A S S O C IA TES

the

MENTAL HEALTH & WELL-BEING MAGAZINE

www.norwichmind.org.uk

March 2014

Youth Mind First Aid

Our First Youth Network Night 11th March from 1830
Do you have an interest in supporting young people? Do you want to promote your youth club, group, activity or want to find out whats going on locally? Do you have particular question around mental health youd like answering? Come join us from 1830 on 11th March @ Kings Centre, King Street, Norwich Its going to be busy so book your place by calling Kim on
Thanks to funding from the Norwich Youth Advisory Board we are delighted to invite you to the inaugural Youth Network Night, part of the Youth Mind First Aid project. With so many changes happening in our community affecting the wellbeing and mental health of young people, Norwich Mind and the YAB have come together to offer a free evening of information, networking, guest speakers and entertainment with the aim of promoting the needs of young people. Aimed particularly at organisations in Norwich who work with 14 - 25 years olds, this event builds on the idea that young people are happiest when they have a meaningful and purposeful life. We want to make sure as many young people as possible know whats going on in our fine city with the hope that they try something new. To achieve this we invite you to come along, share what you do and all the clubs, groups and activities you know of, we will then circulate this information as widely as possible! To help you manage some of the issues young people may bring to these activities we will source some of the very best experts in the field to talk about the issues facing young people. Speaking at the event we have Lawrence Howells looking at depression and anxiety, Rachel Welch discussing self harm and Paul Webb from MAP discussing the importance of active engagement for young people. This promises t o be vibrant and entraining evening so we hope to see you there!

01603 42457 ext 219

News
International, National and Local news
Quitting smoking can help mental health
Yahoo News / 12 Feb / Ron Waugh

Children find it tough growing up in Britain!

Daily Express /!10 Feb / Sarah OGrady! A study for the Daily Express, Channel 5 and the National Children's Bureau has found that four out of five children are stressed and anxious. A third of 11-15 year olds said that they worry every day. Researchers found 83 per cent of 11 to 15-yearolds concerned about issues such as school and bullying, with 29 per cent worrying every day, according to research for the Daily Express by Channel 5 News and the National Childrens Bureau. The study of 1,500 highlights how tough it can be for youngsters growing up in Britain today. Nearly half (46 per cent) worry about future employment, while almost a fifth of 11-year-olds have felt pressure to try alcohol or drugs.

Britain's workers the most stressed in western world Daily Telegraph /! 11 Feb / Georgia Graham Britains high stress, long-hours work culture has resulted in more people being out of work with mental health problems here than in any other country in the developed world, a report has concluded. People unable to work because of mental health issues cost the British economy 70billion a year, with four in 10 people claiming disability benefits for psychological problems, according to the OECD report on mental health and work.

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1 in 3 cases of anxiety admitted to hospital is a woman over 60 Sane / 13 Feb / Marjorie Wallace

New Psychosis guidelines

Rethink / 12 Feb /

People who struggle with mood problems or alcohol and drug addiction have a rosier outlook if they quit smoking, a new study has found. Cutting out smoking, or cutting down on the number of cigarettes smoked led patients to be less likely to have psychiatric problems or problems with alcohol and drug addiction. The Washington University researchers used data from 4,800 daily smokers out of two surveys of the same group! of 35,000 people conducted in the early 2,000s. New stats which suggest that women over the age of 60 are most likely to be admitted to hospital for anxiety suggest the emotional burden of caring for elderly or ill relatives could be the cause. Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, said: Many women tend to take the caring role and it is not surprising that when they reach their 60s the emotional burden of care can become intolerable. Women who find themselves bearing these responsibilities tend to neglect their own physical and mental health until they reach crisis point.

New NICE guideline for psychosis have been released. This guideline sets out what treatments people with psychosis should expect from the NHS. The guideline reviews exciting new evidence that it is possible to identify people at high risk of developing psychosis and offer treatment that can reduce symptoms and prevent or delay someone becoming ill. Importantly the guideline rules out the use of medication at this stage and promotes the use of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and family support.!

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Mini Plots & Community Gardening

