PLUSPointPLUSPoint MentalHealth

PERTH & KINROSS / EDITION 44 / M arch 2010

MEE TING PL ACE FOR SHARING NE WS AND VIE WS

Helplines Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87 Depression Alliance Scotland 0845 123 23 20 Samaritans 08457 909090 Cruse Bereavement Care 0844 477 9400 Saneline 08457 678000 Eating Disorders Association 0845 6341414 Mental Health Out of Hours 08454242424Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide 0844 561 6855 Pet Bereavement Support Service 0800 096 6606 Support Line (8.30am – 8.30pm)

PLUS77 Canal Street, Perth PH2 8JJ Tel.: 01738 626242 Email: plusperth@msn.com www.plusperth.co.ukScottish Charity SC040271 Company No. SC354220

positively involving

positively involving

FIRST WORD PLUS Gathering 22nd February 2010PLUS held it’s 7th PLUS Gathering in the Perth Concert Hall on Monday 22nd February. Around 25 members came along to the event previously organised for the Christmas/ New Year period but cancelled due to frozen pipes.

During the afternoon PLUS volunteer, Jenny Duncan, spoke about informal peer support work she was presently doing with patients in MRH; “Getting involved with this lets me put something back by helping other people who are soon to be moving out of hospital. This type of work is extremely rewarding”.

Those at the event watched a DVD, ‘The Demon Shoes’ created by The Hearing Voices Network, Dundee and funded by Choose Life featuring mainly voice hearers and their experiences of the things that contributed most positively to their lives and their recovery.

Towards the end of the afternoon there was animated discussion about the implications on stigma following a bi polar sufferer committing murder in the popular soap Eastenders. Some of the group believed the storyline would have a very negative effect whereas some others thought that, by highlighting the illness on prime time TV, it was possible that more positive attitudes could ensue, depending on how the issue was developed.

Those who attended the event said they had enjoyed the chance to discuss emotive issues and hear about the work of PLUS and how they could become more involved.

The next PLUS Gathering will take place on Tuesday 6th April at the Gateway, North Methven St, Perth from 1.30pm.

‘Happy Birthday PLUSPoint’This month’s edition celebrates 5 years since the birth of PLUSPoint. I only discovered this by chance the other day whilst searching through back copies and there it was - a lovely baby pink, first edition of PLUSPoint dating back to March 2005. Subsequent newsletters moved on through various shades of mint to turquoise, and then on to what most of you will be familiar with today a more mature jade green. The March 05 edition covered articles on the see me campaign and fighting stigma, the imminent arrival of the New Mental Health Act – 1st class legislation for 1st class services and ‘Recovery at Last’, news about a new movement in Scotland which had the potential to make a real difference to the lives of people living with mental illness. Maybe a good time now to think about these campaigns and policies and how they have impacted on your lives in real terms – whether they have made the difference that they set out to do in the first place. Would be grateful for any comments or views on this for our letters to page.

A whole history lies in the pages of these past newsletters. They map the journey of PLUS, our priorities our values our aims. For anyone who is unsure about who we are or what we do, reading back copies of PLUSPoint is a good place to start. You can access more recent copies on our website with the remaining first originals preserved for posterity here in the office. It’s worth coming in even if it’s just to see the last remaining March 05 pink PLUSPoint…… unless that is, you know different!

A million thanks to everyone who has contributed over the first five years - here’s to the next!

5th Birthday Edition

CONFERENCE REPORTTOWARDS A MENTALLY FLOURISHING P&KWednesday 17/02/10PLUS staff and volunteers attended this event held at Dewars Rinks, Perth, bringing together various folks from voluntary and public sector to discuss and progress ways of ensuring P&K were signed up to the ideas and actions coming out of the Scottish Governments ‘Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland’ published in May 2009. (NHS Boards are expected to develop local action plans in conjunction with community planning partnerships) Dr Karen Adam NHS Public Health gave a convincing presentation on how inequality was being seen more and more as the main factor in the rise of social problems, including mental health problems, in the UK. There were talks from various other people during the day on suicide prevention, recovery and information from a mapping exercise of mental health improvement training happening throughout P&K. PLUS exhibited a stand at the event highlighting recent work we have been involved in influencing local mental health service improvement. The event built upon a growing effort to focus local MH and wellbeing improvement as a priority for us all, and not as it has been, just for those staff with the word ‘mental’ in their job title. Contact PLUS for information on local mental health improvement training.

UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

‘SPACES IN BETWEEN’Scottish Youth Theatre. Tuesday 23/03/10 9am to 5pm Cost £60A one-day event hosted by the Scottish Arts Council in partnership with the Scottish Government’s Mental Health Division bringing together policy makers, health professionals, and artists in health, arts, and social policy to explore and articulate the importance of this work in Scotland. Booking Deadline: Friday 12 March 5pm.email: spacesinbetween@scottisharts.org.uk or Tel 131 226 6051

WHO’S OUT THERE & WHAT CAN THEY DO FOR YOU & YOUR CLIENTS?P&K Adult Learning & Community Guidance Speed Networking Event.Perth Christian Centre, 28 Glasgow Road, Perth.Wednesday 17 March 2010, 9.45 - 3pm with buffet lunch. free of charge.Based on past experience, we really think you’ll enjoy the day. It will enable you to get your information out there, discover who else within the community can provide help for you and your clients/ learners, and allow you to make useful contacts.Contact (sue.mclennan@sds.co.uk) Tel: 01738 637639 Direct Dial: 01738 492834

CREATIVE SCOTLAND AND EqUALITIESInclusion Scotland are concerned that there are plans not to have a specialist equalities function within the new Scottish Arts organisation, Creative Scotland. The soon-to-be-abolished Scottish Arts Council does have this specialist equalities function, which has helped to strengthen arts and health and arts and disability work across Scotland - but much more needs to be done. Inclusion Scotland are very concerned about the implications for funding and access to arts by disabled people if Creative Scotland does not have a dedicated equalities team. If your organisation would like to support a campaign to ensure that equalities is considered in the new Creative Scotland then contact Maddy Halliday at 0131 555 7240/07960 888 167 or e-mail maddy.halliday@stroke.org.uk

NO SMOKING DAY – WED 10 MARCHFor 27 years No Smoking Day has been the UK’s biggest health campaign of its kind. Last year almost a million people quit on the Day, and studies prove it’s one of the most cost effective ways of promoting better health. Despite the recent introduction of smoke free legislation, smoking remains the UK’s number one cause of premature avoidable death. To find out how you can get involved in No Smoking Day 2010 (Wednesday 10 March) and to get your hands on campaign materials, visit http://www.nosmokingday.org.uk/organisers today.

If one day you wake to find that the Bomb is going to drop or that you are the ambassador for the Human Race in a Science Fiction film where every move you make, every word you utter is saying something for all, or if you wake to find yourself living in a communist state where everyone is a spy and every word is a potential secret, where you have the responsibility to act normally and talk normally whilst concealing the terrible truth, the truth that some kind of horrendous play is happening, that there’s some form of silence that no-one will break, if these things happen to you, then it could just be that you are experiencing a state of schizophrenia and a visit to your doctor to explain could save you months and months of living in no-mans land, in a kind of limbo where isolation and alienation rule the waking hours. The other side of the schizophrenia coin is the kind of internal isolation that happens. It’s as if the ears turn in away from the world, listening to a kind of running commentary that the mind is explaining what’s happening with. You go to say “hallo” to some one, the mind says “stop Bimbo, you don’t mean that”. You think “Yes I do” the mind says “No you don’t”, the dialogue is all internal. It seduces the conscious mind like a vampire that draws the will away from engaging in conversations to engaging in daydreams. The real world is distanced by the constant ‘pull’ of the mind; it has its own charisma, its own fascination that

just draws you away to being a somnambulist. (sleep walking). This happens simultaneously with the feelings of some huge conspiracy and together creates a form of schizophrenic nightmare where reality is no longer real; it becomes surreal, super-reality, ultimate realism. Fortunately there is care, and help; Treatment to boost confidence and tablets that ‘straighten out’ the thinking to achieve a consciousness where thoughts are balanced with reality. I found that my condition was best described in terms of levels of consciousness. On a scale of one to ten. One is dog-like low level response and ten is normal, bright quick and witty. I could ‘feel’ my mind changing gear between one and ten consciousness. I knew when I wasn’t very bright, but could not bring myself to explain, the words weren’t there. When my rating was seven, eight, nine; I found that I had the language to explain my situation. The moral of the story? Be honest. Say when you feel good, say when you don’t…. If you can. This helps. It works. It heals. One does get better but it takes months to make sense of just what really did happen and to come to terms with what happened. Some say ‘You are never alone with schizophrenia’ but the truth is it’s one of the loneliest conditions one could ever have to cope with.

