Action Mental Health’s emotional well-being and resilience building services for children have been supported by £208,000, raised by Danske Bank staff and customers.

Customers and employees have all played a vital role in raising the amazing total during a mutually beneficial partnership over the past three years.

The partnership means over 5,000 NI children and 800 parents and teachers will have benefited from the charity’s Healthy Me programme for children, which does not receive any public funding.

Danske Bank selected Action Mental Health as its charity partner back in 2017 with the objective of raising awareness of mental health and money for the charity’s Healthy Me programme, which aims to promote positive mental health and social and emotional wellbeing in 8-11 year olds.

The programme, which is delivered in Northern Ireland primary schools, explores emotional and mental health, healthy lifestyle choices, and pathways to effective support through imaginative and interactive play and song.

Jonathan Smyth, Fundraising & Communications Manager at Action Mental Health said: “The impact of Danske Bank’s partnership has been phenomenal. Thanks to the incredible fundraising efforts, we will have reached over 5,000 primary school children with our Healthy Me programme.

“We would like to offer our sincere and heartfelt thanks on behalf of everyone who has benefited. The positive impact on the children supported will be felt for years to come.”

As well as fundraising, the partnership has involved education, awareness, and practical and skills-based volunteering, such as Danske employees delivering budgeting sessions to Action Mental Health clients.

Richard Caldwell, Managing Director of Personal Banking & Small Business at Danske Bank added:

“The support for Action Mental Health right across our business has been incredible. Employees have completed all sorts of personal and team fundraising activities – from abseils, zip lines, trekking, marathon running and dragon boat racing, to murder mystery evenings, quizzes and coffee mornings – all to raise funds for Healthy Me.

“With the rates of mental illness in Northern Ireland higher than anywhere else in the United Kingdom, there is a clear need for early intervention and education programmes like Healthy Me. We believe that through investing in the mental health of today’s children, we can help address the issue for future generations, and it’s been a real privilege to support Action Mental Health do just that.

“We would like to thank our colleagues and customers for the generosity they have shown over the last three years.”

Action Mental Health is gearing up for a very busy 2020 with a range of significant new developments and projects.

One of those is Menhir – like an Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant for mental health. More used to giving us weather or traffic updates, Menhir’s artificial intelligence (AI) will be employed to help people’s mental health and well-being.

Menhir is being spearheaded by a collaborative team from Northern Ireland – including Action Mental Health and Ulster University – England, Germany, Italy and Spain.

It is a four-year Research & Development project which aims to identify people at risk of mental ill health and self-harm.

Research is currently ongoing into the analysis of conversational speech, plus emotional and perceptual analysis, to enable the system to identify the mood of a person through interactive conversations.

The system will ask questions of the user, with its inbuilt AI being equipped to gauge and detect emotions through a person’s tone of voice and speech patterns. It will also seek out key risk words for those at particular risk of self-harm, then make an analysis from this data.

If, through all this, a person is deemed at risk, the system will raise a red flag for action. For example, if a client of Action Mental Health, was deemed at risk of self-harm, their key worker would be able to address their issues, and encourage them to seek professional help.

Action Mental Health’s role, in this, the first stage of the project, is to support the clients engaged in the Menhir research. AMH will provide the advice and guidance for Menhir researchers by recruiting people from among clients and those from New Life Counselling.

NLC counsellors will then carry out interviews and will record and analyse the interviews – assessing the language used and the emotions conveyed through their speech in speaking about their mental health.

This data will help to inform the IT professionals in Menhir to develop the artificial intelligence behind the AI device that people will have in their homes.

For further information visit Menhir’s website http://menhir-project.eu/index.php/about/

A troupe of loyal Action Mental Health staff have been rewarded for their dedication to the charity by receiving long-service awards.

Fulfilling a variety of roles across Action Mental Health, the group includes Roslyn Young, who joined the charity 25 years ago. Roslyn is an Employment Officer with AMH New Horizons and is based at New Horizons Newry and Mourne.

Fellow Newry and Mourne colleague, Project Administrator, Andrea McCaul received her 15-year long-service award in recognition of her time employed with the charity. The pair recently received their long-service awards from Peter Fitsimmons, chairman of Action Mental Health

Conferring the awards, Mr Fitzsimmons said the other long-standing personnel have provided excellent support for AMH clients.

