked us what kind of therapy we would want – one “that pretends to provide a systematised treatment, but is really a placebo?” And shared three separate scenarios with mental distress at their heart and asked “what would you do?” Some of the suggestions were basically the actions of a kind-hearted friend or colleague. How many qualifications do you actually need to take someone for a drink after work? To sit and listen to them talk? Pete said that professionals had conned everyone that caring for others is more complicated than it actually is!

“There is no statutory service of natural kindness… Only a proper expert can interpret this chaos and mend the broken brain.”

In 1974, when Pete was a trainee counsellor, there were only five counselling courses in the country, yet now you can “fall over them on the way to the bus stop!” He supports a person-centred approach and is against the medical model.

Pete left us with 11 pointers for “Therapy for positive action for change…” and because I know you can read the whole presentation I shall just quote the one which particularly resonated with me on the day: “therapy that…. understands that the primary healing force is the client themselves, not the person or techniques of the therapist”.

Also attending the conference were various organisations who are working with what we call in our team the “beyond medical” approach.

Soteria Network

Margaret Turner, Secretary of the Soteria Network

The Soteria Network is: “A network of people in the UK promoting the development of drug-free and minimum medication therapeutic environments for people experiencing 'psychosis' or extreme states. We are part of an international movement of service users, survivors, activists, carers and professionals fighting for more humane, non-coercive mental health services.”

British Association for Person-Centred Approach

Bernard Mooney and Sara Callen of the
British Association for Person-Centred Approach

The British Association for the Person-Centred Approach (BAPCA) is: “An organisation that embraces and promotes the person-centred way-of-being: the striving to create relationships based in genuine acceptance and empathic understanding.”

Critical Mental Health Nursing Network

The Critical Mental Health Nursing Network is: “A network of mental health nurses and others who want to think critically about mental health nursing and related issues.”

Working to Recovery

Working to Recovery are “world renowned for their innovative Recovery based practice, training, writing and service designs, working across the world”.

You can find out more about the conference speakers and link to their presentations on the PCCS Books website.

What do you think about these ideas and approaches? Let us know in the comments box below.

Positive Action for Change in Mental Health Services - Part 1

In November last year I attended this one day conference organised by PCCS Books in Nottingham. Two of the keynote speakers – Lucy Johnstone and Sami Timimi – had previously travelled to Powys to speak at a conference organised by our team in March 2014 - Finding Meaning in Psychosis: Early Intervention Services. This conference had highlighted the debate that challenges the validity of ‘mental illness’ diagnosis and raised questions about whether the idea of ‘mental illness’ is useful in driving innovation. However, due to leave I had been unable to attend. So, I was really keen to make the trip across country now to find out more about implementing innovative approaches to mental health distress. And the conference promised not just two but several inspirational speakers.

PCCS Books is an independent mental health publisher dedicated to the demedicalisation of distress, and person-centred, recovery-focused mental health services. The name developed out of a training organisation called ‘Person-Centred Couselling Services’, and at the conference (I think they organise one every couple of years) Director Heather Allan welcomed everyone and set the scene for the day:

“The case for demedicalising mental health services is well rehearsed. The research has been done, the conferences have been held and the intellectual argument all but won. Yet on a day-to-day basis, services continue to operate within the medicalised status quo. One of the aims of this conference will be to look at how we can implement realistic, practical changes in our mental health practice, education and lives, in order to continue the progression from rhetoric to reality.”

Due to limited space I can only touch briefly on the speakers’ presentations with a focus on their practical suggestions for bringing about change in working practice. (Full presentations are available here however).

Lucy Johnstone – Challenging, compromising or colluding? Some thoughts on trying to bring about change in mental health systems

Lucy made regular reference to her own personal situation working as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital for Cwm Taf University Health Board in South Wales. This is the most socially deprived area in the whole of Wales, where 13% of the population are in contact with mental health services. It was a very medicalised service when Lucy arrived.

