The Halloween mental health scandal, negative attitudes are rife in society.

Imagine this: you're at a Halloween party, everybody has made an effort and dressed up. You see someone dressed in a straight jacket that's spattered with blood, they're holding a meat cleaver and wearing a scary mask. "What've you come as?" you ask "a mental patient" is the response. Would you be offended? Or would you not be bothered by it, it's ok because it's Halloween, it's just a costume?

If you've been paying any attention to the news in recent weeks you are likely to have heard about the Tesco and asda Halloween costume scandal. It started with Asda advertising their 'mental patient costume'. It attracted many complaints from customers and they soon took it down and apologised. Soon after, Tesco faced criticism for their 'psycho ward' outfit. Both companies made donations to Mind. This also prompted Ebay to take action to remove similar things from sale.
Thorpe Park also faced backlash recently over their planned Fright Night 'asylum' event promising ' a chaotic environment of noise, light and action.' It's a horror maze depicting a psychiatric hospital, there's actors running round with chainsaws trying to scare people. You get the idea. It's prompted a large amount of anger on social networks including the hashtag #asylumNO and a petition to shut down the 'stigmatising asylum maze'.
Is this a genuine concern, or just political correctness gone mad?

The costume for sale on the George website

To me, these kind of products and events just shows that there is still a poor attitude towards mental health in general,a lack of understanding, a lack of sensitivity; stigmas that we hoped we would not still be seeing in 2013.

"It's just inconsiderate, it seems like they're making a joke out of people that are ill." 

Although, I do feel at times that there is often a fine line between this being insulting and it being part of horror fiction and not applicable to real life and real people. For example, Tesco's 'psycho ward' costume seems to mimic Antony Hopkins' character in Silence of the Lambs. There's a ton of horror films around that depict psychiatric wards or depicting psychiatric patients as dangerous and frightening. That's not real life, and no one is saying it is real life. It's not meant to mock people that are ill, so why is that Halloween costume or a Halloween event at a theme park any different?
The 'mental patient' costume however, is different. I do see an issue with that, by giving it that name they've made it real. Depicting a mental patient as a knife wielding murderer, really? How in any way is that acceptable? That, in my opinion, crosses the line. That's not horror fiction, it's not 'all part of the Halloween spirit' it's just plain insulting and thoughtless.

All of these things show that offensive stereotypes towards mental health still run deep in our society. Some people won't have thought twice about it, it wouldn't insult them at all. But they may think differently if they were that mental patient, and something that they have suffered with is being presented and mocked in such an insensitive way.

So, horror fiction? That's fine, but make the line between fiction and real people's lives clear. Mocking an issue that affects so many is wrong on every level. The stigma towards mental health needs to end, and things like this do not help and just send us backwards.

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Theatre as Therapy

I recently talked about how the arts are used as therapy, and I thought that I would look into drama therapy in a bit more detail. I feel that drama therapy is a really fresh and interesting approach to mental health treatment.
The purpose of drama therapy is to help people find the right medium for them to take part in group or individual therapy to address and resolve some of their issues or make their troubles more bearable. Using drama in it's different forms helps people to explore painful and difficult life experiences through an indirect approach.
Drama therapy is used in several different settings, thus helping people with varying needs such as those suffering with mental illness and elderly people with dementia, to children that have been abused.

This video demonstrates methods of drama therapy and how it is used to explore feelings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsPtNbNymi4

Twitter: @psych_discuss

Being Sectioned: What does it mean?

The term "sectioned" is used a lot when talking about mental health issues, but it seems many people don't know much about what sectioning actually is. Well fear not! Psych Discuss is here to help. This should make it a bit clearer:

What does 'being sectioned' mean?
Most people that are on a psychiatric ward or in a psychiatric unit are there completely voluntarily, and have agreed to come into hospital and get some help and treatment. But sometimes, it is necessary to admit a person into hospital without their agreement. This happens when someone has been 'sectioned' or 'detained' under the Mental Health Act 1983. When a person is sectioned it means that they cannot leave hospital freely and they will lose some of the rights that patients that are not under a section have.