SEE ME TEAM HITS THE HEIGHTS OF THE P&K RECREATIONAL VOLLEYBALL LEAGUEThe see me volleyball team pictured at Bells Sports Centre on the 21st Feb following wins against the Tay Pearls and Aberfeldy . If you haven’t already signed up as a supporter of ‘see me’, then why not do that too? Visit www.seemescotland.org.uk/showyoursupport/pledgeme and let the campaign have your contact details so that ‘see me’ can make sure you’re invited to meetings or sent advance notice of new campaign developments.

“You Are Never Alone With Schizophrenia”

NATIONAL NEWSLIVING LIFE TO THE FULL …HELPING YOU TO HELP YOURSELF As part of an exciting new initiative, Depression Alliance Scotland is offering Living Life to the Full Interactive. This is an online self-help package based on the proven cognitive behaviour therapy approach that can be a very effective treatment for depression and anxiety.If you have access to a computer, feel you have the motivation to work through a 6 week programme and would like support from a Support Worker then this course could be for you.The course offers:

Regular telephone support sessions throughout the course•Free access to the Living Life to the Full Interactive website•Access to handouts and materials•Text and video clips to help you learn•Hints and tips for making positive changes•

Contact Depression Alliance Scotland for further information:Phone: 0845 123 23 20. Email: info@dascot.org

SWITCH OFF AND SUPPORT EARTH HOUROn 27th March 2010 at 8.30pm, all round the world, lights will go off for one hour in homes, businesses, and landmarks in support for international action on climate change.

PROJECT TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO INFORMATION (ALISS)Long term health conditions affect many of us at some point – whether we live with one ourselves or know or care for someone affected by one. Around 2 million people have a long term condition in Scotland alone and that number is set to rise.A collaboration of the Scottish Government, Longterm Conditions Alliance and NHS Scotland have come together to form ALISS a project to improve Access to Local Information to Support Self Management – more than just finding it, but to make it easier to contribute and share information on the web that points people to support that is relevant and local and helps them to live well.Visit www.aliss.scot.nhs.uk or contact PLUS for more info.

REPORT WITH SUPPORTA scheme designed to encourage individuals from minority groups to report hate crime was launched in Tayside at the end of 2009 Hate crime is a serious criminal offence committed against a person or property due to hatred of that person’s gender, race, religion, ethnicity, disability, or sexual orientation. The remote reporting system will allow members of the public to report incidents of hate crime that they have either been a victim of, or witness to, without having to access the police directly and allow victims to report crime in an environment which they feel comfortable, whilst providing them with the support they need throughout the investigation process.’Further information on the scheme can be found at:www.tayside.police.uk/remotereporting

CINEMA ExHIBITORS’ ASSOCIATION CARD The Cinema Exhibitors’ Association Card is a national card that can be used to verify that the holder is entitled to one free ticket for a person accompanying them to the cinema. To apply for the card, you will need to either be in receipt of the disability living allowance or attendance allowance or be a registered blind person. A processing fee of £5.50 is chargeable per card. This is to be sent along with the completed application. For more info contact The Card Network 0n 0845 123 1292 or download an application form at www.ceacard.co.uk

IF YOU WERE A FILM, WHICH FILM WOULD YOU BE AND WHY?Are you a non-stop action adventure, an off-beat kooky romance, a grim urban drama or a cool, stylish horror? You may find yourself drawn to a dearly loved or complex movie character like Peter Pan or Scarlett O’Hara, or find the overall themes of a film strike a chord or illustrate parallels within your own life. The Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival 2010 would like to know: Email your choice and reason why to smhaff@gmail.com

FIT NOTES TO REPLACE SICK NOTES FROM APRIL From April 6th 2010, GPs will no longer issue sick notes to their patients. Instead, they will issue a ‘statement of fitness for work’ or ‘fit note’ as it will generally be known. The fit note allows your GP to state either that: ‘You are not fit for work’ or that: ‘You may be fit for work taking account of the following advice’The ‘advice’ consists of the doctor ticking boxes saying that you may benefit from one or more of the following, if available and with your employer’s agreement:

A phased return to work•Altered hours•Amended duties•Workplace adaptations•

The fit note can last for a maximum of three months, unless you have already been advised to refrain from work for at least 6 months, in which case it can be marked ‘for an indefinite period’.