Lucy has since introduced an approach called “team formulation”. Regular meetings take place involving services in contact with an individual experiencing distress, within Community Mental Health teams, Assertive Outreach teams, rehab services and inpatient wards, to develop an in-depth understanding of that person’s particular difficulties. Staff will then work together to tailor any support to the needs of the individual rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach. Using a case study of a 17 year old girl hearing hostile voices, Lucy contrasted the medical approach, which resulted in a diagnosis of psychosis/schizophrenia, to the way team formulation drew out the young woman’s story of abuse and bullying over a period of years. The latter approach acknowledges that responses such as hearing voices are survival strategies – “a normal reaction to abnormal circumstances.” 

In Cwm Taf team formulation has spread organically and not aroused much resistance. Lucy explained that her colleagues may not always agree with her approach but they take her stance on board, and some people are shifting away from using diagnostic approaches. The team formulation approach had led to “a change in thinking” and become “part of the culture as a word and a concept.”

“Instead of giving a diagnosis, we need to listen to people’s stories.”

Peter Beresford – From mental health to mad studies: making involvement real

Peter Beresford was introduced as the first “out” mental health service user to become a professor (Professor of Social Policy at Brunel University in London in fact). He spoke knowledgeably about the political background to current mental health service provision, noting politics’ powerful alliance with traditional psychiatry at the expense of those living with mental distress. He believes that “lived experience” is devalued by government, and rather than trying to influence politicians we would be better advised to take the initiative ourselves. Peter’s recommendations included:

• Resisting forced employment and impoverishment.
• Holding on to good participative practice.
• Listening to service users.
• Encouraging service user input in professional training, which has a real impact on service culture.
• Focusing on changing the future for mental health and service users by innovating, by developing our ideas for change and our practice.

Peter also spoke about the value of Mad Studies, and referenced the recent conference Making Sense of Mad Studies which my colleague Anne attended in early October.

“We have to be courageous and rigorous and stop hoping that powerful big voluntary organisations will speak for us.”

Look out for Part 2 of this conference report next week, when I feature the talks of keynote speakers Sami Timimi and Pete Sanders. You can also find out more about the Soteria Network and the British Association for Person-Centred Approach, along with other organisations who attended. Thanks for reading, and let us know your thoughts on these ideas and approaches in the comments box below.

Top mental health vloggers & videos

Happy New Year! Traditionally we start the New Year by recommending some of our favourite blogs. In the past we have covered mental health and also dementia. This year we’re looking at videos and vlogging.

“A vlog (or video blog) is a blog that contains video content. The small, but growing, segment of the blogosphere devoted to vlogs is sometimes referred to as the vlogosphere.”

There are a surprising number of people vlogging about mental health. Many of these are young people around the world who have grasped the opportunity that the video site YouTube provides to talk about their personal experiences online. Many report that they find it therapeutic to do this, and hope that their experiences will also help and support others who are struggling with mental health issues.

A high proportion of these vloggers regard their distress as an illness and their experiences are very much phrased around the medical model relating to mental health. There are, however, some videos which take the social model view, and others where the boundaries are blurred. You can read more about the debate around the medicalisation of mental health on this blog, suffice to say most (though not all) of the recommended vlogs and videos here tend towards the view that mental distress is, as campaigner, writer and speaker Jacqui Dillon states, “a normal response to abnormal stress”, as opposed to an illness. 

And so whilst we’re on the topic of Jacqui, we may as well start the list by highlighting a video of her on our very own PAVO YouTube channel. This was made at the 2013 Powys “Shaping Services” conference.

The channel Crazywise is run by photographer and film maker Phil Borges and features videos questioning how 'Western culture defines and treats severe mental disorders'. Phil is also working on a feature length documentary 'challenging the current mental health system in crisis'. Many of the Crazywise films are interviews with "experts" talking about their experiences in the field, including British psychiatrist Russell Razzaque who has a background in mindfulness meditation and is currently leading a clinical trial into Peer-Supported Open Dialogue.

