Alice Wilmot AMC417 - PR in the Community Reflection and Individual Contribution Contents: 1) Blog Post - Solent Mind Blog - ‘Alice’s Story’ 2) Newspaper Article - Daily Echo Article - ‘Solent Mind Tackles Stigma in Young People by Visiting University’ 3) Leaflet - Solent Mind - ‘How to tackle anxiety at university?’ 4) Reflective Log and References
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Alice’s Story 30th April, 2019 | Blog Anxiety and depression are something I’ve always struggled with when growing up but when I was in my second year of college, I had no idea what would hit me. It got out of hand when the pressure started to roll in after failing my AS exams. The first year was like trying to battle through a rainstorm and unfortunately, I didn’t pass it. I failed it and I genuinely thought my life was over. I applied for some apprenticeships and despite getting interview opportunities, I was determined to stay and pursue my dreams of going to University. As I started my second year of College, my boyfriend at the time became controlling and my place of work became a competition. I felt the only place I was happy was at home. Even then, I wasn’t sleeping and any meal I’d have would make me feel sick. Having a fear of sick didn’t help.
I knew when this became too much for my parents to help me, that visiting the doctors was my only solution. I wanted to avoid using anti-depressants and so the doctors recommended that I go to iTalk (Solent Mind’s Counselling Service for adolescents and adults). Once arranged and notified with a few phone calls, I started to go and see a lady called Fiona. She taught me many ways of tackling my anxiety and tried to make me think more positively. The results she produced through me were amazing and I was a completely different person within 6 months. I was in such a better place and I got into University, made friends and broke up with my ex-boyfriend. If you’re struggling, I would recommend seeking support from Solent Mind. iTalk were recovery focused and set up a plan to help me if I escalate again.
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Solent Mind Tackles Stigma in Young People by Visiting University
Anxiety at University? Click Here...
On Thursday 7th March 2019, the charity Solent Mind, who helps young people in Southampton and Portsmouth with mental health and wellbeing, paid a visit to Solent University to help with their Mental Health and Wellbeing day. The aim of the day was to tackle the stigma of mental health in young people as well as raising awareness and understanding of mental health issues such as anxiety and depression to University students. Students who are struggling or have struggled with mental health issues were invited along to the event which included special guests such as 2012 X Factor Winner James Arthur, who spoke about his experiences of depression and anxiety. Arthur, 30, is also an ambassador for Mind UK and has worked with other charities to tackle mental health across all ages. The idea came from Solent University’s student ‘Wellbees’, who help with the welfare of students and run a series of events to help the University tackle mental health and wellbeing during term time. They were aware of the rising statistics of mental health in University students and thought it would be a good idea to invite Solent Mind in to emphasise the importance of speaking out when struggling. Andy Russell, head of the student ‘Wellbees’ whilst presenting at the start of the day added how he believes that students feel that there is a stigma around mental health. “We want students to not feel so afraid about speaking out and let us support them in order to get the best university experience they can. These years are the most memorable and exciting for young people.” This comes after several University students took their lives in the last year in Universities across the UK. It is becoming a large concern now as time progresses, and many are struggling with loneliness.
The BBC reported that the loneliest age group in society today is young people aged 1824. This is because young people are not sure or have a lack of understanding of dealing with their emotions and feelings and turn to other solutions. The day’s events at Solent between 10am and 4pm included several talks and workshops including help, advice and support from older students and University Alumini. Solent’s Head student Wellbee Poppy Rose, 21, told us she was thrilled the event was taking place. “So many of my friends suggested as a University there needs to be more student support in terms of communication of mental health as many struggles with issues such as loneliness and financial problems. They need more to provide University to be a safe space for them to share their issues and concerns.” We are sure that Solent University will not be stopping there with encouraging students to get involved with mental health and seeking support if any issues occur. If you know someone or you are struggling yourself. Get in contact with Solent Mind on 02382 027810 or contact the Samaritans on 116 123.
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Quick tips:
anxiety at university Give yourself self care Get yourself out Perhaps you have a busy schedule and may feel you need some time. Plan a schedule including social life, work, uni life and then some self care.
Sometimes, it’s easier to lock yourself away. Don’t do this. Instead, go to a cafe with your friends, go to a resturant. This will distract you.
Understand how you are feeling
Speak out
Speak to someone you Remember it’s okay not trust about how you feel to be okay. Look at what whether it’s a lecturer or is making you feel anx- even your GP. You will be able to recieve some ious and see if there is support. anything you can do to reduce the risks of panic attacks etc. make someone aware of signs and they’ll keep an eye.
for more information visit mind.org.uk/anxietyatuniverity Mind infoline: 03001233393 or text: 86463
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Reflective Log Introduction: During this piece, I’m going to be reflecting on the PR in Communications unit. I will be using Kolb’s Learning Cycle (1984) when reflecting throughout this piece. I’m going to be reflecting on two main areas during this unit which was Group Work and Individual Contribution. The first area I’m going to look at is group work.
Group Work: For the group work, we had to produce a podcast and a presentation/communications plan which included ideas for the non-profit organisation charity Solent Mind. In terms of Tuckman’s Group Model (1965), the group work was a challenge from the forming stages. Due to certain group members, I felt I had to put leadership skills into place to form ideas and motivate my group members to attend lessons. I did this by applying roles to each group member and making sure I involved each member in all choices and set deadlines. This was partially successful until the norming stage when conflicts arose nearer to the deadline because the members who didn’t attend then tried to alter the final piece. This concerned me and therefore I tried to make sure when doing the final tweaks on the presentation, we all had a say in terms of the changes being made. Overall, I believe I dealt with the group work for this unit strategically and it has prepared me for if there are issues within groups in the future and given me skills to be able to motivate other team members and take over leadership if this was to occur.
Individual Contribution: For the individual part of this unit, we had to create supporting materials to go with the group work for Solent Mind. Using previous experiences of help from Solent Mind and the previous units I have completed on my degree so far; I was able to create my pieces successfully. I chose to do a blog post and a newspaper article because it allows the target audience to relate to the content and this allowed me to link them to the podcast and ideas from the presentation. I then completed a leaflet about dealing with anxiety at university which I thought would be an interesting approach and a good link to all the other pieces that other people have made in their contributions. Overall, I really enjoyed doing the individual work for this unit.
Conclusion: In conclusion, I really enjoyed completing the PR in Communications unit as it was challenging and exciting. My favourite part of this unit was creating the individual contribution for Solent Mind as I was able to put my own experiences into work. This unit gave me an insight into what it would be like to work for a non-profit organisation and has given me more confidence and skills on Adobe InDesign and Adobe Audition. If I was to complete this unit again, I would try to be more organised in terms of the individual contribution as I left it quite last minute to complete.
References: MCLEOD, S., 2017, In: Kolb’s Learning Styles and Experiential Learning Cycle, Viewed on Friday 3rd May 2019. Available from URL: https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html Mind Tools Creative Team, Year: Unknown, In: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing, Understanding the Stages of Team Formation, Viewed on Friday 3rd May 2019. Available from URL: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_86.htm