This blog post centres on carers week 2015, which runs from 8-14 of June. Carers week occurs each year raising awareness of carers or care givers. Carers week in the UK also has many supporters and collaborators ranging from CarersUK, Carerstrust, Macmillian Cancer support, AgeUK, Sainsbury and so on.
If you ever happen to visit the Carers Week website, feel free to make a pledge on
their pledge wall.
The cost of caring
There are many carers and organisations that have contributed to carers week
2015, I as a mental health carer I feel I should at least add some of my own views.
Interestingly enough I have noticed that the theme of Carers Week 2015 is on building carer friendly communities and of course this is a good thing. There are in the UK around 6.5 million carers. It is a fact that Carers provide help, support and care not only to family members, but also to close friends or neighbours. Without that much needed support from carers in the UK, then the UK’s National Health Service would collapse.
Welcome to another of my blog posts on mental health. It has been a while since I have attended any art events. So I thought that I should pop over to North London to visit the Camden Health Centre in order to attend an event called Fragmentary. This event was promoted by the Free Space Gallery.
If you prefer, you can watch the video version of the blog.
The Free Space Gallery promotes health and well – being through the arts using their prominent position within the Kentish Town Health Centre and Queens Crescent Practice. Please check out their site at http://freespacegallery.org/.
So going back to the 5th of June 2015, what exciting art presentations was I expecting to hear and view? Well before I continue, this event was called “Artist talks” and was presented by Fragmentary, which I ll also explain its website called fragmentary.org. Now this site helps to showcase artists work through the view of mental health, especially using photography as the form of creativity. The website is at fragmentary.org
Ever since I became a carer years ago for a close relative, I had soon begun to realise that they were not the same person I communicated to when they were well. If there is one major thing mental illness can take away from someone, it is their ability to communicate what is important to them. When a family member or carer has to step in to continue dialogue with their loved one, things can become heated, confused or just down right difficult.
It is mental health awareness week as of the writing of this blog post. Mental Health Awareness week, which runs from 11th to the 17th May is run by the Mental Health Foundation. The Mental Health Foundation is a Charity that helps to improve the lives of those with mental health problems or learning disabilities. The Mental Health Foundation is involved in research, service development and providing information on mental health.
If you wish to see the video. Below is the video version of this blog post
I feel Mental Health Awareness week is important for quite a few reasons, the first reason is obviously raising the awareness of mental health and it does not have to be on mental ill health. I once had a discussion with mental health campaigner Fiona Art who specified that mental health does not have to centre itself around those who are unfortunately mentally unwell or those with live experience.
Welcome back to another blog post on mental health carers and to be honest, sometimes I just post on general mental health to raise awareness. I do not want to give those relying on carers a bad name, but I felt this time I should post on how easy it is for carers to risk burning themselves out while providing care.
However it does depend on the service user situation, not all mental health problems demand a high level of care, but alas for some families and carers, they will have to try and provide care for the long term. If this is the case, what are the issues? What are the risks for carer fatigue, burnout and stress?
Welcome to another blog post from Matthew Mckenzie a carer in Lewisham, On the 13th of March I took a trip over to the Albany theatre in Lewisham. I heard there was a play regarding the journey of a young black man through the mental health system. I had booked my tickets to see the play. The play was called “So you think I am Crazy” and I heard the play was shown over in the London Borough of Croydon and also played at the Maudsley Learning Centre in 2014.
Here is a video of the review if you wish to sit and watch instead of having to also read the blog.
I was very excited to at last have a chance to see the play which is directed and written by Ekanem Hines. The play on Friday also got a donation by Quo Vadis Trust & Equinox Lewisham. The play originated from a group of carers. On that evening the play sold out as news travelled about how good the play was. The play delivered various songs, powerful thought provoking scenes and rap throughout the night, however being a carer myself of someone who uses the mental health services, what were my thoughts about the play?
I do not want to spoil the play, but I felt it was very hard hitting. Half way through the play you actually begin to wonder about the title of the play “So you think I am crazy?”. You begin to question to yourself if not only the mental health system, but also society would need to take a long hard look at itself. Each scene looked deeply at the intentions of those who are unfortunately struggling to work out who is unwell and the reasons for the illness, but the resources are clearly not provided to tackle the stigma and discrimination within society and the mental health system.
As I sat throughout the play thinking how easy it would be for me to turn from carer to someone using the services, plus the added stigma of me as a black male. I would be lying if the system had not judged me for being unpredictable, maybe violent, untrust worthy and even so far to go as crazy. Still, throughout the play I felt proud that I have kept my patience with those who have judge and will continue to judge based on my own difficult journey as a carer.
The problem is that society takes strong and caring people, breaks them down and many end up within the mental health system where many are vulnerable. To make matters even more difficult, they have to focus on recovery and yet many in society will continue to judge those who are not only broken in spirit, but also in the mind. So thus we have the added stigma and discrimination of those who not only behave unwell, but are deemed to look out of place.
