When was the last time you really listened?

Last week I went on an audio editing training session with StoryWorks. We learnt how to carry out 10 minute recorded interviews with people, transfer them to computer, and then edit them down to 3 minutes to provide a succinct but memorable digital story which could potentially be uploaded to a website or blog post as a podcast. The training was great – the day flew by – and at the end I left feeling really inspired – with a new skill to add to my toolkit (need to practice more though, once colleagues have bought the kit) – which could, in the future, be of real value to the team and those wishing to tell their stories.

The session also prompted me to think more about listening skills. I have had some training around this in the past, including on the Mental Health First Aid course. I shall always remember the frustration I experienced when sitting telling the amazing story of my other life as a Heritage Seed Library guardian, only to find that the so-called listener was sitting cross-legged, facing in another direction completely, and apparently staring out of the window!

Despite the training, I am incredibly bad at listening properly most of the time. Whether I'm at work, and a colleague wants to talk to me while I’m writing a long and complex email, or I’m at home and family ask me to listen about work stresses, for example, and I would rather, at that moment, just relax and chill out. 

It’s hard – this listening thing! And that’s even before we bring some serious emotional distress into the equation. When we are mentally distressed, one of the first things we often feel a great need to do is talk to someone else. The very act of talking and being genuinely listened to seems to help a great deal.

There are some excellent guidelines out there. You can read about the value of listening skills for mental health nurses in a piece called “Core communication skills in mental health nursing”:
“...many mental health nurses believe they are not doing anything when they are just listening and as a result they underestimate the value of simply listening and more importantly its therapeutic effect.”

And closer to home, the DIY Futures lottery-funded project has recently been holding Listening Skills workshops as part of its Stories Project. Individuals have volunteered to tell their stories of mental distress, whilst others have volunteered to listen. Project Manager, Jane Cook, has been telling me about the workshops which have been really well received. The project sourced useful guidelines from world-wide, including this piece about listening from the Bloemfontein Samaritans in South Africa and a useful online presentation about the Process of listening.  By October there will be a book of DIY Futures stories available – the culmination of all this storytelling and listening that is currently happening - we’ll let you know more nearer the time.

Perhaps if we all listened that little bit more carefully on a regular basis (listening rather than just hearing) then others would gain the benefits of sharing their story/distress. And even if they felt just a tiny bit less distressed as a result – what an impact that might have overall.

What do you think? Do you have any experiences of good and bad listening to share with us?

FICTION/NON-FICTION...

I’m writing a paper around the thorny issue of what constitutes evidence in our field of inquiry, particularly in light of our sometimes-desperate attempts to rigidly align ourselves to science. I am keen to gather insights into just how those notions of ‘evidence’ and ‘the gold-standard’ have been influenced and misused by the free-market and particularly the pharmaceutical industry. If you can direct me to any examples of where evidence has been exposed as being spurious, or even worse shown to be conflated or damaging, I would be very grateful.

I’d also be interested to hear about particular examples of research around the impact of creativity, culture and the arts on health and wellbeing that positively eschew attempts to measure and embraces participatory methodologies and the arts themselves as the significant factor. My final request: cast your net far and wide. I’d like to hear about the diverse and unusual, particularly where it allows us to question notions of authenticity and authority. Please feel free to get in touch about anything and a bog thanks to those of you who already have. Remember, those of you who read this blog in Mexico, in Pakistan, China, Russia, Germany and Belarus last week - I’d be very interested in your thoughts!

         WARNING: Video contains flashing imagery

The UK Arts, Health and Wellbeing Research Network held its first Seminar at the University of Nottingham in March this year. Its focus was on, Existing knowledge, contested approaches and future agendas, and it aimed to map the terrain of existing Arts, Health and Wellbeing research across different disciplines, identify consensus and conceptual tensions and building an academic agenda for cross-disciplinary research for the future. For those of you interested in the research agenda, you can now access the keynotes and extra materials from a dedicated web page, including my own spontaneous and incoherent gibberish. Be warned!

For those of you interested in those thoughts on global approaches to the arts and public health, which I explored at this event, I'm pleased to say that Mike White and I have been working up some of those ideas for a new paper to be published very shortly under the title, Inequalities, the arts and public health: Towards an international conversation. More of that, very soon.

A date has been set for the next research seminar on September 12th in Bristol. The ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) are very keen that investment in researchers of the future and with this in mind, 10 places will be allocated for registered Doctoral students specifically studying Arts, Health & Wellbeing topics. So if you are a PhD student and you want to know more, please email cin.kong@nottingham.ac.uk More details about these seminars and the multi-media downloads are available at:

http://artsandhealthresearch.ac.uk/artshealthandwellbeing/seminar-series/march-2013-nottingham.aspx 

The Small Delights of Turkey

Arts and Health Training...

