In crisis at Christmas

by Liz Smith

Why the festive period is often difficult for people living with mental illness

Christmas is almost here and many of us here in the UK are busy preparing to spend time with family, eat Christmas dinner, give and open presents, and enjoy some time away from the cares of everyday life. But for a lot of people battling mental ill health, the festive season represents anything but a break, because such issues can actually worsen at this time of year.

Social isolation

Many of our visitors to Dial House and callers to Connect are socially isolated, for a variety of reasons. This can simply be physical distance from friends and family, but it could also be due to bereavement or estrangement from family. It can also simply be hard to socialise when you are unwell, even if you do have some support structures in place.

Pressure to “be merry”

We frequently hear that people feel guilt when they do spend time with family and friends, because a mental health condition may make it difficult to participate fully in festive activities, or be as “happy” as the occasion often demands of us. This often leads many sufferers to isolate themselves because they believe they won’t make a positive contribution to the festivities, which can be a vicious cycle.

Uncertainty

The prospect of a new year brings new possibilities. Many of us look forward to making fresh starts, resolutions, starting new chapters in our lives. Not knowing what the new year can bring can be very exciting, but many people living with mental health issues struggle with change and uncertainty, so this can worsen feelings of anxiety, stress, fear, and even depression, which may lead to crisis.

How does LSLCS help at Christmas?

Dial House, Dial House @Touchstone, the Connect helpline, and the newly-opened Crisis Café in Lincoln Green (run in partnership with Touchstone) are all open as normal over the festive period. We understand that crisis can become more acute at this time of year and there is less support because other services may be operating at a reduced capacity. We plan well ahead for the festive season to ensure that we have plenty of staff and volunteers ready to support visitors and callers in crisis as much as we can.

We are survivor-led, which means that our highly trained staff and volunteers all have personal experience of mental health. We strive to offer a non-judgemental and empathetic service to our visitors and callers from all over the Leeds area, whether they access our mental health support services in person, over the phone or online. If you are struggling with crisis this Christmas and New Year and live in the Leeds area, you will receive a warm welcome from our staff and volunteers and a safe space to talk.

If you know someone in the Leeds area who may benefit from using our services over Christmas and New Year, then passing on our details may be the best gift you can give this year.

Fwd: Take Action Today! Standing up for the rights of refugee children

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: Regional Asylum Activism <yandh@regionalasylumactivism.org>
Date: 17 August 2015 12:15:54 BST
To: Fiona Venner <Fiona.Venner@lslcs.org.uk>
Subject: Take Action Today! Standing up for the rights of refugee children
Reply-To: Regional Asylum Activism <yandh@regionalasylumactivism.org>