“They are passionate about supporting initiatives to improve mental health and well-being in our community,” he added.

Other staff members who have demonstrated similar longevity of 15 years with Action Mental Health include Jenny Lyness, Skills Coach with AMH New Horizons Belfast; Catherine Clarson and Alan Telford, both Administrative Officers at AMH Central; Alison Reid, Client Development Co-ordinator and John Sim, Skills Coach, both from New Horizons Craigavon and Banbridge;

Leona Wright, Project Administrator in New Horizons Foyle and Aileen McClenaghan, Skills Coach in AMH Promote, also received their 15-year long-service awards.

Although the News Letter and Action Mental Health’s campaign on loneliness draws to a close this week, the work of the mental health charity continues all year, offering services to people experiencing periods of mental ill health – and often, as the features have shown, loneliness.

In this final installment, we look at recent research on loneliness and offer tips to combat its effects. And as the campaign has shown, Action Mental Health has helped people with mental health issues navigate the accompanying burden of loneliness. If you would like to support this work why not consider joining AMH’s Light Up Christmas appeal 2019? To request a fundraising pack contact AMH’s Fundraising Team on [email protected] or call 028 9182 8494.

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Research by The Children Society’s found that children who have no friends have low levels of well-being, with over half reporting low life satisfaction and low levels of happiness.

The Society found that one-in-five children aged seven to 12 say they are lonely sometimes or often, while those aged eight to 15 found that ‘seeing friends’ made the biggest difference in how they connected to others. Children who ‘never or hardly ever’ saw their friends had significantly lower well-being than those who saw their friends ‘most days or every day’.

However, creating opportunities for children to play and spend times with friends, family and people of the same age can help address feelings of loneliness. Talking to teachers can also be useful so that they can ensure that lonely children are included in school activities.

Parents who are lonely have a negative effect on their children, impacting their social competence, motivation to learn, and even their academic skills. If a child is raised in a socially isolated family, the risk of the child becoming chronically lonely increases, as one Mumsnet user detailed: “I have no idea how to socialise, I never got the chance as a child and had a solitary teen/early adulthood and get very anxious in crowds and talking to strangers. My way of dealing with my anxiety is to go quiet and introvert.”

If this sense of loneliness extends into old age, this can exacerbate the isolation typical of the elderly, especially the over-75s who make up some of the loneliest groups in society. It is this older generation who can suffer social isolation, low quality of life and poor health.

But there is help, among all ages and social demographics, to combat loneliness, including the Five Ways to Well-Being, principles promoted by Action Mental Health, and by the charity’s supporter and collaborator, Professor Nichola Rooney, Chair of the Division of Psychology, British Psychological Society (NI).

Researched and developed by the New Economics Foundation, the Five Ways to Well-Being equips people with steps to promote their own well-being – and prime among them is to ‘Connect’. In her assessment of the Five Ways, Professor Rooney contends: “No matter what age we are, probably the most important factor in improving our psychological health and well-being is our relationships and connectedness with other people. A huge amount of research has shown the positive effects of relationships on our physical health (eg. blood pressure, cardiac illness, cancer) as well as our mental health (eg. reduced levels of stress and depression).

“As a child, having even one caring available adult can impact positively on the rest of our lives in terms of our mental and physical health, while poor attachment experiences are associated with lower educational achievement and increased likelihood of offending behaviour. As adolescents, peer relationships and being able to identify positively with a group has also been shown to improve mental health and reduce self harming behaviours.

As adults positive relationships have been shown to extend our life and buffer individuals from negative effects of stress.

“Therefore, one of the most important things we can do to protect and promote our mental health is to find ways of connecting with other people and of developing positive relationships.”

The other Ways to Well-Being can further help to thwart loneliness if done in the company of others.

‘Being Active’ has been shown to enhance mood, regulate emotion, and maintain optimum bodily functions. In particular, physical activity has consistently been associated with improvements in self-esteem, self-concept, depressive symptoms, and anxiety and stress. In addition physical activity has a pronounced impact on attention, with increasing evidence of its positive interaction with improved cognitive functioning and better sleep patterns.”