I am regularly asked, when is Arts for Health running its next 6-week training course for arts/health practitioners, and whilst I’d love to be able to offer these courses more regularly, its just difficult carving the time up to do this. But this week I received an email from colleagues in Sefton, Merseyside who are running something very, very similar. Whilst I can’t vouch for the content as I’ve not participated in it, the people who are running it are great, the project is a good one and I think it will be a really useful arts/health course. Check it out by going to the Creative Alternatives website

http://www.creativealternatives.org.uk/content.php?pageID=200

Arts & Health Presentation at the National Eisteddfod

An Arts in Health presentation and discussion will be delivered at the National Eisteddfod (Pabell y Cymdeithasau 1) at 2pm on the 6th of August. For more information, contact Robyn Tomos: Robyn@eisteddfod.org.uk 

SPECIAL DEVOLVED PUBLIC-SERVICE FUNDING SECTION

(Where you, the people, can apply to take on the role of police, libraries and so much more whilst nurturing the spirit of competitiveness and market greed in our young entrepreneurs and saving our bankrupt country buckets of cash at the same time.Welcome to the 21st Century world of funding)

Government Announces £4.3 Million Fund for Local Communities to Deliver Services 

The Government has announced that it is making £4.3 million available to help 100 local communities within England to design and deliver local services that focus on local priorities and reduce costs.  The expansion of the ‘Our Place’ programme builds on the success of the Neighbourhood Community Budget Pilots that for the past year have been pioneering new ways to improve local services in 12 areas. The 12 pilots range from inner cities and suburbs, to housing estates and small towns. They have all taken very different approaches, but all of them have seen partners working together to tackle the issues which matter most locally.  For example, In Balsall Heath, Birmingham, police officers and the community are developing fortnightly street patrols with residents, and priority policing actions to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. Their analysis has shown that at a cost of £35,000 per year, over 5 years, potential benefits of over £500,000 could be produced.  

In Ilfracombe, Devon, “One Ilfracombe” is working with its district council to transfer a £1 million budget, alongside an aligned budget from health, Jobcentre Plus, police, fire, housing and councils to work with the private sector and community to improve the health, economy, and living environment for local people. To express an interest in becoming an Our Place! neighbourhood, email ourplace@communities.gsi.gov.uk or click on the officer of the law, above.

Government Launches Enterprising Libraries Programme 

The Department for Communities and Local Government has announced that Libraries across the country can now bid for additional funding to help budding local entrepreneurs. The funding will help entrepreneurs enter the business world by transforming them into catalysts for local economic growth and social mobility.   Ten libraries will be awarded up to £45,000 under the Enterprising Libraries programme which aims to bring together and develop existing business and intellectual property support. Winning bids will develop their own approach to supporting local enterprise but the range of services could include:

· Free access to business and intellectual property databases and publications

· Market research, company data and information on patents, trademarks, design and copyright

· Provision of dedicated space within the library building

· Advice on funding, setting up and running a business; etc.

The Enterprising Libraries grant programme is the second stage of the £1.3 million Enterprising Libraries project, a partnership between the Department for Communities and Local Government, Arts Council England and the British Library. Applications must be submitted by 5pm on Monday 29 July 2013. Read more by clicking on the shocked reader above!

Tycoon in Schools Competition Launched 

The Peter Jones Foundation has announced that the Tycoon In Schools 2013 Competition is open for entries. Launched in 2012, the aim of the competition is to support schools in England to run their own business.  In addition to the funding provided by  the Foundation, the competition has received backing from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, with a funding injection of £50,000 to help roll out the campaign and encourage more school children to take part.  Secondary schools are now being invited to register their interest in taking part. Pupils will pitch their business ideas to their tutors, who will submit the best business plans to the Peter Jones Foundation in the hope of being granted seed funding to launch the ventures. Trading kicks off on Monday 4th November for a four-week period, with the overall Tycoon in Schools winner being announced in January 2014.  Over 500 children and 100 teams competed last year with business concepts ranging from a cure for arthritis in horses, to solar panelled phone socks for charging mobile phones. The closing date for entries is 5pm on the 9th September 2013. Read more by clicking on the tycoon above.

Goodbye for now and thanks for dropping by...C.P. 

