It’s World Sleep Day today and as you look forward to slipping under the covers for a good night’s rest it’s an unfortunate fact that sleep is not something that comes easily for everyone.

There are many reasons why people find it difficult to sleep. Among the factors in today’s tech-obsessed world is excessive screen time – most notably related to our smart phones.

A study by Harvard University, as outlined by the magazine Psychology Today, listed six reasons why our phones are keeping us awake. From playing havoc with our circadian rhythms and REM sleep, they also prolong the length of time it takes to get to sleep. The gadgets are also to blame for suppressing our melatonin secretion – which promotes deep, restorative sleep – as well as keeping us more alert when we want to wind down.

And according to the Harvard study, reading a screen before sleeping will cause you to feel more sleepy and groggy when you wake up in the morning. Those who read from a screen before bed reported taking hours longer to fully “wake up” the next day, compared to those who read a printed book instead.

Read the full report here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/prescriptions-life/201804/6-ways-night-time-phone-use-destroys-your-sleep

If sleep is a luxury for you there are a number of tips offered below, summarised from studies by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. (See their comprehensive advice on sleep here: https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mental-health/problems-disorders/sleeping-well

What happens when you sleep?

World Sleep Day

It’s World Sleep Day today and as you look forward to slipping under the covers for a good night’s rest it’s an unfortunate fact that sleep is not something that comes easily for everyone.

There are many reasons why people find it difficult to sleep. Among the factors in today’s tech-obsessed world is excessive screen time – most notably related to our smart phones.

 

It’s World Sleep Day today and as you look forward to slipping under the covers for a good night’s rest it’s an unfortunate fact that sleep is not something that comes easily for everyone.

There are many reasons why people find it difficult to sleep. Among the factors in today’s tech-obsessed world is excessive screen time – most notably related to our smart phones.

A study by Harvard University, as outlined by the magazine Psychology Today, listed six reasons why our phones are keeping us awake. From playing havoc with our circadian rhythms and REM sleep, they also prolong the length of time it takes to get to sleep. The gadgets are also to blame for suppressing our melatonin secretion – which promotes deep, restorative sleep – as well as keeping us more alert when we want to wind down.

And according to the Harvard study, reading a screen before sleeping will cause you to feel more sleepy and groggy when you wake up in the morning. Those who read from a screen before bed reported taking hours longer to fully “wake up” the next day, compared to those who read a printed book instead.

Read the full report here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/prescriptions-life/201804/6-ways-night-time-phone-use-destroys-your-sleep

If sleep is a luxury for you there are a number of tips offered below, summarised from studies by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. (See their comprehensive advice on sleep here: https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mental-health/problems-disorders/sleeping-well

What happens when you sleep?

When you enter the land of nod you first become unconscious, passing through different stages. The two main ones are Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, which comes and goes throughout the night, making up one fifth of your sleep. At this stage the brain is very active, your eyes move quickly from side to side. During Non-REM sleep your brain is quiet and though you are still unconscious your body moves around more. This is also the sleep in which your body repairs itself after the wear and tear of the day. During this stage you pass through pre-sleep, light sleep and slow wave sleep, when you may talk in your sleep or sleep walk. On an average night, most people wake up for one or two minutes every two hours or so. You might not be aware of this and go back to sleep but you may remember them if you feel anxious or if there are external noises – like snoring partners.

How much sleep is enough?

How much sleep we need depends on our age. While babies will sleep for about 17 hours a day, older kids need only nine to 10 hours each night. We all know most adults need around eight hours’ sleep each night, and while older people need the same amount of sleep they will often only have one period of deep sleep during the night. When you don’t get enough sleep – apart from the occasional night which won’t affect your health – you may, following several sleepness nights start to feel the effects. Not only will you feel tired all the time and find it difficult to concentrate and make decision, it can also start to make you feel depressed.

Why do I have problems sleeping?

There are many everyday reasons for not sleeping well, from the room being too hot or cold, to the fact you don’t stick to a regular sleep routine, aren’t getting enough exercise or eat too late. Cigarettes, alcohol and caffeinated drinks like tea, coffee and some fizzy drinks can keep you awake, as can pain and illness. There are myriad physical and medical problems which can prevent you from getting a decent night’s sleep every day. And while worries and the stresses of work can prevent our slumber, anxiety or depression is also a major factor for some.

