MENTAL health professionals are on hand in police stations across south Essex to ease pressure on police and help prevent vulnerable people reoffending.
The Department of Health announced £25 million of funding for mental health nurses to work in police stations in January.
A pilot scheme began in ten areas across the country in April, with nurses and other mental health professionals placed in Basildon, Southend and Thurrock police stations during office hours.
The scheme has now been expanded so that specialist support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
A NEW way of assessing a person’s recovery from mental health problems is helping people learn to live fulfilling lives again, health experts say.
The Individual Recovery Outcomes Counter (I.ROC) measures recovery rather than symptoms and level of illness – the focus of most existing questionnaires.
I.ROC measures a person’s recovery – the ability to live a meaningful and fulfilling life in spite of mental illness – by asking 12 questions which focus on areas of people’s lives that are known to have an impact on mental health and wellbeing.
A new way of assessing a person’s recovery from mental health problems is helping people learn to live fulfilling lives again, health experts say.
The Individual Recovery Outcomes Counter (I.ROC) measures recovery rather than symptoms and level of illness – the focus of most existing questionnaires.
I.ROC measures a person’s recovery – the ability to live a meaningful and fulfilling life in spite of mental illness – by asking 12 questions which focus on areas of people’s lives that are known to have an impact on mental health and wellbeing.
In a nationwide survey 54 per cent of head teachers complained that local mental healthservices were ineffective in supporting the needs of pupils.
Nearly half the heads (47 per cent) said their increasing workloads were affecting their ability to identify pupils’ mental health difficulties at a time when such problems are on the rise in schools.
The survey, by the CentreForum Mental Health Commission also found that one in 10 schools still had no mental health and wellbeing training available for staff, in spite of Government pledges, and 65 per cent were not even assessing the mental health needs of their pupils.
The report comes at a time when emotional and behaviour problems among younger children are increasing because of higher divorce rates, financial pressures at home and the growing influence of social media.
Scot Young, the tycoon who died falling from his fourth storey London flat, had walked out of an NHS mental health unit shortly before his death, it has emerged.
The 52-year-old left the Gordon Hospital in central London hours before he fell from the apartment on Dec 8.
More than 45% of men who responded to a survey* by Samaritans said they felt more worried at Christmas than other times of the year.
The findings come with a reminder that volunteers from the charity’s 201 branches will be available round the clock over the festive period, for anyone who needs to talk.
The online survey found that of the male respondents:
Almost half (48%) feel sad or depressed at Christmas time
45% of men feel that others expect them to be happy at Christmas when they are not
More than a third (37%) of men admitted to feeling lonely at Christmas
30% of men felt stressed or anxious at Christmas time
On the day many people will be waking up to the prospect of a fortnight at home, blogger Charlotte Walker shares how she plans to take care of her mental health during the festive season.
I have often found Christmas difficult. This year I’m recovering from a mental health crisis which makes seasonal planning particularly challenging. It’s common to feel under pressure to create a magical Christmas but if you are already stressed, anxious or depressed, that pressure can be magnified.