Rai Waddingham hears voices and sees visions. She is an 'independent trainer specialising in innovative ways of supporting people who struggle with extreme states (including ‘psychosis’, ‘dissociation’ and post traumatic reactions).' This video from her channel focuses on her experiences of hearing voices.

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Laura Delano, an American who also features on the Crazywise channel, has her own independent channel where she vlogs regularly about her own experiences of psychiatry and the psychiatric system. She describes herself as an ‘ex-"Bipolar" patient, (and) discusses life after psychiatric labels and psychotropic drugs’.

Another Laura, Laura Nuttall, vlogs about her experiences in psychiatric hospital with real insight given to the actual experience of being on a mental health ward in the UK.

LikeKristen is a young American vlogger with a very watchable style. Her videos include all kinds of mental health topics, ranging from experiences of self harm, to stigma and practical suggestions to help recovery. Here is a link to her journaling video. 

Fixers is a UK organisation featured previously on our blog. Sarah Harmon, who lives in Powys, talked for Fixers about her experience of mental health issues and the work she does in schools to help combat stigma. Fixers is a project of the Public Service Broadcasting Trust, and uses short film and other media to enable young people have their voices heard and help make positive change. Check out the Fixers website to watch videos relating to mental health and young people in Wales.

Kati Morton is an American therapist who provides information about “conditions” and “treatments” that are very easy to follow. As the National Health Service in the UK uses much of the same terminology it can be helpful to watch these if you want to find out more about treatments such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) that are available to people here too.

And finally, the Spiritual Crisis Network has some excellent videos on its website, including a 5 minute animated film called "Compassion for Voices: a tale of courage and hope", produced by King’s College, London.

We hope you enjoy watching some of these videos and vlogs, and would love to hear about others that you recommend. Let us know in the comments box below.

All the best for 2016 from the mental health team at PAVO – Angharad, Anne, Glynis, Jane and Jackie.

More Harm Than Good

A couple of weeks ago our guest blogger, Anne Watmough, went along to this London conference - More Harm Than Good: Confronting the Psychiatric Medication Epidemic, organised by the Council for Evidence Based Psychiatry (CEP). The CEP website reports: "Global leaders in the critical psychiatry movement met for a one-day conference to address an urgent public health issue: the iatrogenic harm caused by the over-prescription of psychiatric medications." Anne kindly sent in a review of her experience of the day - read on.

I set out on Thursday the day before the conference at 9 o'clock in the morning and boarded the bus direct to London. My journey took five and a half hours. But I didn't mind as the coach was very comfortable.

I arrived at my small hotel to find my room cosy and spotlessly clean. I had a nice meal that evening at a Moroccan restaurant on King Street.

The next morning I rose early and went out to have a full English breakfast at a nice cafe. Where the chips were delicious. I allowed myself to eat this food because I was a traveller.

Then I took a taxi to Whiteland College, part of Roehampton University, over Hampstead Bridge.

I arrived to an empty auditorium - one of the very first people to get there. Then two women came to sit down beside me. These remarkable women both had sons like myself affected by psychiatry and psychiatric medications.

Amy, a most young looking natural blonde lady despite all of the transgressions her life has held, explained she was prescribed psychiatric medications whilst she was pregnant with her son. He was born handicapped and she has had his lifetime to regret what happened to her when she was most vulnerable and carrying him inside her.

She has devoted her life to caring for him.

The second woman I met was Jemima and she explained how she was fighting for her son who had had a bicycle accident when young. He was left disabled and in a wheelchair. She felt that when he was prescribed psychiatric medication his disabilities were made worse. How horrendous for a woman whose son was disabled for her to watch him become more disabled due to side effects of medication that is supposed to keep him healthy.

I listened to the wonderful speaker Peter Gotzsche and how he is fighting for the rights and care of people like myself. To keep us free!

There were several speakers who were educated renowned men.