Do’s

There are a number of things you can do to help create a good sleeping environment from ensuring your bed and bedroom are comfortable, to making sure your bed is neither too soft nor firm. There are manifold other tips:

• Get some exercise. Don’t overdo it, but try some regular swimming or walking. The best time to exercise is in the daytime – particularly late afternoon or early evening. Later than this can disturb your sleep.
• Take some time to relax properly before going to bed. Some people find aromatherapy helpful.
• If something is troubling you and there is nothing you can do about it right away, try writing it down before going to bed and then tell yourself to deal with it tomorrow.
• If you can’t sleep, get up and do something relaxing. Read, watch television or listen to quiet music. After a while, you should feel tired enough to go to bed again.

Don’ts

On top of following a good routine bed and waking time and avoiding caffeine, there are other things you should refrain from if you aim to sleep for the recommended eight hours a night.

• Don’t drink a lot of alcohol. It may help you fall asleep, but you will almost certainly wake up during the night.
• Don’t eat or drink a lot late at night. Try to have your supper early in the evening rather than late.
• If you’ve had a bad night, don’t sleep in the next day – it will make it harder to get off to sleep the following night.
• Don’t use slimming pills – many of these will keep you awake.
• Don’t use street drugs like Ecstasy, cocaine and amphetamines – they are stimulants, and like caffeine, will tend to keep you awake.

If the problem persists see your doctor

If you try these tips and you still can’t sleep, go and see your doctor. You can talk over any problems that may be interfering with your sleep. Your doctor can check that your sleeplessness is not due to a physical illness, a prescribed medicine, or emotional problems. There is evidence that cognitive behavioural therapy can be helpful if you haven’t been sleeping well for some time.

 

Premature newborn babies at Antrim Area Hospital will be all cosy and warm in new knits lovingly crafted by clients at Action Mental Health.

The adorable little knits ­– including cardigans and hats – were handcrafted by a group of dedicated knitters in New Horizons Antrim and have been donated to the hospital’s neonatal unit.

Service manager at New Horizons Antrim, John Davis said: “Over the past number of months the knitting group in New Horizons Antrim have been busy producing cardigans and hats for premature babies. We visited The Loving Hands Group in Cullybackey to donate our baby knits and they will pass them on to a local midwife based in Antrim Area Hospital Baby Unit. We received a warm welcome from the group and were treated to homemade scones and tea.”

 

 

This year marks the fourth year of the annual Belfast Festival of Learning.

The theme of this year’s festival is celebration – celebration of our UNESCO status (Belfast joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2018, the first city in Northern Ireland to do so) and celebration of all the excellent opportunities that Belfast offers across the wide spectrum of learning. The festival showcases a wonderful array of free, fun and interesting events across the city, with something for everyone. Each year it is a fantastic and visible demonstration of ‘Belfast a Learning City’, bringing to life what learning really means and the impact this has on many people’s lives.

Action Mental Health was delighted to take part in a seminar examining the links between adult learning, well-being and work.

Organised by the NI Impact Forum on Adult Learning and EPALE UK, Professor Olga Tregaskis (University of East Anglia and What Works Centre for Wellbeing) presented on the latest research, and Mark Ravenhall presented a report from the Learning & Work Institute – Learning, Work and Health the next 70 years.

AMH’s Operation Manager Peter Shields presented on the work of Action Mental Health in Northern Ireland. He was joined on stage by AMH New Horizons client Robert Shanks, who is taking part in the ESF funded Working it Out project in our Ards Service, and one of our Workable (NI) clients – John Morgan.

AMH’s Working it Out project is part-funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014-2020 and the Department for the Economy.  The Workable (NI) Programme is funded by the Department for the Communities.  Action Mental Health is co-lead of the SES Supported Employment Solutions partnership, which is made up of seven disability organisations from across Northern Ireland who have come together to deliver the Workable (NI) Programme across the Region.

 

It is very fitting on International Women’s Day, that we can announce our Head of Operations – Audrey Allen has won “The Leading People Award” at last nights CO3 Leadership Awards.