The third way is to ‘Take Notice’. Professor Rooney says that taking time out to relax and notice the environment is shown to be effective in managing anxiety.

“As with meditation, there is a strong and growing evidence base exists for the use of mindfulness-based interventions to prevent relapse in major depression and for the self-management of chronic physical health conditions (e.g. pain). Simple approaches to achieving these aims are going for a walk and noticing nature and trying to be aware of where we are and what we are doing.”         

If you ‘Keep Learning’ you can reap manifold benefits. “Learning enhances brain function by promoting the growth of neurons and pathways associated with learning new skills.  Achieving learning goals improves self-esteem and confidence as well as enhancing overall well-being. Learning in a group or class provides opportunities to make new connections and build new relationships which is an added benefit.”

Finally, ‘to Give’ not only helps others but hasmany personal benefits, as it is often associated with appreciating and valuing that we have something to give. “It gives us a chance to count our blessings and reframe our lives in comparison to those less fortunate. Taking control and making a conscious decision to do something for others improves our mental health and allows us to appreciate the good in ourselves and others. Volunteering is also a good way to get connected and build relationships,” she adds.

Professor Rooney tells us that it is not the number of relationships that we have that is important, but rather the quality of our relationships and how lonely we feel. “We all know that we can be in a very crowded room but still feel lonely. Indeed, our feelings of loneliness can impact on our health.” She refers to an American study from 2017 which looked at the association between loneliness and health.

It found that substantial evidence suggests that feeling lonely – regardless of whether we actually are socially isolated based on our number of relationships – is bad for our health affecting our odds of developing heart disease and other chronic conditions. A new study has extended this literature by showing that feelings of loneliness, but not levels of social isolation, seem to increase the toll of acute illness, in this case by worsening the subjective experience of having a cold.

Research by Angie LeRoy at the University of Houston and Rice University, and published in Health Psychology showed how understanding loneliness could be useful for helping doctors understand their patients’ different experiences of short-term illnesses. It also provides yet more evidence for why interventions aimed at reducing loneliness need to focus on quality not quantity of social interaction – after all, it’s perfectly possible to feel intensely alone in a crowded room.

The study involved infecting volunteers with viral nasal drops. Each day, the participants answered questions about their mood and the severity of eight different cold symptoms, from congestion to chills. They also filled out a loneliness questionnaire at the start, which tapped their subjective sense of loneliness (typical items included “In general, how often do you feel left out?”), and an objective measure of their social isolation based on the number of people they had contact with every two weeks.

Feeling lonely didn’t affect risk of infection by the cold virus, but of the participants who were infected, the more lonely they said they felt, the worse they reported their cold symptoms to be. This remained true when factoring out the influence of negative mood, which was also associated with experiencing more severe symptoms. Social isolation, measured objectively, was not associated with the subjective severity of cold symptoms. “Put simply,” the researchers said, “lonelier people feel worse when they are sick than less lonely people”.

For more on tackling loneliness, visit https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/

Action for Children has listed the following for further help to fight loneliness:

Childline – offers advice on loneliness and isolation for people under the age of 19. You can avail of their help for free by calling 0800 1111 or visit their dedicated page on overcoming loneliness at https://www.childline.org.uk/

Become – the charity for children in care, have a phone line and online advice.

Muslim Youth Helpline – staffed by and provided for young Muslims in the UK.

The Mix – support for under 25s on any issue from housing to bereavement to alcohol.

Young Stonewall – offer advice for young LGBT+ people.

Switchboard LGBT+ – offer a dedicated helpline for LGBT+ people.

Anna Harvey is an articulate young woman with a supportive family who once competed nationally as a gymnast. She was studying for her A-levels and had great friends too. But just a few years ago the 22-year-old felt so low she made an attempt on her life.

She ended up in hospital, receiving emergency psychiatric care and was released after a couple of weeks, unsure of what to do next.

Unable to attend school to finish her A-levels she felt isolated, excluded and lonely.

But then she was told about Action Mental Health, and ever since, Anna has begun, slowly but surely, to regain her life and look to the future with renewed positivity.

