Mq: Transforming Mental Health

Andy's story:
"When I was 16, I was walking to a friend's house and passed a few guys on the street who looked pretty intimidating.
One of them came forward and asked for everything I had on me. When I tried to refuse, he picked me up and threw me across the fence.
... I managed to get up, grab my stuff and run away. But as I ran, he shouted that if I ever told anyone, he would kill me. I completely believed him.
Although I had no desire to, my family called the police. I started receiving messages from his friends asking me to stand up in court and say he hadn’t done anything. My family told me not to – and when I told his friends I was going ahead, they turned the tables.
They said that if I stood up in court, they would kill me – that I would be found in a ditch, that my family would have to bury me. It was complete intimidation.
Suddenly, everything really hit home. I realised I wasn’t as fine as I thought I was and started to panic. Over the next year and a half, I slowly became a recluse.
I knew I was stuck but didn’t want to admit I had a problem. I didn’t associate my change of behaviour with the incident. I just accepted it and thought, “This is me now”.
On top of feeling depressed and anxious, I got to the point where I thought that something was physically wrong with me, googling my symptoms and convincing myself it was the worst-case scenario.
After almost two years, my friends and family persuaded me to see my GP. I was referred to a therapist, which I was sceptical about. But after a few weeks, I started letting all my problems out. It felt amazing to open up; like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. After therapy, I had a round of CBT which was also unbelievably helpful.
When I had another bout of depression and anxiety a few years later, it hit even harder. My sister suggested I tried hypnotherapy and afterwards, I felt incredible.
I don't put my recovery down to the hypnotherapy or the CBT – but more to the fact that I needed someone to say to me that it was okay to not be okay, I’m stronger than I thought I was and that there’s help out there to overcome my anxiety.
If I could sit in a room with one of MQ’s researchers, I’d ask how they see their work really changing the lives of people affected by mental illness – and how can people like me, who have direct experience, help to influence future research?
I’d also love to find out more about how my anxiety translated into these physical symptoms. How do our bodies and minds affect each other? And how can your thoughts snowball so quickly from ‘I’ve got a headache’ to ‘I must have a brain tumour or a stroke’?
The guy who attacked me all those years ago pled guilty and went to prison for a few months. He’s been in and out of prison since and, although sometimes it takes me a while to relax when I’m out, I now feel safe walking around which is a huge relief."
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Ann’s research focusses on suicide and self-harm prevention, and children and young people’s mental health. We spoke to her about things in life she's learned, her influences and her inspirations…
"Becoming a single mother whilst pregnant with my third child opened my eyes to the experience of stigma.
That label can define you in some people’s eyes. I grappled with my own loss, sense of failure, shame and judgement from others as I tried to find a new space in the world. Tho...ugh these feelings passed, they gave me some small but important insight into the effects of living with other stigmatised labels, like having a mental illness.
Some of the conversations I had with people as a GP are still with me.
The two things that hit me hardest were the huge impact of mental health issues and socio-economic inequalities on people’s lives. I want to understand the causes of the causes, change things through policy and treatment, and use my voice to advocate for people who may not be able to it for themselves.
It's so important that everyone has access to mental health care.
There’s definitely been a change in society’s awareness of mental illness, and that’s great - so long as we can provide the appropriate services in the right way, at the right time. We can’t forget those with complex needs. And we need to remember that not everyone can get time off work to attend appointments, travel easily or manage to ring a service at 8.30am to make an appointment.
We need to improve our ability to intervene early when it comes to mental health.
75% of mental illness sets in before a young person turns 24 - and children living in households in the lowest 20% income bracket in the UK are 2 -3 times more likely to develop mental health problems than those in the highest 20%. These facts aren’t short and snappy, but they are the basis of what we need to change."
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In the latest episode of the MQ Open Mind podcast, researcher Amy brought us up to speed with what we know so far about social media and mental health:
1. There's very little evidence about the effects of social media on our mental health in general.
2. We are beginning to see differences in how girls and boys react to social media.
... 3. What the evidence says about young people and screen time is nowhere near as horrible as we think.
4. Moving forward, researchers need to find a way to access social media companies' data.
5. Social media is just a small piece in a puzzle of factors that could be having a negative impact on our mental health.