Audrey has been Head of Operations at Action Mental Health since 2012 and has responsibility for
over 160 staff , including 16 managers, 60 tutors/skills coaches, employment officers and specialists,
drivers, administrative staff and a quality assurance team, plus a loyal band of volunteers supporting
operational delivery. Her span of responsibilities and staff complement has nearly doubled since her
role was first created six years ago. As a member of the Senior Management Team, she attends all
Board and most Committee meetings.

Joining AMH as a trainee manager in 1991, Audrey progressed to area manager, a role she filled for
11 years. Alongside developing her own skillset, she has also encouraged the long-term
development of AMH employees, resulting in great staff retention, while consistently attracting
people from within the Third Sector and beyond.

The comprehensive expansion of AMH services is testament to her dedication to invest in staff,
clients and volunteers who support the delivery of new client-focused services.  Audrey’s approach
illustrates her commitment to improving the lives of those with mental health issues and to develop
resilience across communities in Northern Ireland.Audrey champions the training of staff across AMH and operational staff in particular, she recognises that engaged leaders who are well supported are better able to deliver services more effectively. She has championed a range of interventions such as a recently introduced Leadership and Development Framework and a new appraisals process linked to training and development. She has been pivotal with her involvement in the AMH Quality Improvement Team and the Staff Information and Consultation Committee which considers staff development issues and responds to the biennial Staff Survey. The outworking of these has been a range of supports to develop staff and managers including coaching and/or mentoring, placements and career breaks which has contributed to a culture of lifelong learning in staff and clients alike.

We are delighted that Audrey’s hard work and dedication has been recognised – Well done Audrey!

Today is International Women’s Day. It is a day to celebrate all of womankind. A day to hail the accomplishments, successes, complexities and inner beauty of women – the mothers, grandmothers and childless alike; young, old and middle-aged. That’s every woman: the pioneers, the flag bearers, the leaders, the artistic and talented, but also the disadvantaged, the displaced and the desperate.

As we celebrate with the rest of the world, close to home we can’t do so without praising the wonderful women who have come through the doors of Action Mental Health over the years. The woman who have sought refuge from anxiety or depression – some mere shells of their former selves. At AMH, they’ve been given support to transform into women they never knew they could become ­– strong resolute: women of substance, no matter how hard their journey or how long their road to recovery.

Women like Charis….

“I know how it is to feel empty and trapped in pain. If anyone is offering you help, just grab it with both hands, because it can and will get better. I promise you. You are never, ever alone in this fight. All I can say is-the staff in AMH New Horizons gave me my life back.”

Women like Rumer 

“I get to brag to all my friends that ” I MADE this!” and it’s been getting me out of bed and out the house before noon every Wednesday for months which is a much bigger deal that it sounds, seriously.”

Women like Michelle

“I could not give up no matter how hard it got for me.  Persistence and the goal to be the new person my family and I could be proud of and able to live with, kept me focused”.

Women like Emma

“I was willing to try anything in order to help with my social anxiety and confidence”.

Read their stories by clicking on their names – and discover more inspirational stories here.

Hard-working clients at Action Mental Health have been lauded for their labours to attain recognised qualifications, as the organisation was commended for providing them with the opportunity to achieve them.

Seven clients who attend a variety of Action Mental Health’s nine New Horizons Services around Northern Ireland received their Open College Network NI (OCN NI) vocational qualifications at its first Recognising Learning Endeavour Awards ceremony at Belfast’s Stormont Hotel on March 5.

All seven clients received ‘Highly Commended’ awards at the ceremony, while Action Mental Health also received a ‘Highly Commended’ Award in the ‘Provider of the Year’ Category.

OCN NI is a UK regulated awarding organisation and educational charity that designs and awards vocational qualifications for adults and young people across all sector areas. It awards professional and technical qualifications, tackling educational underachievement and addressing skills gaps in Northern Ireland.

Chief Executive of Action Mental Health, David Babington added: “AMH New Horizons have been a longstanding provider of OCN qualifications, which have acted as a catalyst for participants to engage in other service programmes with the ultimate goal of improving their well-being and quality of life.

“We’re delighted with these inaugural awards and look forward to celebrating the achievements of our learners.  Supporting this event helps us contribute to realising our vision – a society which actively values and supports people on their journey to positive mental health,” he added.

AMH New Horizons is part-funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014-2020 and the Department for the Economy. 