But one of the speakers who most impressed me was the renowned American journalist Robert Whitaker. He wrote "Mad in America" and "Anatomy of an Epidemic". He has researched and investigated psychiatry and psychiatric medications. And the drug industry. He has a website - Mad in America - and his work is also on this along with that of other people. The epidemic of labelling and drugging is rife in America and also in Europe. More and more people suffering from normal emotional problems are sent to their GPs who go on to prescribe medications like anti-depresssants or refer them to a bio-psychiatrist. These medications do more harm then good. This award-winning journalist can be found also on YouTube.

The main speaker, and a man I totally am devoted to, was Dr. Peter Breggin. He came through from America on Skype. He couldn't attend because his wife Ginger was unwell and he felt he had to be by her side. He gave his talk and as I expected the audience gave him a rapturous applause.

Then he was up for some questions. I was the first to put up my hand to speak. The sound effects were an issue on that day and at first he couldn't hear me but I managed to speak loud enough and clear enough so my question could get through.

First, and this is the first time I ever had a chance to speak to him, I wanted to tell him I have read his books. "Toxic Psychiatry", "Your Drug May be Your Problem", "Withdrawing off Psychiatric Medications" are just a few of his wonderful writings. I have his latest book in front of me -  "Guilt, Shame and Anxiety" - which I think is his best book yet. My favourite being "The Psychology of Freedom" which he wrote in 1980 when my son was born. Which makes it 35 years old. Somehow my question got through to him despite the sound situation. And he answered me giving me hope about my own current brain damage.

Dr. Breggin has been a psychiatrist working in New York for 61 years. He started at the young age of 18 at Harvard University and went on to train. He never prescribes medication or sends off his patients to be incarcerated. He has never had a suicide on his books.

Which in my opinion makes the man incredibly remarkable.

After the joy of speaking to Dr. Peter the conference went on with the panel and people asking questions.

I am afraid my anger got the better of me on that day although I passionately expressed myself and did keep it in check. It is recorded on YouTube under the title of this article.

My son I feel has been damaged by psychiatric medications. And that they stirred in him mania which he may not have suffered from if given talking therapy which was suited to what ailed him emotionally at the time he was in crisis.

I have been in therapy these past two years and I feel I will never have another psychotic episode.

I became aware at the conference of the wonderful Sandra Breakspeare and her dream of starting up a farm called Chy-Sawel in St. Ives, Cornwall. Chy-Sawel is Cornish for ‘House of Health giving.' Sandra's son is incarcerated as we speak and has been in an institution over these past ten years. Which without a doubt makes this remarkable woman even more amazing.

This is an alternative to medication and is the way forward and will help millions. Anyone interested can find details online. Please do all you can to promote this.

I am also aware of Open Dialogue Therapy which is curing, with a 86% result, people who are suffering from first diagnosed psychosis. This is the way forward also. This nursing approach by psychiatrists and psychologists and trained nurses has been working in Lapland, Finland these past 20 years. It is slowly being introduced to the NHS in this country. Sandra is embodying this into her farm. Which is a non-profit making charity.

Open Dialogue UK is holding a conference next February in London. Anyone who wishes to attend can find details online.

I would say that not only has my therapy been a way forward to recovery for myself but attending this conference has also been life changing.

Simply Google Dr. Peter R Breggin psychiatrist, Robert Whitaker American journalist psychiatry, Open Dialogue Therapy Lapland Finland and Chy Sawel. And you will find these people.

Anne Watmough

Many thanks to Anne for telling us about this interesting day. If you want to find out more, you can watch videos of the event on the CEP YouTube channel.

Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

Unconventional Wisdom: Beyond Medical - The Debate Continues (I hope) ...

Leaving PAVO and Ventures New

After 5 years of working within PAVO’s Mental Health Team and 10 years of working in the “mental health” field, in July 2014 I decided it was time to try and make my living in a different way, one that was outside of the mental health system and outside of the public sector.

I am opening a Micropub in Llandrindod Wells which is a whole other story (… one of craft real ales, conversation, bringing people together and other lovely things …). If you are interested you can find out more on twitter, look for @arvonales.