Jacqui Dillon heads to Mid Wales

I’ve just finished reading a brilliant book called – "Agnes’s Jacket" by Gail A. Hornstein, Professor of Psychology at Holyoke College in the USA. It’s about Gail’s investigation into people’s experiences of mental distress, and at times it reads more like a detective story than an academic piece as with as open a mind as it is possible to have she enters and explores “a vibrant underground network of ‘psychiatric survivor groups’ all over the world.”

Jacqui Dillon features prominently in the book as the Chair of England’s Hearing Voices Network – Gail’s enquiries take her to many of the HVN meetings and events. At one Jacqui says: “I have come to view hearing voices as an adaptive and creative strategy, an example of the persistence of the human spirit to survive in the most extreme circumstances..... My hearing voices was a perfectly natural response to the sadistic torment I experienced. Psychiatrists should stop asking, what’s wrong with you? And start asking, what’s happened to you? That’s what we do in HVN support groups.”

I’d come across Jacqui online before, as she features regularly on a favourite website of mine - Mad in America – but search online for any information about hearing voices and her name soon crops up. Jacqui is “a respected campaigner, writer, international speaker and trainer specialising in hearing voices, ‘psychosis’, dissociation, trauma, abuse, healing and recovery.” And her own website is not just an excellent resource for anyone wishing to find out more about the hearing voices movement, but tells a powerful personal story – “of surviving childhood abuse and subsequently using psychiatric services (to) inform her work.... she is an outspoken advocate and campaigner for humane, trauma-informed approaches to madness and distress.” 

So I was delighted to discover that Laura had booked Jacqui as the keynote speaker at the Mid Wales national Stronger in Partnership event (“Shaping Services”) on 19 September in Llandrindod Wells. This event is one of three organised by our Powys Mental Health team here at PAVO and funded by Welsh Government and Public Health Wales. Individuals, carers and staff are invited to share their experiences and views about services, and find out more about what is proposed nationally. (Last year’s event was in May 2012 in Newtown - Eleanor Longden spoke inspirationally - you can read more about the day here).

Laura tells me that this year’s themes are:

• All age participation – to fit with the national and local mental health strategies.
• Children and young people feeling more confident to support each other through mental distress (for example, self harm, hearing voices, sadness, and anxiety).
• Welfare Reform – how are the changes affecting people in contact with mental health services and those close to them? What can we do to make a positive difference to improve their experiences?
• National and Local Mental Health Partnership Board Strategy, Implementation and Participation. 

You can find out more about the conference here. So many interesting issues and topics to discuss, AND Jacqui’s keynote talk….

And so, back to Jacqui… The Hearing Voices Network has joined the debate which has been active on here lately - about the medicalisation of mental distress. Jacqui writes, as Chair, that “psychiatric diagnoses are both scientifically unsound and can have damaging consequences..... People who use services are the true experts on how those services could be developed and delivered; they are the ones that know exactly what they need, what works well and what improvements need to be made. This is not just an academic or professional issue – it’s one that affects our lives.”

So, for anyone interested in pursuing this debate – make sure you book your place at the event as soon as you can - BOOKING NOW OPEN HERE – a quick reminder of the date as I can hear the rustle of paper diaries and clicking onto online calendars….., that’s Thursday 19 September, The Pavilion, Llandrindod Wells, and we really hope to see you there!

Any queries, just get back to us – as always – by commenting below or emailing: pamhinfo@pavo.org.uk, or ringing 01597 822191 or 01686 628300.

Talking to Men about Mental Health

By Sarah Johnson, M.D.

While
visiting with my dad for Father’s Day last month, I was inspired to write about
the importance of talking to the male species about mental health. When I was a
medical student coming home over Christmas (hyper-vigilant about all
potential medical issues as most med students are), I noticed a mole on my
father’s forehead that looked cancerous to my post-dermatology rotation eyes. After
nearly a year of “reminders” to go to the doctor and have it checked, he
finally agreed and luckily it was benign.

Now
that I’m a psychiatrist, I often get calls from patients and friends who are
worried about the mental health of men in their lives (fathers, husbands, boyfriends, brothers, friends) but have met resistance when trying to talk about their concerns with these men.

Reflecting
on my personal challenge of getting one of the important men in my life to have
something as minor and non-stigmatized as a mole checked out, I would like to
offer some suggestions to help start the mental health conversation with a man
or anyone you believe may be suffering from a mental illness.

• Use “I” statements. People are
  less likely to feel attacked and be open to suggestions when approached with
  “I” statements. For example, “I am concerned that you seem down, and I would
  like for you to consider seeing a counselor because I care about you,” instead
  of “You seem depressed and need to see someone.”