Read more: https://www.mqmentalhealth.org/…/5-thin gs-social-media-ment…
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Social media: is it good or bad for our mental health?
We’ve been swamped with headlines talking about how damaging platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are to young people’s wellbeing.
But what we do we really know about the effects of social media on our mental health?
... Join MQ host Hannah, mental health campaigner James and researcher Amy as they investigate the evidence in our latest episode of the MQ Open Mind podcast.
🎧Listen here: https://bit.ly/2RlT14B
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This year, Sarah ran her first marathon – raising over £7,600. She writes about why she chose MQ:
"I and so many of the people I love have struggled with mental health, which is what kept me going on marathon day.
The first month or so after the birth of my first child, I didn't feel the joy so many experience. It was a massive shock to my system. When you’re pregnant, you do so much to prepare for birth - but very little prepares you for life with a baby.
... I felt like my independence had been snatched away, going from a working woman to a mother with a wholly dependent baby. It was very overwhelming at times. Although I was never officially diagnosed with post-natal depression, it was hard to have those moments where I thought, “I’m not sure I can do this” and to not feel automatic love for one's baby.
But the mental health issues that hit me the hardest are the experiences of two members of my extended family – one who is severely anorexic and another who has schizophrenia.
They’ve both struggled with these conditions since they were in their teens and have found it really difficult to find the best treatments for them, or ways to cope with day-to-day life without being dependent on other people. It breaks my heart to see these two amazing people suffer and the effect it has on their immediate family.
1 in 4 of us will be affected by mental illness at some point in our lives and it’s still not easy to get the right help. That’s why MQ’s vision really resonated with me.
I hope the money I raise for MQ can help fund projects that look into detecting who’s at risk of developing mental illness and why, so we can spot the signs early and get people the right support sooner.
But it can’t just be researchers that hold that information – these findings need to be shared with everyone in a way that the wider population can understand. I’d love to see more accessible literature on mental health; at ante-natal classes, on social media, in children's storybooks and in the workplace.
I am a strong believer that together we can make a huge difference to so many people who suffer with mental illness and perhaps one day eliminate it."
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If we want to truly transform our understanding of mental illness, research must address the biggest challenges being faced by people with direct experience.
MQ-funded researcher Andrew recently did exactly this, and worked with people who had experienced psychosis to design a virtual-reality based therapy. He said:
"We involved young people with a diagnosis of psychosis and carers for people with psychosis, who worked alongside the researchers and designers.
... Their input was extremely important and radically influenced the final product, to make sure the design was something that they would be comfortable to engage with.
It was brilliant to see them feel so empowered and able to use their experiences to feed into something that could really change the lives of other young people experiencing psychosis."
Help drive forward our understanding of mental health by getting involved in research today: https://www.mqmentalhealth.org/articl…/ take-part-in-research
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1 in 4 people in the UK will experience mental illness. But how can we reduce this number?
This weekend, scientists from Harvard and King's College London said that far more attention should be devoted to preventing mental illness - rather than simply treating it as it arises.
We agree - but our recent 'UK Mental Health Research Funding' report showed that, between 2014-2017, only 3.9% of research funding went towards projects looking at the prevention of mental illness. This... has to change.
https://www.theguardian.com/…/preventio n-the-new-holy-grail…
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Women who experience domestic abuse are three times more likely to develop a serious mental illness, research from Birmingham University has suggested.
The study was based on over 18,000 women who, after telling their GP they'd experienced domestic abuse, were followed over a number of years. Their mental health was compared to a large group of women of a similar age who had no experience of domestic abuse.
The analysis showed:
... 1️⃣Nearly half of women who had gone to their doctor after experiencing domestic abuse already had a diagnosis of mental illness.
2️⃣Among the rest of the women, those who had experienced domestic abuse were twice as likely to develop anxiety and three times as likely to develop depression, schizophrenia and bipolar, compared to the other group of women.
So what now?
The scientists who carried out the research have said more must be done by the police to flag up domestic abuse to healthcare professionals. They also called for better support for women with a background of domestic abuse to prevent the development of mental illnesses.
