It’s not all about the ‘mental’, in mental health
The mental health experience of Ian, and the physical toll of mental-ill health.
My name is Ian, and I am a retired industrial scientist. During the latter part of my career, I suffered mental illness (anxiety disorder) which fortunately now I am mainly on top of.
My mental health journey began with many years of searching fruitlessly for what was actually wrong with me. Anxiety disorder manifests in many ways and an important aspect is the physical symptoms. It is very common for sufferers to experience chest pains and/or digestive difficulties, in my case both. Therefore, I became a regular visitor to the GP’s surgery trying to get answers. They sent me for a battery of tests: various heart scanning techniques, stomach investigations (gastroscopy), hormone deficiency tests etc, and came up with the same answer every time: there’s nothing wrong with you!
Finally, one of our GPs (to whom I will be forever grateful) recognised that the problem was not in my physical body, but my brain. Indeed, along with the physical symptoms, I had been increasingly experiencing a range of distressing psychological symptoms: negative thoughts about myself, lack of enjoyment of things that I used to love doing, intrusive thoughts, mood swings, panic feelings and poor sleep.
She sent me on a course of cognitive behavioural therapy and from there things started to look up. Thanks to therapy, medication, mindfulness classes and a reduced workload I slowly recovered to a point where I could start enjoying life again. Like most sufferers I have found that the illness never truly goes away fully, but that you can learn to deal with the symptoms and lead a meaningful life despite it.
A key part of my recovery was learning as much as I could about the illness. I read books such as ‘The Anxiety Answer Book’ by Laurie Helgo, Laura Wilhelm, and Martin Kommor, ‘The Panic Diaries’ by Jeanne Jordan and Julie Pedersen. Books like ‘Mindfulness, a Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World’ by Mark Williams and Danny Penman and I loved the various brilliant writings of Ruby Wax.
there is a strong connection between our brain and gut
Online I found a great deal of helpful learning from the website of the Centre for Clinical Interventions, which is a clinical psychology service in Australia: CCI – Self Help Resources for Mental Health Problems. I learnt about the discovery made in recent years that there is a strong connection between our brain and gut, which explained the digestive difficulties I had had. I also went to some great courses at the Newcastle Recovery College. A key turning point for me was the course entitled Wellness Recovery and Action Plan (WRAP).
Shortly after retiring, I approached Tyneside and Northumberland Mind as I was searching for volunteering opportunities on the topic of mental health. They welcomed me into the team, and I am now a volunteer worker for the organisation.
I split my time between fundraising administration and events, and I help at one of our ‘Safe Space’ groups. These are weekly groups that we run around our region where people suffering mental health difficulties can come in and get support, information, and help. They also benefit greatly from meeting fellow sufferers: I have found that users of these groups are very generous in giving mutual support and friendship to each other.
groups are very generous in giving mutual support and friendship to each other.
The groups give people a reassuring sense of not being alone in their struggle. Personally, having experienced mental illness myself I feel I can emphasise with sufferers and reassure them that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that these illnesses can be overcome, or at least coped with positively, in the longer term.
I believe that Mind plays a critical role in helping people with mental illness in the UK. The national Mind website is an excellent resource on the various types of mental illness which I used frequently to obtain key information when I was first diagnosed. Mind play a strong role in raising awareness and understanding of mental health and is a powerful voice fighting stigma around these conditions. The local groups are a crucial part of this work allowing people to access services in their own region.
Tyneside and Northumberland Mind helps local people in many ways who are suffering mental illnesses through counselling services and phone help lines and various specialist services such as supporting victims of crime, as well as the safe space groups around the region. The group also delivers excellent mental health awareness training courses to local businesses.
I love the volunteering that I do for Tyneside and Northumberland Mind, and I think that the work we do is so important and really makes a valuable contribution to helping people in our region who are suffering from mental illness.
The staff are so committed to helping people and making a difference. As part of my role, I have helped raise money by walking along Hadrian’s Wall, cheered on our runners at the Great North Run, completed the ‘Muddy Bairns’ obstacle course and in 2020 I grew my beard for a year raising £1,357 towards the cause. I even went to a fundraising fancy dress party dressed as a banana!
If Ian’s words have inspired you to get involved with us as a volunteer you can learn more about how you can help us support our community here. If you would rather fundraise on an upcoming event or exciting challenge you have planned you can learn more here. If you would like to get involved in one of Tyneside and Northumberland Mind’s upcoming events, you can find our 2023 calendar here-we can promise no banana costumes required!
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