• Present mental health
  conditions such as anxiety and depression as medical conditions - which they
  are (your brain is part of your body). Unfortunately, many individuals
  stigmatize mental illness and do not like to see themselves as suffering from
  one. One of my favorite questions to ask those who resist getting care for
  their mental health is, “Would you seek help for high blood pressure or
  diabetes?” Of course you would!

• Offer factual evidence regarding
  mental health conditions. Many patient resources are available at www.psychiatry.org/mentalhealth (check out the Let’s Talk Facts brochures you can print). It is helpful to realize that psychiatric
  conditions are common. Remind him that he’s not alone.

• Be encouraging and reassure him that he won't be seen as “less of a man” if he seeks
  help. Seeking help is a sign of strength.

• Ask him to consider
  seeking help rather than telling him. Most people are more likely to
  follow through with a task they view as unpleasant when they are asked rather than told.

• Be mindful and also take care
  of your own mental health needs. It can be very stressful and tiring to be close to someone suffering from an untreated mental illness. Use your family and
  friends for support and don’t be afraid to seek help yourself if you find
  you’re struggling with excessive worry.

We are lucky to live in a time when there are effective treatments readily available for mental health disorders. Try these tips the next time you start the mental health conversation with the important men in your life. Your support and care can
make a big difference in his recovery. 

Tweet

Stars hide your fires...

A BIG THANK YOUThe biggest thanks to Claire Ford and Sarah Lawton who braved the masses to present their work around the arts and dementia at Culture Shots. Feel free to get in touch to suggest more networking events.

I went to one of the Manchester International Festival (MIF) events at the weekend. It was Massive Attack vs Adam Curtis, and it was a real treat. Curtis is a sublime documentary maker. Quite unique stuff in this world of consumer rubbish. I had to smile reading the MIF brochure for this event though. Tickets were £36, but if you were a citizen of this fair city, there were limited tickets at £12, but of course, 'a transaction fee applies'. HA! Imagine - you've just got your payday loan, but your phone's been disconnected and you don't have a credit card. Personally, I'd have liked to have seen it performed at Old Trafford, free of charge...better still, at that temple to the consumer, the Trafford Centre. Hey Ho. Of course, our Mortality exhibition is completely free of charge, as have been any events to which the speakers and performers have given their time gratis too.

For those of you who were unable to attend the Mortality event so wonderful facilitated by Sam Guglani and Molly Carlile, I can only say it was brilliant! Thank you so much to you both for all your input. Alas, no recoding exists of the spoken sections of this event, but to keep you satisfied, I have a recording of the sublime Victoria Hume and Chris Reed performing Skeletons from Delirium. Thank you both for a simply beautiful set.

PRESENT-TENSE
There is a book to accompany the exhibition, which is available from the Holden Gallery, from Arts for Health or Cornerhouse books who are our distributors. The text that accompanies the selected works for the exhibition is critical if you want to get the most out of the works. there’s also an essay from Steven Gartside called The Coffin Route and a new piece of work I’ve written that in parts, explores the numinous potential of the arts asks how we can achieve some kind of wellbeing as we face our mortality. It’s called Present-Tense and this little film is an oblique ‘teaser’ to whet your appetite. Go on, you know you want to read it!

New Fund to Develop the Careers of 

Artists & Bands 

PRS for Music Foundation and Arts Council England have announced the launch of the Momentum Music Fund.  This is a £500,000 fund to develop the careers of talented artists and bands.  It is anticipated that grants of between £5,000 and £15,000 will be awarded to between 50 and 75 artists/bands over the next 2 years.  Applications can be submitted by the artists themselves or those who are working on their behalf, e.g. a manager, an independent label or publisher.  Priority will be given to those that haven’t been funded by PRS for Music Foundation in the previous 12 months. The next application deadline is the 30th August. Read more at http://www.prsformusicfoundation.com/Funding/Momentum-Music-Fund 

Wellcome Trust -Arts Awards 

The Wellcome Trust is inviting organisations and individuals to apply for funding through its Arts Awards. The Arts Awards support projects that engage the public with biomedical science through the arts including dance, drama, performance arts, visual arts, music, film, craft, photography, creative writing or digital media. Applications are invited for projects of up to £30,000 through their small & medium-sized grant programme, and for projects above £30,000 through their large grant programme. The aim of the awards is to support arts projects that reach new audiences which may not traditionally be interested in science and provide new ways of thinking about the social, cultural and ethical issues around contemporary science.

The scheme is open to a wide range of people including, among others, artists, scientists, curators, filmmakers, writers, producers, directors, academics, science communicators, teachers, arts workers and education officers. The next application deadline for small & medium sized projects is the 1st November 2013, and for large projects the application deadline has now passed. Read more at www.wellcome.ac.uk/Funding/Public-engagement/Funding-schemes/Arts-Awards/index.htm 

Do you ever read the comments on youtube? I saw these under the little song below and had to share them.

