Thanks for checking out my blog post on mental health updates, reviews and summaries. Even though I am a carer from Lewisham, I am involved in the Mental Health Trust that provides services in South / South East London, although I do admit I sometimes wander away from South London and sometimes head to other boroughs.
As usual I tend to visit the borough of Croydon to get updates and also raise questions concerning mental health services in that area. I took the time to review Hear Us (Mental Health Service User Project) open forum.
Welcome to another blog post by Matthew Mckenzie a Carer from the London borough of Lewisham. For this blog post, I want to write about a fun event I attended. This event was a walk, which took place on the 20th of June starting late at night till the 21st on sunday morning. The event was a fun filled, healthy and educational.
This walk I took part in was called the Largactyl Midnight Summer Solastice walk, which usually lasts around 5 hours. This walk was held by Cooltan Arts. Cooltan Arts is an Arts and Mental Health Charity based in London and they have been doing walks around the city for around 6 or 7 years. The walks are free to join, but donations are welcome.
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?
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. It is Time to Talk dayover in the UK, which falls on the 5th of February. It has been a while since my last blog post and to be honest, I have been fairly busy with work and mental health involvement, but going back to the subject at hand. What is “Time To Talk” day all about?
Time To Talk day focuses on the point that we should at least try to spend 5 minutes of that day talking to someone about our health, especially mental health. In fact I would go so far to state we should try to open up a bit more about ourselves, especially with a close friend or someone you trust.
Time To Talk day is support by Time To Change, who are Led by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness which is England’s biggest programme to challenge mental health stigma and discrimination.
You see the problem is mental health discrimination and stigma are still prevalent in today’s society. There are so many cases of people falling into mental ill health, because they do not get the support. Some who develop mental health problems might have stigma or shame about their symptoms and may often refuse to talk about it or refuse to seek help. For those who do not open up about what is bothering them, this situation can be risky because if they do not talk about their health or seek help, then its highly likely their mental health situation may get worse.
There can be a large number of mental health cases that could be reduced if we all took the step to at least phone a friend. The emphasis need not be on the sufferer, but we as friends, helpers or carers can phone others who we are worried about.
Unfortunately so many of us know deep down that someone is developing a mental health issue or are struggling. It could be stress, depression, compulsive disorder or many others mental health problems.
The sad thing is that people often sit back and feel it is not their problem to check up on someone. Perhaps the person feels that they are being nosey or are imposing themselves on others. Maybe a lot of us do not have time to check up on others, but the situation is that if we do not check up on those who might be suffering in silence, then its quite likely someone may deteriorate in their mental health.
It is so important to talk to others on what is worrying or brother in us, but also on the other hand it can be important to check up with our friends on how they are feeling. Its not like we have to say much, but at least listen to them.
Being a carer myself of someone using the services, I know only too well what other carers may go through. Over the 12 years of caring, I have spoken and listened to so many carers in carers groups, networks, forums and events. I hear time and time again how carers have been isolated and brought to their wits end, because they had no one to turn to or no one acknowledge their situation. We carers need to step up and support not only ourselves, but each other.
The thing is mental ill health does not discriminate, if you are a carer or support of someone who unfortunately has developed mental ill health, I am sure at times that you have been upset, depressed, anxious, worried and guilty. Taking these feelings to the next level, there is always a risk that carers themselves can develop mental health problems if not supported or listened to.
To counter act such problems, its important carers talk to those who we trust about how we are coping. A carer does not always need someone to wave a magic wand to solve our problems. A carer can just have someone acknowledge what carers have or still are going through.
So I hope that I have pointed out some of the reasons I think “Time To Talk” day is important. We need to push back on a society that feels that its good to be busy. As a society its good to take time out and spend it with a friend. It is good as a society we open up about mental health issues and combat the stigma and discrimination. As a society we need to change and there is no better time than to do this now.