Anna can’t pin down any one defining thing that prompted her mental health issues, which surfaced at around the age of 15 or 16. But once caught in the maelstrom of anxiety and depression her studies began to suffer.

She commenced her A levels but just as she was about to take her end of year exams in lower sixth she became very unwell. Despite her desire to resume her studies, circumstances prevented her from doing so.

Feeling isolated from the daily buzz of school life she was overwhelmed by loneliness and its grip was relentless.

“I felt it very unjust that I wasn’t able to return to school and when I left I felt extremely out of the loop and so excluded but I didn’t know if half of it was in my own head. That was a very lonely time for me.

“I was lucky because I have a great family and a great group of friends from school but despite that I still felt real loneliness. It’s hard to describe, but it makes you feel like an imposter, like I shouldn’t have felt like this at my age. That’s why loneliness can become so insidious, and while it’s well-documented that old people suffer from loneliness, it’s not so much expected that a younger person like me should suffer from loneliness.”

Reflecting on the glut of information technology that keeps the younger generation connected today she said: “It’s almost a bit of a paradox really: we have the most access to means of communication, compared to old people, but it’s mostly going the opposite way.”

Anna wasn’t physically alone, living with her parents, brother and sister, but when her mental state was in a state of tumult and uncertainty “I pushed everyone away and the loneliness played a part in it,” she added.

Following her lowest point, which prompted her brief stint in emergency psychiatric care she was back at home, wondering what her next step would be, feeling aimless and lonely.

That’s when she was referred to Action Mental Health’s New Horizons.

“I was a bit sceptical that it would even help me, but my first impressions were completely wrong because it has been incredibly helpful to me,” she said. 

“They put me through a number of courses and I’ve done quite a few now and I particularly enjoyed the photography course.

“New Horizons also gave me the chance to do an interview with Cool FM radio for their Cash for Kids (fundraising campaign). I was petrified and my voice was shaking but I did it, and was so grateful for that opportunity.”

Anna was later directed to Evolve, a group specially dedicated to young people, based at New Horizons Antrim, and has pushed herself to participate in activities far outside her comfort zone

“We do things to build confidence and it’s kind of like team-building and there’s a great atmosphere. The other people in the group understand, because we have all been through similar situations.

“We recently went to an escape room and it was great fun. I would never have done anything like this myself – I would’ve ended up freaking out or something but doing something like this with Evolve really helps you challenge yourself and I’m sure the rest of the group must feel the same,” she said.

“You are never judged if you have a bit of a melt down and you might have to leave for a bit. You can just come back when you are ready and there’s no walk of shame back in, like if it happened at school or work or something.”

Today, Anna admits she still experiences ups and downs, though now she gets the help she needs if her mood goes low.

And now learning to drive, Anna is looking forward and envisaging a time when she might return to education and ultimately work in the area of mental health.

The courses Anna is currently undertaking are part of New Horizons’ “Working it Out” project, which is part-funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014-2020, the Department for the Economy and the five NI Health & Social Care Trusts. New Horizons are among the many AMH projects which could benefit if you sign up to the charity’s Light Up Christmas appeal 2019. To request a fundraising pack contact AMH’s Fundraising Team on [email protected] or call 028 9182 8494. Thank you.

Action Mental Health’s Evolve programme, delivered in partnership with Youth Action, brings together young people aged 18 to 25 to help enhance and develop their confidence, self-esteem and social interaction, through fun activities and accredited training.

Through this year’s Christmas campaign, ‘Light Up Christmas’, you can help support Action Mental Health’s services for local people. By getting involved, and hosting your own fundraising event, you’ll help AMH’s recovery and resilience programmes which benefit the entire community.

Who are the loneliest people?

*Loneliness can hit people at various times of their lives, with feelings of isolation spiking at various points in the span of the average person.

*Research found the oldest old were perhaps unsurprisingly among the loneliest, with young adults coming in second.

*People on lower incomes have been found to be lonelier than those on higher incomes.

*People with fewer friends, those who have less contact with others, and single people are all related to being lonelier.

*Loneliness increases a person’s odds of developing mental health problems and its effects can feel even worse if you’re struggling with your mental health.

Gerard’s Story

One County Down man who found loneliness too hard to bear was Gerard Bentley, who ended up in psychiatric care three times following the death of his father (who he lived with).