So why I am still writing a “mental health” blog?

Some of you may already be aware of my views on our mental health system and the ideas underpinning it from my previous posts. You can find some of these here. If so, you will know that they do not align with the conventional mainstream wisdom on this topic and although I am no longer working within mental health, my quest to find ways of highlighting the “beyond medical” debate to professionals, the public, people in contact with mental health services and those close to them continues.

I believe that basing our mental health system and public awareness campaigns on the illogical idea of “mental illness” is doing much more harm than good. This belief comes from personal and professional experience of mental health and my own 30 year quest for the truth about my brother’s “mental illness”.

“Here I stand. I can do no other.” Martin Luther

What’s the debate? The myth of mental illness and the harm that it is doing

I believe that the concept of “mental illness” is incorrect and illogical. That the thoughts, feelings and actions that we categorise as “symptoms” of “mental illness” are not that. That these thoughts, feelings and actions are instead a natural and normal response to the difficult things that happen to us.

I believe that basing our mental health services, policies, laws, treatments, responses and public health campaigns on this bad idea is leading to much more harm than good. That allowing this bad idea to underpin all of these things means that we start from the wrong place when trying to help ourselves and others.

That is a place that largely remains in the “let’s manage the symptoms” arena rather than one that asks “can we make sense of this”. A place that doesn’t always allow us to look first for any medical reasons for these symptoms (you can read my blogs on organic reasons for “depression” here and “psychosis” here).

“Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about.”  
Benjamin Lee Whorf

What do I propose?

Well one thing is that I commit to continuing to write blog posts that highlight “What’s Hot?” in the beyond medical debate (…What’s Hot ?!?!?! - me trying to make the topic as interesting as I can).

I will also continue to use my personal twitter account @powysmh to present evidence that shows the invalidity of the idea of “mental illness” and that highlights the harm that this idea is having.

I know that I am not the only one in Wales wanting to see awareness of this debate raised and I would love to hear from you about what you are doing and any ideas you have about what else you think we could do.

So now it is up to you. Read or don’t read the blog. Follow me on twitter. Talk to me, contact me, challenge me, offer me words of support. I leave it to you.

Beyond Medical Debate. Where would I start from now?

As this is the first of these “round-ups” I want to start by highlighting just 2 links that are in my opinion a great place to start if you want to find out more about this debate. I hope you find them interesting and useful:

The Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry (CEP)   @cep_uk

• The purpose: To reduce psychiatric harm by communicating the latest evidence to policymakers and practitioners, by sharing the testimony of those who have been harmed, and by supporting research into areas where evidence is lacking.
• Where to start: Try the tabs at the top for a series of short videos on “Unrecognised Facts” and “Recovery Story”. Also find out more about the members of CEP here. One member, psychiatrist Sami Timimi, talked at a conference I organised earlier this year in Powys, you can find out more about this here.

Behaviorism and Mental Health    @BigPhilHickey 

An alternative perspective on mental disorders by Philip Hickey PhD.

• The purpose: To provide a forum where current practices and ideas in the mental health field can be critically examined and discussed.
• Where to start: Absolutely anywhere, this is a great site for exploring this debate. On the home page you will see a list of his posts and in my opinion they are all insightful, logical, thorough and interesting. There is a Tell Your Story page here and the Moderation Policy here is well worth a read.

Beyond Medical Debate. What’s Hot This Month? 

