All the self-care in the world won’t prevent burnout unless mental health workers stop trying to be superhuman and accept their vulnerabilities, an Australian researcher told Community Care.
Marieke Ledingham, a lecturer in counselling at the University of Notre-Dame, Australia, conducted research with 55 mental health workers to find out why they were suffering burnout in such large numbers, despite understanding its causes.
A 17-year-old girl found dead just days after being arrested by police – and held in custody for an entire weekend – had threatened to kill herself in front of officers a month earlier, her inquest has heard.
Kesia Leatherbarrow, who suffered with mental health problems and drug addiction, was found dead in a friend’s garden in Dukinfield on December 3 – a day after she appeared in court.
People with mental health problems are less likely than other eligible groups to use personal budgets, which give them direct control over selecting and paying for their own support. But when they do have them, the money is spent in imaginative ways. People tend to select things like gym sessions to manage their health, IT to build social networks and sleep-in support to alleviate mental health problems like paranoia. So why has personalisation not really taken off in mental health?
Police officers’ treatment of a vulnerable 17-year-old who hanged herself after being held in custody for a whole weekend will come under scrutiny on Monday.
The inquest into the death of Kesia Leatherbarrow, who had a history of self-harm, is expected to highlight the service’s difficulties in dealing with people who have mental health problems.
What can transform someone from being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and chronic fatigue syndrome to a state of total mental and physical wellbeing? As James Boschman discovered, omega-3 fatty acids can work those wonders and more. Within three weeks of incorporating flax seed — the highest known vegetable source of omega-3s — into his diet, he was sleeping normally and, in his words, “not crazy anymore,” as the omega-3 fatty acids leveled out the wild fluctuations in his brain.
The Commission assessed all 69 NHS trusts providing acute inpatient mental health services in England. This covered 554 wards providing almost 10,000 beds for patients between the ages of 18 and 65.