The loneliness Gerard felt was compounded by feelings of guilt over his somewhat turbulent relationship with his father, prior to his death six years ago.

Gerard, 41, dearly loved his father, but, as many adults who live with a parent will attest, relationships are often strained when living together beyond the traditional time children fly the nest.

“I loved my father but sometimes I couldn’t live with him, though I couldn’t live without him,” Gerard explains.

“We were very close but sometimes we argued, which is normal. However, when he died I felt a lot of guilt about that.”

Prolonged periods of only his own company left Gerard in despair and even drove him to feelings of suicide. 

“When my dad died I was on my own and my life turned upside down. I was sitting there, thinking too much, feeling so guilty, that I planned on taking my own life a couple of times.

“My family are a good support but we don’t talk about my dad because it’s too painful and they have their own things to go through, so it was hard for me to talk to anyone.”

Gerard was admitted to a local psychiatric unit for treatment but just having the company of others was enough to start him on the road to recovery. Returning home, however, to an empty house, save for his dog, he was soon back in hospital.

The cycle was repeated again, with Gerard being released only to experience the heavy burden of loneliness and despair once more. Following his departure from his third stay in hospital, Gerard’s community psychiatric nurse referred him to Action Mental Health’s New Horizons.

New Horizons forms the core of Action Mental Health’s recovery services. At nine locations throughout Northern Ireland, specialist staff support the recovery of adults experiencing mental-ill health who are interested in progressing towards further education/training or employment.

“When I was in the house alone I did feel very lonely, but in the hospital, being with other people was a big part of my recovery and it really did make a difference having other people to talk to. 

A few years after his father’s death Gerard’s doctor told him he had autism. It was a diagnosis that both helped and hindered him.

“It explained quite a few things for me but it also gave me a complex,” he said, adding that it had a great impact on his self-confidence.

And following his release from hospital for the last time, confidence was something he had to work on as he prepared to enter AMH’s New Horizons.

“I was apprehensive about going to the service, as it was a step into the unknown. But as soon as I arrived I was given such a warm welcome and was treated with such respect that I only wish I’d started here sooner. You get stuck straight into a whole new world here and now I have a regular weekly routine. I’ve been coming since April 2018. It feels really good getting up in the morning and knowing I’m coming here”. 

“When I get home each night I feel like I’ve achieved something, like when you get home from a day’s work; I have been in the company of others and doing so many new things it settles me for the rest of the night.”

Nowadays, Gerard spends his days participating in a range of activities that would be the envy of most – everything from his favourite archery, to photography, creative writing, art, computing and even yoga.

 “I’m a whizz on my iPhone but I don’t know much about computers at all,” Gerard, a former joiner, admits. Once he learns the basics through his New Horizons course, he will then have the opportunity to put his new skills to further use by undertaking the ECDL – European Computer Driving Licence qualification, if he wishes.

Though he admits that planning on a future career remains a ‘bridge too far’, Gerard is considering volunteering as a first step back into the world of work, perhaps in an animal sanctuary.

In the meantime, Gerard will continue participating in New Horizons’ various services which will promote further personal growth, development and self-esteem. And once he leaves, he’ll have acquired a whole new branch of social connections and new friends.

“I couldn’t have met a nicer bunch of people here at New Horizons, and it’s helped me so much with my confidence. It has made such a difference to me,” he said.

* The courses Gerard is currently undertaking are part of New Horizons’ “Working it Out” project, which is part-funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014-2020, the Department for the Economy and the five NI Health & Social Care Trusts. New Horizons are among the many AMH projects which could benefit if you sign up to the charity’s Light Up Christmas appeal 2019. To request a fundraising pack contact AMH’s Fundraising Team on [email protected] or call 028 9182 8494. Thank you.

Together, we can tackle loneliness.

If you’re feeling low, contact your GP or community psychiatric nurse, as Gerard did, or if you’re in crisis contact Lifeline on 0808 808 8000. Please always remember that help and support is available.

The talented artistes of Action Mental Health’s Promote Service have been busy preparing for their annual Christmas pantomime which this year will be staged on two occasions – to meet demand!