Allotments have traditionally been a place of refuge. Fresh air, a shed to retreat to and a place where we have control over our plot. This is all well and good, except there is a long waiting list for allotments and it can be a huge task and worry to maintain a plot in a good state. I want to inspire you to get gardening but make it clear that belonging to a community is where it's at. So when I moved to Norwich I was overjoyed to get a mini plot with the Grow Our Own - Sustainable Living Initiative. Having moved to a home without a garden, I not only had my mini plot of land, but a place for my cherished plants. What's more I joined a community of smiling gardeners that help me when needed and often ask me for help. It felt like the best of both worlds having a plot and being in a community. It is the individual stories that often inspire me. Folks saying their OCD is praised when digging couch grass roots out, a weed that needs careful teasing out and double checking to get rid of it. Seeing two lonely people laughing as they pick blackberries or just the satisfaction from physical activity and seeing the job done. Community gardening requires you to be active, to learn how Since 2000 I have been involved with community gardens and horticultural therapy and have seen many people benefit from outdoor exercise, fresh air and a sense of purpose. I know for myself that without a gardening project I feel lost. GP's, health professionals and politicians can find it hard to value the role of nature and being outside with others caring for plants. My mission to find out how much money a community gardening saves the NHS and then ask them to help pay for it. Wish me luck! Dan Wheals M.N.I.M.H. is a Medical Herbalist and Member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists. He works from Inner Space I went to visit Marl Pit Lane community garden and had a chat with the guy who started the Sustainable Living Initiative which is set up for people living with a NR5 postcode. Wow what an amazing place. I could picture it in Summer with masses of wildlife, picnics on St. Benedicts Street, Norwich NR2 4PA. 07717793347. plants grow, each year has different weather or you try different crops. There is always something to talk about to others, you take notice of things like birds and butterflies and best of all you can even give a bunch of carrots or flowers to an elderly neighbour, family or a 'special friend'. As a medical herbalist I know the healing value of plants. Add to that the joy of being in a beautiful place, with inspiring people, fresh air, fresh food and sharing jobs as well as harvests. I really hope that those that live in NR5 post codes get down and join in with this project. I will be starting a Tuesday club to get the herb gardens growing this year at Marl Pit Lane so for those outside NR5 this may be your chance to get involved, get in touch if you can help out.

g in n i d and plenty of people chatting. ea What stuck me when a passer by R came to ask for an allotment, was the philosophy behind the place.
It's a group effort, a community. You can't put up a shed up but there is are shared shelters and tool sheds. You don't need tools, nor to buy seeds or fruit bushes, muck or anything, its all included. You may have your mini-plot but you're part of the bigger community.

Every Man Needs a Shed

The Men's Shed is a place for men to meet, socialise and do practical activities. We're a very new group but we're part of a worldwide movement of places for men to meet safely, stay active and get involved in their local community. A Men's Shed is a physical resource usually a warehouse, workshop or garage with tools and equipment for men to use. It can be used by men who don't have the space or tools they need to do a project of their own. And it's for men who want to find a project to get involved in or who want to find a new interest. It's a space to use existing skills or to learn new ones. And these are put to good use to make or repair things for ourselves, the community or to sell. Opening Times Every Men's Shed is different and is open to all men, whatever their background and skills base. Their character and activities 'Shedders' as Some come with skills Location Unit 6 Beckham Place (0ff Edward Street on the north side of Anglia Square) Norwich, NR3 3 DZ For more information call Andy Wood on 077 170 555443 or email him at: andy.andywood@gmail.com reflect the common interests of the participants. we're called, come from all walks of life. Tuesdays 3 6 pm Wednesdays 2 5 pm Thursdays 7 9 pm Any man is welcome to visit us during opening times and have a look around. You will receive a warm welcome, a tour of the Shed and a cuppa. Hopefully you will get the opportunity to try out an activity, depending on your level of experience with the tools being used during your visit. Its free to use and we may also be able to help with your travel costs to reach us (please ask).! week. We plan to expand in 2014 by recruiting new shedders, The Shed has

running more activities and opening for longer.

been set up and is currently coordinated by MensCraft (see below) with grants from the Peoples Health Lottery and the Norfolk Drug and Alcohol Partnership.

they want to share; others because they want to learn new things. And some come simply to socialise: have a mug of tea and a chat or play a hand of cards. A Shed provides a place for blokes to meet informally and safely to do 'hands-on' stuff together. We share our skills, expertise and experiences. The Men's Shed movement' started in Australia and is spreading across the world. The Norwich Shed is one of 50 Sheds now established in the UK and we are a founder member of the National Mens Shed Association. The Shed opened in November 2013 with a small but enthusiastic group of Shedders who got the ball rolling with some woodwork projects. We now have about 20 regular users, with between 6 10 people at each session. Currently we open for three sessions a

 Mark Shepard 1977-2008. All rights reserved.