Protect the Rights of Refugee Children View this email in your browser Protect the Rights of Refugee Children Urgent Action August 2015 Today, we're writing to urge all our friends to take action to protect the dignity of refugee children and their families. We know you are already doing so much to raise awareness, campaign and provide practical support so we've kept it simple with 3 key actions you can take. So what's happening and why is this urgent? On 10th August 2015, the Home Office introduce a new flat rate of asylum support for all people seeking asylum of £36.95 per week, regardless of age. This is a devastating blow for families. The change has resulted in a cut to support to children seeking refugee protection of £16 per week and will push vulnerable people further into poverty. On top of this, the government is now consulting on plans to cut off support for refused asylum seeking families, a measure that will leave vulnerable families totally without any means of support, with no money for food and no accommodation. Currently 51% of the world's refugees are under 18. These children have been born into situations we can hardly imagine; the early years of their lives destroyed by war, torture and persecution and their lives in the UK often overshadowed by uncertainty and anxiety about the future. We are concerned that these new measures will force children and vulnerable adults who have sought safety in the UK further into poverty and utter destitution, breaking our commitment to welcoming refugees and safeguarding children. We all want to live in a society that treats those who've fled war, torture and persecution with dignity and respect. It's time to stand up for the rights of refugee children and make our voices heard!  There are three urgent actions you can take outlined below. Click on the one that you're most interested in, and we'll help you get started.  As ever, get in touch if you need any further information.  Thank you,  Regional Asylum Activism x 1. Write to your MP today! Ask them to sign EDM 344 and raise their concerns about the new policy with the Immigration Minister, James Brokenshire. Click here to download our model letter to send to your MP! 2. Respond to the Consultation! Make sure the Home Office know what you think of these plans by submitting a response. Click here to get started! 3. Talk to the Media! Get out there and explain what a devastating blow these proposals are for vulnerable families. Get in touch to find out how! Further info on Cuts to Asylum Support  The reduction in asylum support rates has been introduced despite strong evidence proving that parents living on asylum support struggle to meet their own essential living needs, let alone those of their children. Findings from an All-Party Inquiry into Asylum Support for Children and Young People in 2012 stated: "Based on the evidence provided by child poverty, health and well-being experts, social workers, local authorities and families themselves, the inquiry has concluded that the current levels of support provided to families are too low to meet the children's essential living needs."   When asylum support rates were first introduced, they were set at the equivalent of 70% of income support rates. With the current changes, a couple with a child living on asylum support will now be forced to live on just under £111 per week, 40% less than a comparative family living on income support.  To date, 43 MPs, 9 City Councils, and over 320 civil society organisations are asking the government to ensure that people seeking refugee protection are afforded sufficient financial support set at 70% of income support so that they can truly meet their essential living needs.  Barely a week after these regulations were announced, parliamentarians have tabled two Early Day Motions calling for the regulations to be withdrawn, and both the Scottish National Party and the Green Party have submitted written questions to the Home Office querying their decision to cut asylum support for children.    Further info on the Consultation on Withdrawing Support for Refused Asylum Seeking Families    On 4th August 2015, the Home Office launched a consultation on plans to cut off support for refused asylum seeking families, a measure that will leave vulnerable families totally without any means of support, with no money for food and no accommodation.  We are concerned that these new measures will force children and vulnerable adults who have sought safety in the UK further into poverty and utter destitution. This isn't the first time withdrawing support to families has been tried. In fact, following a pilot in Yorkshire and Humber, the North West and london back in 2005, Local Authoriteis said they believed the measures were "wholly incompatible with the Children Act 1989" and risked breaching their duties under the Human Rights Act 1998.      Find out more: Asylum Seekers with Children to See Support Rates Cut, 16th July 2015 The Children's Society briefing on flat-rate support, 16th July 2015 All Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Asylum Support for Children and Young People, 2012-13   Copyright © 2015 Regional Asylum Activism, All rights reserved. You are receiving this campaigns update from Regional Asylum Activism. If you would prefer not to receive these emails in the future, please send an email stating 'UNSUBSCRIBE' to the above address. Want to find out more? Check out our new website at: www.regionalasylumactivism.org Or, contact your regional co-ordinator Lorna Gledhill on yandh@regionalasylumactivism.org or 07557 982 498 unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

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Welcome to Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Service Blog

Hello and welcome to the Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Service blog!

We are a mental health charity based in Leeds and we provide out of hours support to people in acute mental health crisis, to prevent people going into psychiatric hospital, A&E and statutory services. We were founded in 1999 by a group of campaigning mental health service users, who wanted there to be a non -medical, non-diagnostic approach to people in crisis, that was outside of a clinical environment. We work from a lovely 18^th century house, Dial House, in East Leeds and provide compassionate, person centred support. All of us who work here have had our own experiences of mental health problems. I’ve been here nine years now, but many of the staff have been here even longer. We all stay because working with people in crisis is such a privilege – it can be a hugely significant time in people’s lives and people are very real when in crisis. I am truly proud to lead the organisation and an inspiring, passionate team.

We are recognised nationally as a provider of outstanding crisis services – the Mind report ‘Listening to Experience (2011) which was an inquiry into crisis care highlighted us as an example of what crisis care could and should be like. We have won six national awards, get a lot of media coverage and are often asked to speak at conferences and events and write about our work. I have recently written a book chapter about ‘the place of love in crisis support’-  but that’s another blog for another day!

Dial House is open 6pm-2am Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Our Connect Helpline, based at the Touchstone Support Centre, is open every night of the year 6-10.30 (0808 800 1212). We also have a crisis service for people from Black and Minority Ethnic Groups, Dial House @ Touchstone, which is based at the Touchstone Support Centre 6-11pm on Tuesday and Thursday nights. And we have a range of peer led group work – social and support group, Hearing Voices group, Man-age men’s group, a thriving LGBT group, self harm group and coping with crisis group.

We plan to blog every week. I’m hoping lots of people from the organisation – visitors and callers (this is what we call our ‘service users’) staff and volunteers will all contribute pieces of writing.

I hope you will enjoy reading about our work.

Fiona Venner

Director.