As I sat on the panel at the end of the play, I was proud and delighted to sit next to prominent figures such as
Marcia Riggs
Sephton Henry
Peter Wilson
Dr. Ayonrinde
Ekanem Hines
I thought long and hard about my answer to the audience as deep thought provoking questions and answers were explored about the theme of the play and tackling such difficult subjects. My answer to the audience is that each time we seek to understand the battle between mental health, race and society, we can only gain from this.
We need to congratulate ourselves for taking the time to understand other people’s journeys. We must EDUCATE ourselves and question prejudice, stigma and discrimination, hence the title of the group “kNow My Mind”. If we take the time to learn about mental health, raise awareness and tackle stigma then we can truly battle the idea of who is crazy and who isnt.
Welcome back to another blog by Matthew Mckenzie, carer, carer rep and Governor for South London and Maudsley. I am also a member of the Lewisham Mental Health Connection and carer rep for Experts by Experience. I am a member of some other organisations and NHS Trusts, but one organisation that helps raise awareness and involvement for Health in the community is Healthwatch.
So on the 19th of March, I headed over to the London Borough of Southwark to attend the Healthwatch Southwark Event. This event took place at Walworth Methodist Church and started around 4:00 pm. Before I continue, what is Healthwatch all about?
Sometimes it is known that carers tend to complaining and making a fuss. We fuss about who we care for and then an argument starts when things are not done right or there is a disagreement. We make a fuss at the health service when we feel that our loved ones are not getting the best service. Carers can sometimes make demands for information when they feel they are kept in the dark. As a carer, I have been down this very road several times. Can you relate? If you are a carer then you may understand.
As a mental health carer I feel this is one of the most important things that can help build up a stronger relationship between a carer and whoever they help support, although I have not blogged in a while. I having been thinking about this issue and felt the need to post about it.
Ever since the Time To Change campaign on tackling mental health stigma. I have realised how important it is to talk to your caree. I am sure many carers out there do this and try to spend time with who they support or care for, but I feel perhaps it might not be as widespread as I initially thought.
I was at a Time To Talk event yesterday where we heard from Time To Change Champions. Now a Time To Change Champion is a sort of volunteer, but they also do talks, promote events and have gone through or are still going through the mental ill health. I found out several startling facts from the speakers who pointed out that many men under 45 are high on the list of taking their own lives. They almost stated that the south east of London has a very high rate of mental ill health cases, but what most took my attention is a lot of these points could be tackled by just talking about mental health issues.
I am not saying that its going to be easy, because mental health can be a personal issue, but I feel so much can be done by talking about the following
What is mental health
What is stigma and discrimination in mental health
Talking about our mental health to those we trust
Letting who we care for know we are there for them
Working together with mental health professionals to tackle the high rate of mental health cases
Raising awareness in all settings
Schools
Workplace
Community
Health industry
Working towards increasing the social capital of those suffering mental health stigma.
Being honest with ourselves about our mental health.
Mental health and honesty
I am sure I could add more to the list above and some of these mentioned would need some funding, although I have seen so many volunteers working hard to raise awareness. It is also important to mention there are many other mental health and carer organisations working hard to break the stigma by not only talking, but also providing support. I guess what I am trying to say is we are all doing our bit, but there is always more work to be done.
Living in London and realising that mental ill health is so high makes me wonder how many of us are honest about our own mental health. Perhaps it is good to be aware that mental health needs to be tackled, but the problem how we can do what we can in our own way. We need to lessen the rate of mental health problems in London and practically the UK, obviously more will need to be done and the problems of deprivation, social isolation and building stronger communities have to be addressed.
Hearing that young men have a high rate of using the mental health system and also being 3 times more likely to take their own lives states that I should also be honest about my mental health as well as many men out there. We need to know that its ok to talk to someone and being vulnerable is not a weakness. I will point out though that society needs to do their bit as well, because I also feel many young men are not supported enough and many issues are swept under the carpet.
A carers role
As a carer its important to remind those we look after that we care for them. I know this is not going to be easy or even possible for many carers out there, but if we try it can make a lot of difference. The hardest thing I have noticed is that sometimes those suffering mental ill health may not have the capacity or energy to recognise friends and families trying to care. Mental ill health can easily destroy those precious relationships, it breaks bonds, isolates the sufferer and can turn people against each other.
Carer’s, those with lived experience and health professionals can all play their part working together to strengthen the ties of support and recovery. A carer has to try talk to their caree and at the same time avoid labelling their loved one, we can all do our bit.
As of this blog post, today is valentine’s day. This is the day where people share their appreciation of each other. Where there is a chance to express your love interest or rekindle the flame of love on your current partner. Of course there will be many others there who do not have anyone to share the special day with, but maybe there will come a time when it is there turn.
This blog post centres on carers week 2015, which runs from 8-14 of June. Carers week occurs each year raising awareness of carers or care givers. Carers week in the UK also has many supporters and collaborators ranging from CarersUK, Carerstrust, Macmillian Cancer support, AgeUK, Sainsbury and so on.
As of this blog post, today is valentine’s day. This is the day where people share their appreciation of each other. Where there is a chance to express your love interest or rekindle the flame of love on your current partner. Of course there will be many others there who do not have anyone to share the special day with, but maybe there will come a time when it is there turn.
A Caring Mind 