Mindfulness Just Got Funky

For some years now, mindfulness has been on the rise. Apps like Buddhify and Headspace have flooded the market while Selfridges reopened its No Noise silent space in January last year to encourage shoppers to take a moment of peace and quiet. But in these cases, mindfulness is still bound to being still and quiet. Not any more: mindfulness just got funky with Danceitation. Here at Danceitation, we host DJd dance-meditation events. Borderline revolutionary, according to London reviewer Indigo Memoirs, Danceitation brings a whole new meaning to the term conscious-clubbing. Its better than a year of psychoanalysis, a bottle of prozac and a flask of whiskey, said N from New York, while a party-goer from Brighton agreed that, Danceitation gave me what clubbing always promised but failed to deliver. Taking place monthly in London, Brighton, Cambridge and Norwich, Danceitation is a drug- and alcohol-free event that encourages people not just to party, but to party for real. With events lead by Danceitations founder, Jayagita, our sets include music from nearly every genre, from techno to classical. Crucially, though, shell never tell you how to dance or who to dance with. Its a free space to just be yourself! These days, theres a plethora of research papers showing the benefits of mindfulness meditation: it helps us overcome stress, depression, low self esteem, lack of concentration, and more. However, at Danceitation you are not only getting these benefits, but can also get fit and have fun all at the same time! As well as our regular gigs, Danceitation also does guest DJ sets, Team Building or Ice Breaker sessions for your business, or any number of other tailor-made events. Visit our website to get in touch or find out more details about our events at www.danceitation.com By Jasmin Kirkbride

The ! Drub ! is Norfolks own 1st dry pub night, a community project capitalising on a trend for sober socialising that has been gaining momentum over the last few years with venues such as Liverpools Brink, Nottinghams Sobar and ! Redemption in London. The Drub was conceived by ex-service-users of addiction treatment agencies at a brainstorming event hosted by the Norfolk DAAT and ! UK Recovery Federation in April 2013. A committed core of those present were encouraged by ! Norfolks Recovery & Engagement Officer, Fiona Wright, to apply for funding from the Norfolk Community Foundation. With this grant, the Drub have secured a monthly night at the Open Caf in Norwich. Though Open is a licensed venue, its Caf is not and has a separate entrance on Castle Meadow, meaning alcohol is not displayed or available.! With its vibrant dcor and many amenities, including pool tables, table football, video games and music tv, the Open Caf is as far removed from the ! naff church hall/ community centre stereotype of an alcohol-free event as we at the Drub could have hoped. Similarly, the wide range of quirky luxury cordials, quality filter coffees and ! teas and home baked sweet and snacks, all at prices set with limited budgets in mind, will also be a revolutionary change to the tepid glass of orange squash !usually available at a community do. It was central to our vision that Drub goers would not feel the poor relation of licensed venues, but be able to go to a cool place with nice nosh and entertainments on hand, so the only time they missed alcohol was when they woke up in the morning not reaching for the aspirin.!

Though the Drub is the brainchild of activists in the recovery community, it is just as important to us that the project transcends the confines of any one special interest group. Seeing as our! guiding principles are public health and social inclusion, ! it is crucial to us that we extend our ! offer of a well-being-centred night out to as many of the great Norfolk public as possible, particularly those - who whether for reasons of ! mental or physical health vulnerabilities, or just an aversion to the intimidating atmosphere of Prince of Wales Road on a Saturday night - feel that they and their safety are not catered for by Britains infamous booze culture.! But the Drub is not anti-alcohol, those who enjoy a drink every other night of the week are as welcome as anyone else; the Drub is not a members club or abstinence-based fellowship; the Drub is simply an experiment, a place where those who consider themselves vulnerable and those who do not are equally invited to rediscover socialising without the ! social lubricant, which so many adult Brits depend on to ditch the stiff upper lip once the sun goes down. ! So if youre over 18 and want to hang out without a hangover, you are cordially invited ! to the Drubs launch night at Open Caf, 7-10pm, !6th March.! Links - www.facebook.com/Drublicity by Lysander Hardy

Your past is just a story and once you realise this it has no power over you.

Chuck Palahniuk

People tell me the most heart-breaking things," says Chuck Palahniuk. "They feel like I'm unshockable and that I'm not going to judge or condemn them for whatever they tell me, " he says. "I've become a sort of confessor figure." Palahniuk is best known for his novel Fight Club an original and massively successful tale of schizophrenia, underground fight clubs and anarchist group Project Mayhem, which was captured on film by David Fincher and starred Brad Pitt and Ed Norton as the leads. With a further 12 novels under his belt (including Choke and Haunted) he has established himself as a wickedly grim and brilliant satirist who is not for the faint-stomached. "People used to expect a werewolf or a Charles Manson sort of person," says Palahniuk. "I'm hoping they recognise I'm more of an accountant or a bookkeeper who has a fairly good memory for things that move me emotionally. I'm able to hold onto them for years until I find exactly the right place to put them in a book." What many people do not know about this accomplished novelist is that he has experienced horrific violence and grief in his life, (his father was murdered and mother died of cancer) and its this violence that has been confronted in past novels, especially Lullaby, Damned and Doomed. "My favourite line in Damned," says Palahniuk, "is when Madison says something like 'I think I miss my parents more than they miss me. They only knew me for 13 years but I knew them my whole life.' I wrote that when my mother just died. There was this idea that I'd known her my whole life, but I'd just been a portion of her life. That was really troubling." He goes on to say about the writing process "One part is catharsis. One part is a sense of mastering the thing, that I can control the story. I have some sense of power over the pain. And one sense is of it being the thing that occupies my consciousness so that time