• Global Summit on Diagnostic Alternatives August 4th and 5th 2014 in Washington, D.C. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/rethinking-psychology/201408/12-keys-mental-health-revolution
• Antipsychiatry and the antidepressants debate by Sami Timimi, Philip Thomas, James Davies and Peter Kinderman their letter of response to David Nutt and colleagues in letter to The Lancet. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(14)70297-4/fulltext
• The Psychiatric Epidemic - does long-term use of medication decrease the chance of recovery? Tweeted by @BeyondMeds · http://beyondmeds.com/2014/05/23/psychiatric-epidemic/ on Aug 13.
• Outcome Orientated Mental Health Foundation. Of specific interest to anyone working with children and younger people. http://oocamhs.com/index.php/resources/videos. Tweeted by @AnneCooke14 on Aug 13
• Trauma, Psychosis, and Dissociation by Noel Hunter Aug 6th http://www.madinamerica.com/2014/08/trauma-psychosis-dissociation/
• The Campaign to Repeal Mental Health Laws in US. Urging US Senate to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), without reservations, understandings or declarations (RUDs) to prevent people from being deprived of their liberty, restrained, and treated against their will in the name of “psychiatric help”. https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/us-senate-ratify-the-un-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-without-reservations-understandings-or-declarations-ruds
• Therapy Looking For Disease: A Special Tribute to Thomas Szasz. 1h 23mins. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZgsxI3ZouU&index=67&list=PLA23EF81C730135CA …

Contact me (… fingers crossed …)? Laura Gallagher

To find out more you can follow me on twitter @powysmh.

You can comment below and I will respond.

You can email me at powysmentalhealth@gmail.com

Or find me on facebook here.

Fingers crossed that other people out there are also interested in finding out more about this this debate….

Exploring Mental Health and Trauma: Books To Get Us Thinking ....

Guest Blog by Jane Cooke.

There has been a focus on trauma-oriented work and ‘treatment’ in recent Powys conferences.  You can watch Jacqui Dillon at the Powys Stronger in Partnership conference last year here and you can watch Sami Timimi at the Finding Meaning in Psychosis conference in March 2014 here.

One of my roles in life (when I’m not working within PAVO’s mental health team) is as a counsellor/psychotherapist. I have a trauma-oriented approach which has been reinforced by listening to these speakers and by reading around the subject.

A trauma-oriented approach, as advocated by Sami Timimi, is a gentle way of beginning work that enables a person to feel safe and able to gradually build up a personal sense of control over their own boundaries and in time over responses to events or reminders that can lead to upsetting and overwhelming reactions. Even if a person doesn’t identify trauma as being relevant to them and why they come for therapy, this approach is empowering and helpful anyway. (It is not about forcefully inducing ‘catharsis’, re-living the situation, ‘facing up to it’ or any other similar techniques which can be re-traumatising or even abusive in themselves.)

Sami Timimi is a psychiatrist and a founding member of recently established Council for Evidence-Based Psychiatry.  He believes that working in a trauma-oriented way makes sense for most people who come into contact with mental health services. Much more sense than identifying ‘pathology’, symptoms and ascribing a diagnosis; all of which generally ignore the story, the experience of the person, how it is that they are who they are.

There are two writers who I have found very helpful and their work complements each other. Both Judith Herman and Peter Levine are concerned that people (clients, patients, service users, survivors) gain/regain their own sense of personal power and agency as they recover from their trauma/s.

Peter Levine has written a number of books about trauma. One of his books “Healing Trauma” is a slim self-help book with a CD covering a programme of exercises that anyone can follow to help overcome the neurological ‘holding’ of trauma. It is, he says “for restoring the wisdom of your body”.  He does caution that professional help may still be required. An empowering way of working could be therapist and client working together with the book and exercises, keeping the client in control of the work.

‘Trauma’ is a word we use in everyday speech,  but paradoxically in relation to emotional well-being there is a limited perception that trauma has to relate to major events that are, for example, combat situations, witnessing  extreme violence, being in danger of one’s life or experiencing sexual violence or abuse in childhood or adulthood. However, as Peter Levine says “People, especially children, can be overwhelmed by what we usually think of as common everyday events …The fact is that, over time, a series of seemingly minor mishaps can have a damaging effect on a person. Trauma does not have to stem from a major catastrophe” (his italics).

There is increasing evidence for this. So, for example, bullying, repeatedly not getting your needs for love and positive attention met, feeling fear regularly such as maybe a frightening  walk to school, regular contact with a frightening , threatening teacher or relative; being regularly shamed by powerful people when you are young.  Many things can build up to create a response in the nervous system which then needs to be ‘taught’ to respond to the here and now and to recognise/feel  current sources of support and comfort, including your own capacity  to support and nurture yourself.