Clients today (Wednesday) donned the grease paint for the premiere of Aladdin, funded with the assistance of Ards and North Down Borough Council, for the first of two performances.

They’ll tread the boards again for a repeat performance on the evening of Thursday, December 11.

The annual performance is a much-loved event at Promote, which caters for adults with learning disabilities. Clients, at the Conlig-based centre, put their hearts and souls into their amateur dramatics, which prove a high point for staff and the charity as a whole.

This year, Aladdin is being staged with the assistance of a drama coach and facilitator, funded by the council, and will be aided by the incorporation of the Makaton sign language system. The funding also enabled a visiting artist to work on the sets and props.

Clients have been busy rehearsing since September, with this year’s special guest being Clare McStay, Community Services Manager from funders, the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust. Ards and North Down mayor, alderman Bill Keery will also be among the audience.

The pantomime is among Promote’s annual festive calendar of events which included a Christmas craft and jumble sale, carol singing at two local retail stores and will culminate in a Christmas client dinner later in December.

There was little political point scoring today from local party representatives as they united behind the common theme of mental health during a special hustings hosted by The Mental Health Policy Group (NI).

Consisting of Action Mental Health, Inspire, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the British Psychological Society, the umbrella policy group issued its General Election Call to Action to five of Northern Ireland’s main political parties.

The ‘Action Not Words’ event, hosted by Action Mental Health’s corporate partner, the Law Society, reiterated calls for an independent Mental Health Champion for Northern Ireland and for parity between mental and physical health.

The event was attended by the Alliance Party’s Paula Bradshaw, Robbie Butler, from the Ulster Unionist Party, Rachel Woods of the Green Party, Paul Doherty of the SDLP and the DUP’s Paula Bradley. Sinn Fein was invited but could not attend.

Clients of Action Mental Health quizzed the representatives on key issues of mental health.

Paula Bradshaw of the Alliance Party echoed calls for recurrent, ring-fenced funding for the creation of a new Mental Health Champion, and also voiced frustration at the continuing suspension of Stormont.

The DUP’s Paula Bradley, agreed, stating there was an urgent need to narrow the gap between mental and physical health, while the UUP’s Robbie Butler lamented what he described as ‘unambitious’ targets published in the Protect Life Two paper on suicide prevention, unveiled recently.

The SDLP’s Paul McCusker, spoke of the need for support for people suffering the double burden of mental health issues and addictions, while The Green Party’s Rachel Woods called for the implementation of existing legislation aimed at supporting children’s mental health in schools.

Chief Executive of Action Mental Health David Babington chaired the hustings, restating the umbrella group’s call for urgent action to devise an approved and funded mental health strategy for Northern Ireland, to follow on from the Bamford process.

 “For too long mental health has been the health service’s ‘Cinderella service’ and our plea to local representatives is for the adoption of parity between physical and mental health,” said Mr Babington.

The appeal comes on the back of the publication this year, ‘Making Parity a Reality’ – a review by Ulster University and launched in conjunction with Action Mental Health. Unveiled in June the paper reiterates Action Mental Health’s demand for a fully-costed, ten-year mental health strategy with clear priorities. Northern Ireland is the only UK region without such a strategy.

Among the professionals attending the hustings, Professor Nichola Rooney, Chair of the Division of Clinical Psychology, British Psychological Society (NI), added: “We need an appropriately commissioned, trained and supervised psychological workforce to meet the mental health needs of the people of Northern Ireland, across the lifespan and spectrum of need.”

Kerry Anthony, Chief Executive at Inspire, commented: “This election takes place at a time when mental health, perhaps more than ever before, is a live public health concern. We are calling on government to place mental health and wellbeing at the core of its policy outcomes, as central to its priorities as physical health and fitness.

“Our elected representatives should lead the way in recognising that improving mental health for people in Northern Ireland requires a comprehensive cross sectoral approach involving genuine joined up working across all government departments and agencies.” 

Dr Gerry Lynch, chair of RCPsych NI said: “In addition to extra resource, we need better data and better analysis of the data, with the Trusts working together as one mental health service for Northern Ireland.”

We asked each of the Party representatives to comment on the lack of a Mental Health Strategy in NI:-