Well? Issue 10: Spring/Summer 2007

More documents

Recommendations

Info

4 <strong>Well</strong>? Understanding Use Your Heid Over 90 young people from across Scotland attended In Ma Heid, Oot Ma Heid, a one-day conference on mental health supported by Penumbra and HeadsUpScotland. Organised by young people for young people, the conference aims were twofold: to encourage young people to talk about everyday things that affect their mental health, and to feed information and ideas into Inspire, Include Improve, HeadsUpScotland’s annual conference which showcased mental health work for children and young people in Scotland. An In Ma Heid (IMH) steering group of young people aged 16–25 was given complete creative control of the event which included creative workshops, drama and song-writing, information stands and a Big Brother-style Diary Room where young people could give their thoughts and opinions full vent. Two weeks later the steering group presented a summary of the IMH findings to the Inspire, Include, Improve conference. These are being used to inform future mental health work with children and young people in Scotland.
Here are some comments from members of the In Ma Heid steering group: “Helping to organise IMH was possibly the most fun I have ever had in my life. Allowing young people like me to have a real input into planning and organising a project like this helps us develop some of the vital skills which professionals are trying to get us to improve, like getting us involved, being active, contributing our ideas, working as a team, promoting resilience and forming a wide experience of people and situations to help us in later life. “I knew mental ill health affected a lot of people of all ages, but I had never really thought about mental ill health or mental well-being, because I thought it didn’t affect me. In Ma Heid has sparked a definite interest in looking after my own mental well-being, and has subsequently got me involved in other projects. I now have a seat on my school’s health promoting school committee which covers physical fitness, mental well-being and healthy eating.” Martin Aitken, age 16 “To start with, the work was very daunting as I was thrown in at the deep end, but as I settled in I began to really enjoy organising the conference and being in touch with so many people. One thing I find very difficult is making decisions – even very simple ones – but I was made to make decisions every day and that was beneficial to me. “At the conference I managed to speak in front of 150 people and also give a workshop on my own, something I feel very pleased about. “I’ve done several talks and workshops during my placement and it’s been great for improving my confidence and public speaking skills. “I struggled to cope with a paid job where, although I was part of a team, I had to work on my own most of the time. But with this volunteering placement I knew I had a lot of support and I’ve gradually built up confidence in my own abilities and can work more on my own. I’ve also been around people who value me and don’t judge me. “My next goal is to go back to university to study for a Post Graduate in Community Education. The placement with IMH has given me the confidence to help achieve that goal.” Claire Chue Hong, age 25 Penumbra is a leading Scottish voluntary organisation working in the field of mental health. T: 0131 475 2380 www.penumbra.org.uk HeadsUpScotland is the National Project for Children and Young People’s Mental Health. T: 0131 555 8430 www.headsupscotland.co.uk <strong>Well</strong>? Understanding 5 ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE Since it was launched in 2002, ‘see me’ has been researching people’s attitudes and experiences of mental health with the aim of challenging stigma and discrimination around mental ill-health in Scotland. ‘see me’ director Linda Dunion comments on young people’s understanding of mental well-being: “One of the challenges of addressing young people’s attitudes towards mental health and well-being is the word ‘mental’. It’s a compliment and it’s an insult. It’s definitely associated with mental ill-health rather than well-being. It need not be a barrier, though. During extensive consultations young people told ‘see me’ that they react less to labels and more to how other people behave. “We found that most young people know very little about what is and is not a mental health problem and there’s a lot of confusion with learning disability. The vast majority get their information from the media so it’s no surprise that many – quite wrongly – link mental ill-health to violent behaviour and being locked up in an institution. Little wonder that young people can be reluctant to seek help. “Encouragingly, young people do want to know the facts and agree that treating people differently because you do not understand their behaviour is wrong. Most (especially girls) are happy to talk about issues related to well-being. “Finding ways of building on the positive, while tackling the negatives, will be key to equipping the next generation of adults with the knowledge, skills and outlook they need to achieve their well-being potential.”
Page 1 and 2: Issue Issue 10: Spring/Summer 2007
Page 3: welcome to well? By popular demand
Page 7 and 8: Entitled Inspire, Include, Improve,
Page 9 and 10: programme tackled some contemporary
Page 11 and 12: A person who is resilient is likely
Page 13 and 14: Promoting Resilience in Schools A p
Page 15 and 16: MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICES Choices Fo
Page 17 and 18: ASBOs or PoSBOs…? Instead of rece
Page 19 and 20: “Well-being” seems to be the co
Page 21 and 22: eally wanted to do. It was a real i
Page 23 and 24: It’s not easy being a Parent The
Page 25 and 26: Research shows that people with rel
Page 27 and 28: CaseStudy Angela* was referred to T
Page 29 and 30: James became a media volunteer in 2
Page 31 and 32: Click to the clique - a rundown of
Page 33 and 34: WEB DIRECTORY Keep clicking…here
Page 35 and 36: “But it soon became clear that, f
Page 37 and 38: Building... the strengths within A
Page 39 and 40: The evaluation was carried out by T
Page 41 and 42: NEWS & EVENTS! Like to receive regu
Page 43: ABIG THANK YOU! In her role as dire

Well? Issue 10: Spring/Summer 2007

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?