passes. If I write three books about my parents' deaths, at the end of the third book I'll be a different person and I'll no longer have that impulse to pick up the telephone and call my parents. Until a couple of years ago, not a Sunday night went by where I didn't think 'Dad's going to call'. Then I'd think: 'Dad's been dead for 14 years.' Palahniuk is gay and suggests the books are also a way for him to look at the life of a child he'll never have. "One thing I really envy about my friends who have kids is that as their children develop, they're able to revisit their own developmental stages and recognise themselves and undo a lot of things they decided. I'm never going to have kids, so Madison [from the novels Damned and Doomed] gave me a sort of surrogate child to walk backwards in time with and revisit all these assumptions about life. I like her. And I like the fact she's revealed as an incredibly frightened person, that what looks like cleverness is something she hides behind. For me and my entire generation, we took on this kind of sarcastic, ironic, snarkiness because it seemed the most extreme reaction to the earnestness of hippies. But I'm just reaching the age where I'm terrified of being snarky for the rest of my life." Palahniuk still attends the writing workshop he's been going to since 1990, describing their group sessions as "talk therapy". Writing itself is, for him, a way to work through his feelings and in his work he does not shy away from the bone breaking, gristle and fluids of life. At the heart of much of his writing is the learning and lessons he has absorbed from his talking therapy and the meticulous research he undertakes for each book. In Invisible Monsters the idea of writing as therapy is clearly illustrated when Brandy Alexander tells Shannon (a model who has been horrifically disfigured) to write and rewrite her life story, over and over and over until she realises that its simply a story she is writing and that is has no power over her in this moment. Visit Palahniuks website here

The Bigger Picture Project Manager (35 hours per week) Salary: 20,533.33 to 21,746.06 per annum (Full time equivalent 22,189.86 to 23,299.35) This post is offered for 11 months. Norwich Mind is seeking an enthusiastic, self motivated individual to manage an exciting new mental health film project, The Bigger Picture: Cinema to Change your Mind. This unique project will host a high profile season of films and workshops with Cinema Plus, Creative Arts East and BBC Voices and also a pop up NoMad Cinema Tour, that aim to de-stigmatise mental ill health and promote opportunities for meaningful dialogue. You will be cineliterate and passionate about challenging mental health stereotypes. Experienced in organising festivals or large arts/cultural events, you will also have expertise in working particularly with volunteers with lived experience of mental health issues. Applications are especially welcomed from persons with personal experience of mental health problems. To apply, please download an application (here) and return a completed application form to: Melanie Rawlinson, Human Resources Manager, Norwich and Central Norfolk Mind, 50 Sale Road, Norwich NR7 9TP or email to hr@norwichmind.org.uk. Queries about the role can be addressed to Ruth Taylor Wellbeing Thematic Manager at ruthtaylor@norwichmind.org.uk. Closing date for applications: Monday 10th March at 5pm and interviews will be held on Friday 14th March
This post is funded by Time to Change, Englands biggest programme to end the stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health problems.! ! The programme is run by the charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, and funded by the Department of Health, Comic Relief and the Big Lottery Fund

Associate Social
Februarys Social saw another great turnout for what is fast becoming the must attend event of the month. Soon well need to take suggestions for a larger venue ( i f yo u h a ve a ny please let us know) but for the time being well stay with old faithful, Cafe Bar Mezano. Further walking groups have been organised, cinema socials and sports activities are starting to take off so if you fancy doing a little more with your time come along. The way it works - you dont have to book, just show up on the night. This is important, you dont have to come to every social but you actually need to meet people and come to at least one of the Socials. From here youll sign up to either email / text alerts for Associate Social activities in your area. You pick an choose what you do. If you have an idea of something to do let us know and well circulate it around!

Date: Tuesday 26th March Time: 1730 Location: Cafe Bar Marzano in the Forum.
Look for the MFA cap (pictured above). Need any help? Call Simon on 01603 432457 ext. 219

Associates Workshop : Herbal / Medical approach to Depression and Anxiety

This month we are joined by Dan Wheals, a norwich based medical herbalist, who will be exploring how herbs can help in the treatment of anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions. Fundamental to using any medication is understanding how it interacts with the body, the benefits to expect and the side effects that may present themselves. Dan will be looking at when herbs and plant medicine can be used and importantly when it should not be taken. This workshop is not aimed at creating or amending any existing treatment you may be undertaking. To book call 01603 432457 ext 219. Date: 26th March 2014 Location: Norwich Time: 1830 - 2030