"I work nights in a nursing home. Four o'clock in the morning i'm giving a cup of tea to Ivy, an 84 year old lady with advanced Alzheimers who cant sleep when this song comes on the BBC2 nightscreen and we both just stare at the T.V. speechless. enjoying the music. it finishes and she looks at me and says 'that was lovely' Just shows that real music transcends everything and can bring about obscure and beautiful moments and connections like this."

Be happy, be safe and only good things...C.P

Dr Iona Heath + MORTALITY 2013

For those of you who weren't able to make the symposium on Friday, I am thrilled to be able to share the opening speech by Dr Iona Heath which so eloquently framed Mortality: Death and the Imagination. The exhibition opens to the public on Monday and runs until the 16th August at the Holden Gallery. Iona's paper is in titled Memento Mori and is available here. I thank Iona for such a sparkling and stimulating start to the exhibition. I'd also like to extend my personal thanks to all of you that have worked behind the scenes to curate and install the exhibition. Seriously - a huge thank you.



On Monday afternoon Dr Sam Guglani from Medicine Unboxed will be giving a free public talk alongside Molly Carlile around themes that their work around oncology and palliative care and the exhibition bring up. This will all kick-off in the gallery just after 2:00 in the afternoon and will be followed by a performance of work created as a response to people who have experienced delirium following time in intensive care. Singer songwriter Victoria Hume will be performing this new work exclusively for us. The session will be finished before 6:00, but to take part, you'll have to be at the Gallery before 2:30 and its all absolutely free.

Finally, the exhibition catalogue contains an essay by curator of the Holden Gallery, Dr Steven Gartside and your blogger CP. This is a new piece of writing from me is called Present Tense and it expands on ideas around the numinous, starting with Dennis Potter and taking us on a ride on the ultimate Euthanasia Roller-coaster. I hope it develops some of our understanding, or at least begins a dialogue around the relevance of the arts and wellbeing in relation to how we live and how we die.

What a beautiful photograph. I respect Elham Asghari and if you click on the photograph, you will see why.

ADVANCED NOTICE

ART IN THE ASYLUM

CREATIVITY AND THE EVOLUTION OF PSYCHIATRY

Admission Free

Saturday 07 September - Sunday 03 November 10am - 5pm

Djanogly Art Gallery

Uncovering fascinating stories, this historical overview provides insight to the diagnostic and therapeutic use of patient artwork, its influence on the development of humane psychiatric practice, and its wider recognition by artists associated with Art Brut and so-called Outsider Art. Art in the Asylum presents the first examination of the evolution of artistic activity in British psychiatric institutions from the early 1800s to the 1970s. With over 100 loans from national and international archives, the exhibition traces the historical shift from invasive treatments of mental disorders to a more humane regime in which creativity played a significant role.

There will be a full range of events running parallel to the exhibition and more details can be found by clicking on the flyer above.

Time to Change Grants 

The Mental Health charity, Time to Change has announced that its grants programme will re-open for applications on the 17th July 2013.  Through the programme, grants of up to £100,000 are available to constituted not for profit organisations for projects that bring people with and without mental health problems together to challenge discrimination in their communities. 25% of the fund is for projects run by and for people from Black and Minority Ethnic communities and 20% is for projects that work with an audience of children and young people, in specific regions. Read more at http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/grants 

BIG - Local Paper Initiative

Big Lottery Fund is joining forces with eight local newspapers across England to award a huge £250,000 of Lottery good-cause cash to community projects in each area.  The Local Paper initiative is aimed at encouraging communities to think about how funding could benefit their area and bring real improvements to the lives of local people.  Readers of the local papers will vote to help decide which projects will get the cash. The Local Papers initiative will be delivered by UK Community Foundation working with its local offices across England.  The fund will provide grants of up to £30,000 per project and is open to community groups, not for profit groups, parish or town councils, health bodies and schools. The application dates will vary from area to area. Read more at: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/global-content/programmes/england/local-papers 

British Academy Small Research Grants 

The British Academy for the Humanities and Sciences has announced that it is planning to issue a call for a further round of Small Research Grants in September 2013. Under the Small Research Grants programme grants of up to £10,000 over two years are available to UK research institutions to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. Funds will be available to facilitate initial project planning and development; support the direct costs of research; enable the advancement of research through workshops; and visits by or to partner scholars. http://www.britac.ac.uk/funding/guide/srg.cfm

25, 26, 27...

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.