COMMUNITY EVENT FOR FAMILIES AFFECTED BY DRUGSThe Dundee ADP and the Scottish Network for Families Affected by Drugs (SNFAD) are organising a community event in Dundee for families affected by substance misuse. The event will take place on Friday 26th March from 10.30am - 3.00pm, at Meadowside St Pauls Church, Nethergate, Dundee.Contact Lisa Finlayson, at SNFAD, email: lisa@snfad.org.uk or tel 0141 211 0544 to book or for more info.

LOCAL NEWSPRI NEW BUS SERVICEA new PRI shuttle service (444) offers a quick and easy alternative means of accessing the hospital avoiding the need to search for a parking space. 444 is an off-peak weekday shuttle between Broxden (Park+Ride Site) and Perth Royal Infirmary. Running every half hour between 0935 and 1515Single: £0.80 Day Return: £1.00More info contact Traveline 0871 200 22 33 (open 24 hrs per day)

MAUREEN OUR MARATHON RUNNER, NEEDS YOUR HELPWe are thrilled that Maureen Summers has agreed to raise funds for PLUS this year by running in the London Marathon. The proceeds will go towards member- led activities promoting recovery and inclusion; Hi folks my name is Maureen Summers and I am a “Friend of PLUS”. I am also a 67 year old Mum and Grandmother who started running marathons when I was 42. I have since run over 20 marathons including Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, New York and Portland, Oregon. I intend to run in the London Marathon on 25th April to raise funds for PLUS. I need your help to do this and would ask you to collect a sponsor sheet from the PLUS office in Canal Street and get as many of your friends as possible to sign the sheet and donate what they can. The distance is 26.2 miles and I hope to finish it (even if it’s on my hands and knees!). Thank you. Contact PLUS for a sponsor sheet 01738 626242

NEW DEMOLITION COMPANY APPOINTED AT MRHOgilvie Construction have now been appointed to complete all of the remaining works at Murray Royal Hospital which are required before the main construction can begin. The works are schedule to be completed by the end of April. Further details can be found at www.mhdproject.scot.nhs.uk

TASTER FOOTBALL COACHING SESSION“12 users of mental health services recently received a taster football coaching session in the gym hall at Murray Royal. This initiative was provided voluntarily by 2 community care staff members who have football coaching experience and was supported by St. Johnstone’s community coaching team who provided the equipment for the sessions. The evaluation of the session was very positive and some of the comments from participants highlighted that they found it ‘motivating’, ‘Good fun’ and left the participants feeling better. as they enjoyed ‘practising and socialising and exercise’ which the session gave them. Discussions are now underway regarding whether more regular football coaching sessions can be provided in future. After all as the The Scottish Government’s paper ‘Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland’ makes the point that “greater equality of opportunity is required in areas such as … cultural, recreational and sporting activities.”

MOREDUN B, MRH NEWS UPDATEMoredun B staff are presently participating in a quality Improvement Scotland led project called ‘Releasing Time To Care’. Essentially, it is a package of modules looking at developing greater efficiency within the mental health system so that more time can be spent with patients’. Dr T. Hacker, psychologist with the North Perthshire team and ward staff are planning to carry out ‘Acceptance and Commitment Therapy’ (ACT) on the ward using group work focus. The groups would run on a 2-3 sessions per week basis for a 4 week period, then sessions would be re-run dependant on uptake.Proposals are underway for the development of a ‘team’ initially from in-patient nursing resources to take a more active role in ‘initial assessment’, ‘admissions’ and ‘discharges’ - in effect looking after patients in their own homes thus avoiding ‘un-necessary’ admissions. Obviously, in the interim, much work is required to move this forward.For more info on any of the above contact Phil Dellanzo MB 562241PLUS welcomes MRH news updates and we are extremely keen to communicate developments within services which contribute to improving the care and promoting recovery of patients admitted to the wards. Send your news pieces and updates to plusperth@msn.com

AT THE END OF THE DAY

Why?Why is it that some people think theycan treat me any way they want?Like I am some sort of toyto be held and thrown around.Battered and beaten with every wordyou say to me.Why do you feel the need to hurt me?When all I can do is love you and care about youAnd be there for you when you need me?But most of all, why is it that at the sametime you are cruel and nastyI wouldn’t want to spend my timewith any other personThat I would rather take your insultsThan have to hear you at all?And finally why is it that when the worst thingthat could ever happen to me happensYou are the only person I want to talk toThe only person who can make me feel betterThe only one who will make me feel safeAnd tell me that everything will be fine?When I know that really it won’t; cause youare the only personWho can make it betterYet you don’t know.

