Rethink Mental Illness Manchester Group

We asked people who came along to our Celebration of Self Help event a couple of weeks ago to give us their top self help tip. Here are the great ideas we were given... "Listening to music and dancing" "Talk to someone (family/friend/doctor/helpline) about how you are feeling" "Book yourself a time in your diary, & spend it how you want - make it a priority" "Take some regular 'time out' to relax and rest" "Have some 'you' time and treat yourself! Take the time to relax - have a bath, listen to calming music, exercise such as yoga and read a good book or watch a nice film, and don't worry about anyone else" "To keep active which helps mental health well being" "Self help for me is to stay focused on good things that make you feel happy such as going shopping, going to art galleries and keeping active" "Pamper yourself, it's very rewarding" "Do things for yourself -...

Here are some photos from our Celebration of Self Help event. We have the wonderful ladies from the Wai Yin Chinese Women Society Tai Chi group, us getting the all-important cake stand ready, and the lovely Lindsey Cree and her daughter! In a moment I'll post all the self-help ideas you can see on the blue sticky wall at the back of the room.

We had a great time on Wednesday, where we were joined by over 30 people to celebrate many of the mental health self-help options available in Manchester. With the public spending cuts casting a dark cloud over statutory service provision, we wanted to celebrate all the wonderful community, voluntary and social enterprise groups out there that can provide us with help and support. For us, self help isn't about being on our own, but about having ideas, inspiration and practical help to help us help ourselves. There was a great buzz in the room all afternoon, thanks in no small part to our stall holders Rethink , The Ann Lee Centre , Self Help Services , Anxiety UK , Making Space and Partners of Prisoners . One attendee remarked how useful it was to find out about all these organisations. We also had a wonderful Tai Chi demonstration from the Wai Yin Chinese Women Society , who proved that age is no barrier to grace! The free massage and self confidence booster sessions were fully ...

I spent the sunniest Saturday in Manchester for a long time sat inside for a day's training on physical health It was run by Rethink's campaigns team to get local activists like us here at RMCIA thinking about how we can get involved in Rethink's Fair Treatment Now campaign. The 'shocking statistic' is that people with severe mental health problems like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, personality disorder and severe depression die up to 20 years younger compared with the rest of the population - not just from suicide but from preventable physical illnesses. There were about 20 people in the room including service users, carers, activists and professionals - or combinations of two or more of those fairly unloved labels. I was particularly struck to hear the personal stories of people who had battled through really difficult times and had their physical health problems overlooked, or at worst ignored. It's popular knowledge that regular exercise makes us all fe...

Wednesday 8th June, 2 - 5pm, Manchester Carers Centre Vulcan Mill, Pollard Street M4 7AN Come and join us to celebrate all that Manchester has to offer to help those of us affected by mental illness help ourselves through the bad times and the good! It's a free event and open to anyone with an interest in mental health. No need to book - just turn up. Just drop in any time for: information stalls from Rethink , The Ann Lee Centre , Self Help Services , Anxiety UK , Making Space , Wai Yin Chinese Women Society , Asylum Magazine , Partners of Prisoners and Crazy Diamond Training and Consultancy . healthy snacks and drinks from the wonderful Good Mood Food free coaching and confidence building sessions from Lindsey Cree free massage therapy ...and lots more! For more information call Mary Patel on 07816 754 032 or Manchester Carers Centre on 0161 272 7270.

Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust is supporting a major piece of research at the moment looking at medications adherence/recovery etc. As part of this work they are very keen to involve service users and carers and are looking at this time for expressions of interest from service users to become involved as peer researchers to test out levels of service user satisfaction around specific medications. This would be a really exciting opportunity, and no particular skills or experience is necessary other than an interest in research and a commitment to engaging with other service users as part of the programme. For more information or to register contact: Patrick Cahoon, Associate Director - Service User and Carer Engagement Chorlton House 70 Manchester Road Chorlton-cum-Hardy Manchester M21 9UN Tel: 0161 882 1103 patrick.cahoon@mhsc.nhs.uk

Come and join us to celebrate all that Manchester has to offer to help those of us affected by mental illness help ourselves through the bad times and the good! Wednesday 8th June, 2 - 5pm, Manchester Carers Centre Vulcan Mill, Pollard Street M4 7AN Just drop in any time for: information stalls healthy snacks and drinks free coaching and confidence building sessions free massage therapy ...and lots more! For more information call Mary Patel on 07816 754 032 or Manchester Carers Centre on 0161 272 7270. FREE - display information about your group or offer an activity session Are you a mental health self-help support group in Manchester? Or a statutory, community or voluntary sector provider that offers services to support people to help themselves? Or can you offer an activity session that you think would benefit someone with a mental illness, or carers, such as art, poetry or exercise? We have a limited number of table-top stands for you to display information and a roo...