Jacqui Dillon (a survivor of childhood sexual abuse) told us how much she had been influenced and empowered by Judith Herman’s book “Trauma and Recovery”. Herman looks at the way in which women’s (and children’s) experiences of violence, fear, captivity (and you can be captive in all senses without the doors being locked) and powerlessness in the domestic and community realm have been seen as variously: natural, bought on by the victim themselves, exaggerated  and overcome-able by normal acts of will. She looks at the way in which their experiences are minimised and belittled.  “Social judgement of chronically traumatized people tends to be extremely harsh” .She also looks at ways of working with people who have experienced trauma. Judith Herman has a framework for recovery from trauma. There has to be in her experience, in sequence (and returned to as often as necessary) Safety, Remembrance and Mourning and Reconnection. This works very well with Peter Levine’s work which in the early stages emphasises ways of achieving an inner sense of safety, and of course actual safety in daily life is essential.

Judith Herman is very clear that therapists need good training and good support, this is work that can be complex and challenging.

There are many books about trauma; I would recommend these two. They are compassionate and well-grounded in research and experience. They are as much for the person recovering from trauma as they are for therapists and other workers.  

Judith Herman’s “Trauma and Recovery provides a radical, community oriented approach to recognising trauma in the lives of women in particular as well as a way of working that can lead to recovery.

Peter Levine’s book is a gentle, practical self-help book (although he does not minimise the need for professional support as well).

Between them they are a very good ‘starter kit’ to this subject whether you are a health professional, or someone who has experienced, is experiencing, trauma – and you could very well, of course, be both.

Trauma and Recovery. Judith Herman.  Pandora  ISBN 978-086358-430-5

Healing Trauma. Peter Levine. Sounds True ISBN 978-1-59179-658-9

Written by Jane Cooke

Member of PAVO Mental Health Team:  jane.cooke@pavo.org.uk

And when not working for PAVO....

Gestalt therapist, ecotherapist  and interpersonal skills trainer.  Jane.cooke@heartfeltwork.co.uk

www.heartfeltwork.co.uk

Dementia Supportive Communities Tackling Stigma in Powys - Sometimes It's The Small Things That Can Really Change Our Lives

"I first came across Rhiannon last year.  She enticed me with her passion to go along to an event she had been instrumental in planning in June 2013.  I wasn't disappointed and the event in turn inspired me to write a blog; Unconventional Wisdom: Dementia and Mental Health - Uncomfortable Bedfellows?

Since then members of my team have followed the progress of the work and tried to do what we can to help.  Glynis, a member of our team, attended a Dementia themed event initiated by Dyfed-Powys Police in December 2013 and you can read about this in Dementia Champions.

So when Rhiannon contacted me this week asking whether I could use her latest article anywhere, I was delighted to be asked.  So thank you Rhiannon for providing the team with this our latest guest blog."

Working towards Brecon and Hay becoming Dementia Supportive Communities

Dementia Friends Champion Training, April 2014

In a bid to help end the stigma surrounding dementia, Alzheimer’s Society has launched the Dementia Friends programme in Wales.

Aimed at giving people a better understanding of dementia, and the small things they can do to make a difference, Brecon and Hay were two of the first towns in Wales to adopt the scheme.

“In Powys, there are around 2500 people living with some form of dementia and this number will only increase in the forthcoming years” said Rhiannon Davies, chair of the Brecon and Hay Dementia Supportive Community group.

“For many people, the battle is not just about getting a diagnosis and support from the health and social care system, but about the everyday things that you and I take for granted - going to the shops, getting money from the bank, visiting the library, taking public transport, participating in leisure activities and hobbies. All these are made more difficult by the stigma and fear attached to the condition. This often leads to people with dementia and their carers staying at home, becoming more isolated and lonely.