According to official crime figures, around one in four women experiences domestic abuse during her lifetime.
See more here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-4854160 4
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[Trigger warning: this post references suicide and self-harm]
“My daughter was 12 when she took an overdose. It was a devastating shock. She seemed happy and carefree, was top of her class at school and had lots of friends. Our home life was good and we were a strong, loving family. What could have made her feel like this? I tried to look for answers but she wasn't talking.
One night she came into my bed for a cuddle. I had asked her why she had taken an overdose before but ...she always clammed up. This time I could see she was thinking about opening up.
She explained she had been hearing a nasty voice inside her head, which mocked her and told her she deserved to die. She had been dealing with this alone for a whole year. It had defeated her the night she tried to take her life - she couldn’t take any more and saw death as her only way out.
When we saw her psychiatrist the next day he explained that, with the right treatment and time, she would get better. After more assessment she was put on medication and continued with therapy to treat what her psychiatrist explained were elements of different mental illnesses - PTSD, depression, psychosis and the beginnings of an eating disorder.
Slowly things started to improve. Bit by bit I could see my old daughter returning. Her desire to die melted away and the voice got quieter until it disappeared completely. Her psychiatrist gradually weaned her off her medication and her therapist saw her less and less. With time and support, she had come through it and her nightmare was finally behind her.
Now she's 17 with the whole world at her feet. She's doing her A-levels, learning to drive and is happy and healthy. She's grown into a beautiful young woman who is kind, thoughtful, loving and fun.
More research into mental illness in young people is needed because children today are so vulnerable - there is immense pressure on them to do well at school and fit in socially. The work MQ does is essential for finding ways we can treat mental illness before people reach crisis point – before it’s too late.”
Read Melanie's full blog here: https://www.mqmentalhealth.org/…/p…/m other-powerless-to-help
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Bipolar is a mental health condition that affects a person’s mood, energy and ability to function.
It's characterised by extreme mood states, or episodes, described as manic or hypo-manic episodes (feeling high), depressive episodes (feeling low) and potentially psychotic symptoms – where a person experiences delusions or hallucinations.
Although some people experience periods of ‘stable’ mood between episodes, these extreme moods can be very distressing - and make work and... relationships difficult.
There are several types of bipolar: bipolar I, bipolar II, and cyclothymic disorder. They share symptoms, but are different in terms of severity and intensity.
Despite affecting 1-3% of the population, it takes 10 years on average to receive an accurate diagnosis for bipolar. Before it's diagnosed, a person can often be misdiagnosed up to 4 times.
Although it's a lifelong condition, treatments like talking therapies, medication and healthy habits can relieve the symptoms of bipolar.
We're working with people living with bipolar, carers and scientists to map out the priorities for research. Through research, we'll answer the questions that matter most - whether that's speeding up diagnosis or improving treatments.
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Reality TV shows like ITV's #LoveIsland are fuelling young people's anxiety about body image, says a new survey by the Mental Health Foundation.
The survey involved 4,500 young adults age 18 - 24 and found:
2️⃣4️⃣% of young people say reality TV makes them worry about their body image.
... 2️⃣3️⃣% of young people have experienced suicidal thoughts because of concerns in relation to their body image.
1️⃣in 7️⃣young people have self-harmed or deliberately hurt themselves because of concerns about their body image.
ITV producer Richard Cowles said last year that the contestants represent an “aspirational version” of the show’s audience and that the show is "not trying to pretend this is reality."
But there have been calls for the show to feature more plus-size participants to properly reflect society, as scrutiny grows around the damaging effects reality TV can have on the mental health of both contestants and younger viewers.
What do you think? Is there more shows like Love Island could do to avoid having a negative impact on young people's mental health? Comment below.
https://www.theguardian.com/…/reality-t v-fuels-body-anxiety…
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“I have struggled to deal with various mental illnesses throughout my teenage years and at least half of my twenties. After years of trial and error with different medications and talking therapies, only recently have I found suitable techniques in order to try and deal with them.
The saying ‘prevention is better than cure’ has motivated me to help fund mental health research, by doing a Facebook fundraiser for MQ for my birthday this year. I’m so proud that I managed to reac...h my target of raising £150!