Wise WordsHe is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

- Epictetus

v v v

The real voyage of discovery consists of not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

- Marcel Proust

OPINIONS ExPRESSED IN THIS NEWSLETTER ARE THOSE OF THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS AND NOT NECESSARILY THE VIEWS OF PLUS

Theatre Report “Proof” by David AuburnA few of our members recently enjoyed the drama production ‘Proof’. The following is a short summary of the play. The production of “Proof” is a highly enjoyable play, with four terrific actors, Euan Donald who plays the part of ‘Hal’, Helen Logan who plays the part of ‘Clair’, Neve McIntosh who plays the part of ‘Catherine’ and Gareth Thomas who plays the part of ‘Robert’, directed by a very talented director Ian Grieve.Proof is an emotional play, and has everything in it from love, sorrow, passion and a little bit of humour, not carry on camping funny, but a little comedy going a long way.‘Proof’ is about a young girl trying to come to terms with her father’s death and involves a young man who she becomes romantically involved with. The play centres around her father’s work which is mathematics, but it’s not as simple as you think, as the play goes on, more and more stones are being turned over with many twists.I would recommend this play to anyone who likes a bit of mystery. I was lucky enough to meet some of the actors after the performance - very nice people. On a scale of one to ten of how great this play was I would have to give it a ten.‘Proof’ was first produced at the Manhattan Theatre Club in May 2000, the second full-length play by American playwright David Auburn. From that initial off-broadway run it moved up to Broadway and the Walter Kerr Theatre where it enjoyed great success running 917 performances before closing in January 2003. The play won the Joseph Kesselring Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the Drama Desk Award, and the Tony Award for best play of 2001.

By Craig ‘Casper’ Ormond-Campbell

One in Four MagazineOne in Four was conceived by Mark Brown and shaped by his personal experience of mental health difficulty. The vision was to produce a magazine that inspires people with mental health difficulties to get the best out of life while challenging stereotypes and spreading information that would help everyone to understand mental health difficulty better.Working with his colleagues at Social Spider CIC Mark developed One in Four as a magazine that approached mental health difficulty in a new way and challenged the stigma that people with mental health difficulties can feel; an aspirational lifestyle magazine covering common life experiences, ambitions and challenges in a way that is readable and relevant to all.Copies to view available at PLUS office. Or order your own copy at www.oneinfourmag.org Telephone Social Spider 020 8521 7596

UK Bottom of League for Child WellbeingUNICEF - the United Nations children’s organisation found that childhood wellbeing out of 21 industrialised nations to be poorest in the UK. ‘Child Poverty In Perspective: An Overview of Child Wellbeing in Rich Countries’ is the first study of childhood across the world’s industrialised nations. In its league table the Netherlands came top, followed by Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The authors used the most up-to-date information to assess “whether children feel loved, cherished, special and supported, within the family and community, and whether the family and community are being supported in this task by public policy and resources”. The Children’s Society launched a website to coincide with the report which allows children to answer a series of surveys about their lives. www.childrenssociety.org.uk you can obtain an online copy of ‘Child Poverty in Perspective’ at www.unicef.org/media/files/ChildPovertyReport.pdf

Rights for Young PeoplePerth and Kinross Council and ‘Who Cares? Scotland’ promote and support the rights and responsibilities of children and young people. Our children and youth rights and independent advocacy workers will :

listen to you and respect you and your views•explain what your rights and responsibilities are •help you speak out and be listened to •respect your rights and promote positive attitudes, views and •behaviours towards children and young people

Usually what you talk to us about is treated as private and confidential and we will not tell anyone else without your permission. However, it is our duty to involve other Services if we feel that what you tell us puts you or another person at risk – if this happens we will always talk things through with you first. You can get in touch with the Council’s children and youth rights worker by phoning or sending a text to 07999 589953 or by email to youthrights@pkc.gov.ukWho Cares? Scotland speaks out for children and young people who are being cared for away from home or who live at home but may need protection. They have a young person’s worker in most areas. You can get in touch with the worker for the Perth and Kinross area by phoning 01382 202888 or by phoning or sending a text to 07764 145126. You can find out more about Who Cares? Scotland on their website at www.whocaresscotland.org