Why and when would a person be sectioned?
In part 2 of the Mental Health Act, there are a number of different sections, a person would be detained under one of these. These sections are 2-5 When a person is taken to hospital, the relevant professionals will examine them. There are certain criteria that need to met in order for a person to be sectioned legally. In a nutshell, a person is sectioned under section 2 when it is felt that their mental disorder is of a nature or severity that requires hospital treatment for at least a limited period (maximum 28 days) and also that it is necessary for the person to be detained for their own safety or with a view to the safety of others. Section 3 is a slightly more serious level, it is used when appropriate treatment cannot be provided without the section as well as being necessary to ensure safety of the person and others, this section can last longer (up to 6 months at a time).  Section 4 is only used in emergency cases when treatment cannot be delayed and it is urgent that a person is admitted into hospital. Section 5 can apply if a person is already in hospital as a voluntary patient and is then sectioned.

Who makes the decisions about sectioning?
Any approved mental health professional can put forward an application for a person to be sectioned if the deem it to be the best way of making sure they get the appropriate help. Before making the application the professional will interview the person to establish whether sectioning is the right path to take. A person's nearest relative also has the right to make an application, but generally they would go through a mental health professional as this is more practical.

PS: There are other parts to the Mental Health Act that refer to court orders and criminal cases etc, but we're just focusing on part 2 of the act for now.


Twitter: @psych_discuss

The arts as therapy

There are a variety of therapy types that are used to help people with mental health issues,treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy are used commonly; but there is another form of therapy , arts therapies, that combine the art forms and use them to treat the mentally ill.

What is art therapy?
Art therapies combine all forms of art and use them in a therapeutic environment with a fully qualified therapist. Using the arts as therapy can have many benefits. It helps people to find a way of expressing themselves in a comfortable and safe environment. Often, people with mental health problems find opening up about how they feel and exploring their emotions difficult and overwhelming, but through art therapy people have the freedom to create something. Them, with the help and support of the therapist, they can explore their creation and what it says about them and how they feel. They can then get to grips with their state of mind and get on the road to recovery. These types of therapy can provide a powerful method of expression and a release from trauma.

What types of art therapy are available?
The therapy forms that are recognised and regulated are:

• Music therapy
• Art therapy
• Dance Movement therapy
• Voice Movement therapy
• Drama therapy

If you watched "Don't call me Crazy" on BBC3 recently, you may have noticed art therapy being used on the unit. It's used commonly and seems to be a really effective way of helping those suffering with mental health problems. In addition to this, Channel 4, a few weeks ago, aired a programme called "notes from the inside with James Rhodes". This explored the concept of music and mental illness. James Rhodes is a concert pianist, and once a psychiatric patient under a section himself. He went into a psychiatric hospital to see if music could help the patients in the same way it helped him. It shows how much people can relate and express their feelings through art, in all it's forms. - It's a very interesting insight and emotional viewing, worth a watch! It's available on 4OD.

I'll be exploring some of these therapies in more detail throughout next week, so check back soon for more!

Twitter: @psych_discuss

Mental health help dogs: support for 'Psych Dogs'

Following on from my previous post on the effect that pet ownership can have on mental health, I decided to look more specifically at assistance dogs for people that suffer from mental health issues.
Dogs can help people cope and manage with their mental illness, such as people with severe depression, agoraphobia, social anxiety among other conditions. Mental health campaigner Marion Janner spoke to The Guardian newspaper about her experience with her assistance dog, Buddy. She suffers with severe depression and says that Buddy plays a massive part in helping her learn to cope with her issues. She reports that Buddy helps her want to keep going, gives her something to focus on, gives her a sense of purpose and responsibility.

Marion with Buddy (The Guardian)

Marion's case is just one example of how dogs can play a role in helping people with mental health problems. As I've previously mentioned, interaction with pets and animals can have a health advantage, such as lower blood pressure and stress levels. In terms of mental health, dogs provide non judgmental social contact to help overcome loneliness, they also promote regular exercise and getting out in the fresh air as well as providing unconditional love to their owner which can be very healing.

Currently, in the UK, mental health assistance dogs do not have any official rights or recognition as service dogs.  There are campaigns surrounding this issue saying that 'psych dogs' should have the same rights as other service  dogs such as guide dogs for the blind and hearing dogs for the deaf. Having these rights would mean that the dogs can accompany their owners to work, into shops and restaurants etc.

In the USA mental health assistance dogs are fully recognised as service dogs. They are trained to help their owner with a number of day to day tasks such as, reminding them to take medication, waking them up in the morning and helping them cope in a crowded place by creating a physical boundary, among other things.

These help dogs can provide an extremely valuable service to their owners, they can help them to become part of the world again, regain control of their lives and get them out of the darkness and isolation their mental illness can bring. To me, it makes a lot of sense that these dogs get the rights and recognition of any other service dog.