Martin Flynn, CEO of OCNI said: “At OCN NI, we are continually inspired by the hard work, perseverance and accomplishments of our learners and approved centres. The Awards recognise the achievements of learners who seek to achieve their goals in life and work and their tutors/teachers and educational providers who help enable them to succeed. The OCN NI has a commitment to ensure that as many people as possible, irrespective of their background get an opportunity to advance their knowledge and skills in their chosen field of endeavour.”

For the final segment of Eating Disorders Awareness Week, we give the last word to someone who knows only too well  the personal battle being waged within individuals who deal with the issue of eating disorders day in day out.

(The names have been changed to protect the writer’s identity.)

 

 

A Journey with my ‘Best Friend’, ED.

By a client of AMH everBODY

 

On a journey with no final destination,

Looking for answers, impatiently waiting.

Moments of realisation come to the fore,

Moments of madness I seem to have more.

 

It’s Sunday now and I’ve survived another week,

The thoughts of a new one though is still as bleak.

I dread each one as much as the last,

Praying to God they pass by right and fast.

I’m wishing my life away, of that I know,

It feels like I’ve no other way to go.

Waiting for each day to pass by,

Doing everything in my power just to not cry.

 

Some days however the tears they do stream,

Other days all I want to do is scream.

Nobody to talk to who will understand,

So I just hold it all in and say ‘I’m grand’.

People don’t get it and rightly so,

They can’t see how I’m feeling this low.

I don’t blame anyone as it’s my own fault,

I’ve locked my real self away in a vault.

 

I’ve thrown away the key as far as I can,

And to start searching I need to lift the ban.

To do that though I have to actually want to,

I need to wake up and change my whole view.

I really wish at the minute I knew how,

But with myself stuck in this rut, I can’t allow.

No room for change or flexibility,

To me this is easier, the simplicity.

 

People won’t understand how I can say this is easier,

Than to sit with feelings of getting fatter and lazier.

To carry on like this and stay in the comfort zone,

Is easier than to fight and face the unknown.

 

I don’t see where my life is going,

I suppose with anyone there’s no way of knowing.

I would like some small changes with a few things,

At the minute I’ve no idea what the future brings.

I’ve no security in any aspect of my life,

This feeling cuts me deep like a knife.

 

I have visions of the future of how I foresee,

Jake and I plus a few mini me’s!

What I’m doing now I’m ruining that chance,

My life is flashing by me at a glance.

I want to settle down with my boo,

But I couldn’t blame him for not wanting to.

Who in their right mind wants to deal with this,

The moods, the anger, the indecisiveness?

 

Every part of my life has now felt the blow,

Jake, my family and even my job, I know.

No social life like a normal 24 year old,

These should be my best years I keep being told.

 

Instead I sit here starving myself,

Even though I see what I am doing to my health.

Spending my days running and avoiding food,

Even though I see clearly how it’s affecting my mood.

Feeling cold and lethargic most of the time,

Even though I know why in my own mind.

All these ‘even thoughts’ still don’t make me stop,

My head is going crazy, it’s about to pop.

 

As I sit here writing this I could say so much more,

I could just keep going and let the feelings pour.

It’s not until I take a step back and think,

What I’m doing to myself, it makes my heart sink.

Why am I doing this to myself I just can’t tell,

Why am I putting those who love me through hell?

It’s the most selfish thing as it’s affecting others,

But to me sometimes none of that matters.

I am so caught up in my own little bubble,

I don’t think about how I am causing all this trouble.

 

To wave a magic wand and take this all away,

For that I would give my whole life’s worth of pay.

I’m writing everything negative down,

But I know it still won’t turn things around.

Nothing seems to be enough no matter what,

What the hell is it going to take to crack this nut?

 

My head is tormented, going round in circles,

Wakening each day and hoping for miracles.

Praying to God this is all a bad dream,

But it’s just as raw and real as it seems.

 

I want to love and be loved and laugh and dance,

I need to allow myself to have that chance.

Please somebody, anybody, help me rediscover,

The Katie of old, the Katie the ‘nutter’!

I can’t remember ‘normal’ so I need to relearn,

And to loosen this grip that is holding me so firm.

 

I want to be free from my ‘Best Friend’,

As I’m too young yet for my real journey to end…