The Roby Director’s Blog

Positive Intervention For Our Public Services

October 6, 2009 at 8:09 pm (Uncategorized)

A few simple things can make such a difference.  We all know this but it can be easily forgotten.

As some of you know, I’ve recently been trained as an instructor in Mental Health First Aid to deliver training courses.  With my colleague Debbie from YASP, we have recently completed our first four half-day training sessions and have let loose six Mental Health First Aiders to intervene and support individuals experiencing mental health problems in Manchester.

Feedback from the group, made up of staff and volunteers from The Roby and HARP ,was excellent and all found the materials hugely useful, providing them with background information into mental health, well-being and recovery. The course enhanced group confidence in discerning some of the symptoms of different types of mental illness, what the most effective ways to provide support to someone in distress are, whilst looking after oneself and remaining calm and confident.

The day after the participants were recognised as accredited Mental Health First Aiders, one of the participants, a volunteer at the HARP Café, had to put his new found knowledge and skills into practice when a woman arrived at the café upset and extremely distressed.  He handled the situation completely differently post-training; with new found confidence he ensured she was safe and listened to, giving her the opportunity to calm down and feel relaxed so that she was able to take the next step forward. WELL DONE EDDIE!  You made a real difference to that woman and I’m sure she is extremely grateful.  I’m also sure our other MHFAs will be doing an excellent job too.

This is a stark difference to the treatment of one of our service users at our local Job Centre Plus.  He’s been suffering from depression for the last eight weeks which has been so severe that he’s not been bothering to eat for days, has stayed in bed for up to four days at a time and recently came to our Drop-In in severe distress.  Due to his depression he’s not managed to sign on, yet is also too proud to visit his GP and discuss his current inability to cope with his life as he thinks his GP will see him as a failure.  He tried to explain his illness and its impact on his ability to sign on to the floor staff at the JCP, but they wouldn’t listen to him. Agitated and anxious he lost his temper and kicked a door in frustration; he was promptly escorted off the premises and barred from entering.

His self-care is obviously being affected and, because he hasn’t signed on, his benefits have been stopped so he is currently under threat of an eviction order and has no money for food.

So what could happen now after a failed attempt at accessing support from the Job Centre?  His depression could worsen and he could be evicted and end up sleeping rough on the streets; the stress of this may escalate his depression into a psychotic episode, he may end up being sectioned and put on a ward (at a huge expense I might add), or it may all get too much for him.

Since accessing the Roby, we have listened to him. We’ve encouraged him to see an Advice Worker at HARP’s Advice Service held every Wednesday (which he did and found very helpful) and he’s been encouraged to see his GP (huge sense of pride and fear of a potential medical diagnosis leave him extremely resistant).  I’m still extremely worried about his eviction order but am hopeful our interventions will be timely enough to ensure that this is prevented.

I wish all our public services would tackle the barriers that exclude the essential support that we all can need from time to time in our lives.  If people feel listened to, encouraged and in moments of real human need, treated like HUMANS, would we still be facing the myriad of problems that currently affect our daily lives?

If we strived to create opportunities for those that need them, and recognised that life when you’re down is extremely difficult (even the simplest act of getting out of bed or making a phone call) what would this look like? If we invested in positive interventions and reflected upon the consequences of our actions rather than closing doors, what could this mean?  Would you expect someone with a debilitating physical illness to keep their life in order with no additional support? We frequently do for those experiencing mental health problems even though they are less likely to obtain a medical diagnosis and may have less support from friends and family.

As Manchester and the country continue to deal with the recession on a daily basis, the need of our neighbours will continue to grow.  This won’t change in the near future.  What needs to change is the way we all respond.

Listen, don’t judge and encourage.  It is a simple message but the benefits for us all will, unmistakably, be so much better.

Ben Crouch
Director
The Roby