A recent development in this area is the introduction of the UK's first 'dementia dogs'. Two dogs have been specially trained for 18 months to help people that have been diagnosed with early stage Dementia. The dogs have been taught to respond to alarms and bring medicine pouches as well as encourage their owners to get out of bed in the morning. The dogs provide their owners with a new sense of confidence that has been lost since their diagnosis. They also keep their owners company to prevent them becoming frightened when alone. These dogs have been placed with two families, they've been working with their owners for four months and are doing well.

A dementia dog at work (bbc news)

Twitter: @psych_discuss

Can pets help mental health?

I, like many others, am an animal lover and I am interested in the thought that owning a pet could help people improve their mental health or help them cope with mental illness.

There seems to be a lack of reliable and well funded evidence into whether pets and animals generally can improve both mental and physical health. There is research that suggests that older people who are pet owners are more active and less likely to be depressed than their peers that don't own a pet. Furthermore, research suggests that pet owners tend to be less stressed and also have lower blood pressure.

When it comes to the practice of animal assisted therapy, it is difficult to know how effective it is in improving health; a lot of the research is poor and fails to consider the long term effects. In terms of pet ownership, there is a huge amount of anecdotal evidence that supports the idea that having a pet improves mental health and particularly helps people cope with their mental illness.

I genuinely believe that owning a pet can have a real positive impact on a person's mental health. A pet provides companionship, a friend that is often desperately needed by people that are troubled with mental health issues. In addition, there is a known correlation between regular exercise and improved mental health, it can help reduce symptoms of depression. Walking a dog every day provides that regular exercise and fresh air that can really help people that are suffering.

Anxiety sufferer Sally agrees that pets can help with mental health issues:
"When I feel the anxiety rising , stroking my cat and listening to her purr relaxes me and calms me down. Although they can never replace human contact, they don't judge like people do." 

Whether it's a cat, a dog or anything else a pet can provide a sense of purpose  to sufferers, a reason to get out of bed in the morning, something to focus on.

"I strongly believe that without my dog and cat I would not still be here today, they love me unconditionally and that gives me a great deal of comfort." Says Diane.

So it seems that owning a pet really could be good for your health!

Twitter: @psych_discuss

The truth about Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is the most misunderstood mental disorder, it seems to conjure fear and prejudice and sufferers have to deal with a great amount of prejudice. The condition is often criminalised, mostly because of media portrayal and a general lack of understanding about what Schizophrenia is and how it effects it's sufferers. Educating people about the condition is vital to tackling the stigma associated with it.

Schizophrenia is a long term mental health condition that can cause a range of different psychological symptoms. These include:
Hallucinations: This is when people see or hear things that don't exist. The most common hallucinations are auditory (hearing voices) these voices are usually critical of the sufferer.
Delusions: These are unusual beliefs or ideas that are not based on reality and would seem impossible to anybody else as they often contradict the evidence. These can include delusions of grandeur, such as believing they are famous and delusions of persecution which is the belief that people are 'out to get them.'

Doctors often classify Schizophrenia as a psychotic illness, this means that a person cannot distinguish their own thoughts and ideas from reality.
The onset of Schizophrenia is usually earlier in men, being most common in the late teens and early twenty's. It tends to occur later in women, being most frequent in the late twenty's and early thirty's.

There are a number of misconceptions surrounding Schizophrenia and it seems that there is a general lack of understanding creating a sense of fear. These are a few of the misconceptions:

People with Schizophrenia are violent.
Sufferers of Schizophrenia are no more violent than anyone else. The only reason they may be is if they forget to take their medication, they are under the influence of drugs and use them regularly or, they have a history of violence and are generally violent people. This misconception has often been portrayed by the media, but the fact is, people with Schizophrenia tend to be anxious, passive and fearful of people and the outside world.

Schizophrenia means that people have multiple personalities.
This is not true. This is a separate disorder that is not the same as Schizophrenia. Split personality is known as Dissociative Disorder. The word 'Schizophrenia' derives from the Greek word meaning  'split mind' with reference to the split in personality that Schizophrenics often experience.

You can't recover from Schizophrenia.
Not necessarily. Although Schizophrenia is what is known as a chronic mental health condition, with the right treatment people are often able to improve and recover over time.

This is an interesting video showing what it's like for a sufferer of Schizophrenia, it highlights the voices that they hear and what they say. Imagine hearing such things all the time, it easy to see how people would struggle to cope.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYHVbLLO2bU