Displaying items by tag: Mental Health

Hospitals are putting vulnerable female patients with men on NHS mental health wards. 1,019 sexual assaults were reported by male and female patients between April 2017 and October 2019. 491 attacks were so serious that they required safeguarding action, with 104 incidents reported to police. Over the same period, just 286 cases reported on single- sex wards. The figures sparked calls for the Government to invest in mental health infrastructure where wards are out of date, forcing men and women to mix together. In 2018, the Care Quality Commission investigated concerns around sexual safety in mental health wards and identified 1,120 sexual incidents involving patients, staff and visitors between April and June 2017. Although ministers pledged to eliminate mixed NHS wards, a loophole in the rules means male and female patients can still mix without breaching the guidelines.

The Bishop of Coventry has asked the Government what funds are available for pupils with severe needs but who are not on the Special Educational Needs (SEN) register, citing nine-year-olds threatening suicide due to homelessness and domestic violence. Mainstream schools are under pressure to educate children who do not meet SEN thresholds but have severe needs and require acute support. Sufficient government funding is not available for them. Meanwhile a document has been published with 38 conclusions and recommendations about supporting people with SEN, including finance being released to enable local authorities to discharge their duties sufficiently and not changing the law to fit resources. Pray that the departments for education and health and social care develop mutually beneficial options for cost- and burden-sharing. See

World Mental Health Day was 1 October. This year it was supported by the International Association for Suicide Prevention. Every forty seconds, someone commits suicide. ‘40 seconds of action’ raises people’s awareness of the frequency of suicide, and the role that each of us can play to help prevent it. In the UK one in four adults will have mental health problems at some stage in their lifetime. For every suicide, there are twenty suicide attempts. These have an impact on families, friends, colleagues, communities and societies. Pray for a proactive church to support vulnerable people with mental health challenges wisely. 20% of the UK population will suffer from depression. Pray for more friends, neighbours, and relatives prepared to stand with the sufferers with compassion and support them through their crisis.

US military suicide deaths reflect a national trend. The national suicide rate has increased by 33% since 1999, and suicide is the second leading cause of death among people 10 to 34 years old. 325 active-duty members died by suicide in 2018, the highest number since collecting data began in 2001. The defence department said suicide rates among the military population are ‘devastating, unacceptable and not going in the desired direction’. Every life lost has a deeply personal story that shatters the lives of families. The defence and veterans affairs departments are working to reduce suicide in the ranks and among veterans, who die at an average rate of twenty a day. Between January and March 2019, ninety active duty service members committed suicide - 30 soldiers, 20 sailors, 26 airmen, and 14 marines.

Mission Australia is a Christian charity supporting disadvantaged families and children, fighting homelessness and issues around mental health and addiction. They have invited young people aged 15-19 to participate in a wide-ranging national survey. Last year’s survey identified mental health as the top issue facing young Australians, with a rating of 43% (it was 34% in 2017 and 21% in 2016). The top three personal concerns in previous surveys were coping with stress, school or study problems, and mental health. The annual survey provides a valuable snapshot of where young people are and offers important insights that inform the work of charities, community groups and government decision makers.

Mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, are often said to be a ‘gaping hole in the global church’s holistic response to human need’. Please pray into these World Health Organisation facts: - one in five of the world's children and adolescents have mental disorders or problems. -Nearly 800,000 lives are lost through suicide every year. -Wars and disasters increase mental health problems dramatically. -Poor mental health leads to poor physical health. Many people worldwide deny themselves mental health treatment and cure because of shame and embarrassment. -Mentally ill people in many countries are locked up, restrained or have their human rights violated in other ways. Pray that Christians will break the cultural taboos and stigmas associated with mental health issues, and address them in a holistic and loving manner. Pray that care for the mentally ill and traumatised will become a hallmark of the Christian Church. See also article 2 in UK Section, ‘We Cry over What Children Say’.

Lambeth Palace has hosted a conference exploring links between mental health and gardening and has called for churches to use their green space to offer ‘therapeutic gardening’. Green Health Live 2, brought together chaplains, public health experts and healthcare professionals. They showcased innovative work being done by parishes to provide therapeutic gardening spaces - and encouraged more churches to work with local mental health charities and medical professionals to do the same. A survey of clergy revealed that mental health issues were at the top of the list of problems faced in their parishes. Research shows that gardening helps to relieve the effects of depression, loneliness and a range of mental health issues, but many people, particularly in towns and cities, do not have gardens of their own. However churches often have spaces where a garden can be created to offer basic gardening experience, access to nature and companionship.

One in five girls and young women aged 16 to 24 have cut, burned or poisoned themselves, according to research that mental health experts said was ‘very worrying’. The findings, published in the Lancet Psychiatry journal, show that self-harm has risen across both sexes and all age groups since 2000. In the population as a whole it almost trebled by 2014 with the number of people cutting themselves the highest category. . They harm themselves as a way of coping with anger, tension, anxiety and depression. However, a lack of NHS services and people’s unwillingness to seek help means that more than half of those who self-harm do not receive any medical or psychological care. It is most common among females aged 16 to 24. So many young people are self-harming that it risks becoming normalised and increasing the number who kill themselves when they are older. Pray for the NHS, Education Authority and Social Services to develop teaching plans that will help people learn more appropriate ways of dealing with stress.

Up to fifty patients who should be released, some with learning disabilities and autism, are stuck in secure units run by mental health hospital charities. St Andrew's Healthcare treats up to 900 patients with severe mental health and learning difficulties. 90% of referrals are from the NHS and need specialist care. However there is a lack of suitable community places, so seclusion is the emergency response. Seclusion rooms are bare, with a hatch in the door for patients to receive food and have physical contact. BBC TV footage showed a teenager locked in seclusion, able to touch their parent only through a door hatch. Patients are supposed to be admitted to these units for nine to 18 months, but the average stay nationally is five years. One patient was detained an extra 524 days after they should have been released.

Las Vegas is one of five cities participating in a new nationwide programme to reduce chronic homelessness by 20%. Deacon Thomas Roberts said that a partnership will simultaneously tackle shelter issues and the root causes of chronic homelessness - mental health and addiction. ‘We think that it is important to recognise the reasons why people have become chronically homeless and to address those issues. I think that is where we can effect really meaningful change.’ Within five years, the project hopes to have built 100 homes: Roberts said this will be enough to support 20% of the 500+ people who have been homeless for at least two years. There will be mental health offices in the housing units or transportation to locations off site. The homeless don’t have transportation, so resources need to be accessible, otherwise you have not addressed the underlying cause of what got them homeless.