“This is where Dementia Friends comes in. With understanding, support and encouragement we can help people with dementia and their carers to remain part of the community, so they can continue to be valued customers, be more active in the local area and live better more fulfilled lives.”

A trained volunteer Dementia Friends Champion herself, Rhiannon is passionate about the initiative.

Brecon Llanfaes Girl Guides become Dementia Friends

“It’s about valuing and respecting the individual, seeing them for who they are rather than the condition they have. Getting the message out there that dementia is not just a part of the ageing process, and with the right support and understanding people with dementia, especially in the early stages, can live well is so important.

“We also need to recognise how challenging it can be for carers, and give them our support too.” she continued.

To-date a range of community associations, organizations and businesses have benefited from Dementia Friends sessions in Powys, with feedback being very positive. Over 250 people have chosen to become dementia friends, and made a commitment to turn their new-found understanding into action. Each session lasts about an hour.

Read more about Dementia Awareness Week May 18-24th 2014 here and the events happening across Powys.  You can also access a press release here.

For those interested in becoming a dementia friend or organising a Dementia Friends session or becoming a Dementia Friends Champion visit www.dementiafriends.org.uk

Or contact Jean Nowell, Alzheimer’s Society dementia support worker jean.nowell@alzheimers.org.uk Tel: 01874 712083

Or Rhiannon at rhiannon.aber@btinternet.com Tel: 01874 676617

"Thanks Rhiannon and I hope this inspires others to support your work."

DIY Futures: the library tour

When’s the last time you stepped inside a Powys library?

I was at Welshpool Library last week for the launch in the library service of the DIY Futures book – It’s the inside that matters - which Jane wrote about in January…  And a whole group of us chatted, drank tea, munched on grapes and digestive biscuits… and generally had a good old chinwag about the book, the Light the Way (mental health action group) meeting later that afternoon, the benefits of volunteering, and how many of us had lost freezer contents to the power cuts of the previous week… 

Which was great.  But what we noticed was… how different it felt to library experiences of the past. No one said “Ssssh!! Be quiet, you’re not allowed to talk above the level of a whisper in here…”  No one told us to pack away the nibbles and clear out with our cups…  Instead we were made welcome to share the content and success of the book with other library-goers and staff in our own DIY way. 

Many of the beneficiaries of the DIY Futures 1:1 service, which came to an end in March 2013, were there. Two of them gave short readings from the book. The event was accompanied by an exhibition of artwork created especially for this unique publication:

"This artwork was produced through a series of visual poetry workshops run by Celf o Gwmpas using their artist in residence programme. The workshop leader was Sean Burn, an outsider artist with a growing international reputation. His work challenges the language of racism and “reclaims the language of lunacy”; emphasising the way in which the language of illness pathologises natural responses to the ups and downs of life and for some people extreme circumstances, such as abuse, violence and neglect.

These challenges to established thinking parallel the work of DIY and the book. Instead of starting with symptoms and diagnosis, set ways of being told by someone else – this is who you are – the work of DIY started with the person – who you are, what do you want to change and what support do you need." Jane Cooke, DIY Futures Project Manager

This event is one of three taking place in the county libraries as the DIY Futures project draws to a close at the end of March 2014. Colleagues were welcomed at Ystradgynlais Library last Thursday, and are looking forward to attending Brecon Library on Wednesday 26th February (with the added bonus of a trip to The Hours café to look at the artwork and eat cake). 

The Powys library service has welcomed the book into its collections enthusiastically, and we would like to thank the staff for their support in this and the book’s ongoing promotion.

If you would like to borrow the DIY Futures book, each Powys library now has a copy in its lending collection. If you prefer to read books on a digital device such as a laptop, tablet, ebook reader or smartphone, we are working on an ebook which we hope will be available soon.

Have you been to your library lately? Tell us what you think, and the sort of books you would like to see stocked on the shelves alongside It’s the inside that matters.

Chatting to library staff about the DIY Futures book It's the inside that matters