While people, including myself, have received treatment and care for their mental health issues, the only way to find what treatment is best for people is by doing extensive research into the causes and exacerbators of mental illness.
To be able to fully understand the causes of mental illnesses will mean that people can receive as much preventative treatment as possible, and not have to struggle for years and years against an illness that is so hard to fight against, even with the best treatments on your side. If we can learn from the struggles against mental illness that too many people have had to face, so many people’s lives will be impacted for the better.
I would tell anyone struggling with mental illness to take life on in the most manageable way for you – be that a day, week or an hour at a time.”
To set up your own birthday fundraiser for MQ and support vital mental health research, follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/fundraisers?birt hday&source=pships
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“Children and teenagers in care are one of the most vulnerable groups of youth in the UK.
I’ve met so many young people in care who are struggling with significant mental health difficulties - with little access to mental health services. In fact, a recent project I did found that over half of young people in care see their mental health worsen over their time there.
There is an urgent need for researchers to work closely with social-care and NHS providers to make meaningful ...steps in addressing their psychological needs.”
Dr Rachel Hiller is trying to understand more about the mental health of young people in care - and how barriers to services and treatments be overcome: https://www.mqmentalhealth.org/…/mental -health-young-people…
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Right now, 1 in 10 people in the UK experience depression.
It's one of the most common mental health conditions, so why do so many people have to try several different treatments before they find something that works for them?
And why don't we yet know who is more at risk of developing depression, so we can intervene earlier - or even prevent it happening in the first place?
... These five research projects have the potential to transform our understanding of depression: https://www.mqmentalhealth.org/…/post/5 -ways-research-depre…
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Guest blogger Claudia was diagnosed with autism when she was 19, despite struggling with the condition since the age of 4.
Scroll through the pictures to read her story, or click here: https://www.mqmentalhealth.org/…/not-ju st-my-diagnosis-auti…

It's one of the most talked about statistics on mental health - but what does it actually mean?
It means 7 people from your class at school. It means at least 33 people in your tube carriage on your commute to work. It means 19,000 screaming football fans at Old Trafford.
Right now, far too many people are facing mental illness - yet nowhere near enough is happening to find more effective treatments or to stop mental illness from having a lifelong impact.
... The potential of research is vast. It can lead us towards new treatments. It can help us support young people at risk of developing a mental illness before they fall ill. It can shift us towards a world where we approach mental illness with more clarity, more certainty and more compassion.
We recognise that serious public dialogue has been incredibly important to build support for mental health. But it’s not enough.
Research has the power to transform our knowledge – and transform people’s lives. Tag a friend below and help us change the status quo.
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Many vulnerable children with learning disabilities and/or autism are stuck in mental health hospitals for too long and in poor conditions, a new report has warned.
The report, from the Children’s Commissioner for England, said children are spending months and years unnecessarily in institutions that are often far from their homes, due to alternative, closer support being unavailable. It also noted that some children in these institutions are being routinely restrained or sed...ated.
Anne Longfield, who commissioned the report, said: “For many of the children this is a frightening and overwhelming experience. For many of their families it is a nightmare.
The onus is now on ministers, the NHS, the CQC, Ofsted and local authorities to make sure that these most vulnerable of children are not locked out of sight for years on end simply because the system is not designed to meet their needs.”
What do you think? Comment below.
https://www.theguardian.com/…/too-many- children-in-england-…
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"I've experienced borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety and have had many breakdowns which have lead to hospital admissions and time away from my family and friends.
For my last birthday in September I chose to do a Facebook fundraiser for MQ, as I think funding research is vital to understanding mental health and the impact it can have on people's lives. I'm really proud to have raised £125, which was higher than my target!
...I'd tell anyone struggling with mental illness to remember that time will pass. I've learned to try and live in the moment - not to think ahead which causes anxiety and not to think of the past which can make me feel depressed.
You can do this - you may have been through the storm or still going through it, but always remember there is a rainbow out there, waiting for you to reach out to it. And never forget to ask other people about their mental health."
If you'd like to do a birthday fundraiser for MQ like Amii, follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/fundraisers?birt hday&source=pships
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