Education

Helping your mental health and wellbeing Advice from Dr Emma Chapman Every year one in four of us will have a mental health problem, according to mental health charity Mind - and we know that there may be many people who are struggling with their mental health especially in light of recent events with COVID 19. We would like to offer a few simple ideas to help you improve your mental health and wellbeing. Sleep Sleep is important for physical and mental health. Sleep helps to regulate chemicals in our brain which are important in managing our moods and emotions. If we don’t get enough sleep, we can feel depressed or anxious. Try to have a sleep schedule, this means going to bed and waking up at the same time every day even at the weekend. Create a relaxing bedtime routine, this could include taking a bath, reading or trying some meditation or yoga. Avoid electronics before bed and during the night. Don’t take work material (papers, laptop, and files) into your bedroom. Eat well A balanced diet is good for our minds and bodies. Certain mineral deficiencies, such as iron and vitamin B12 deficiencies, can contribute to a low mood. Try to eat lots of fruit and vegetables, cut out excess sugar and caffeine. If you would like more information on a balanced diet the NHS website can provide you with information and meal plans. Exercise Activity and exercise help us maintain good mental health. Being active boosts the chemicals in your brain that help put you in a good mood. Exercising can help eliminate low mood, anxiety, stress and feeling tired and lazy. You don’t need to run a marathon or play 90 minutes of football - any exercise is better than none! Even a brisk 10-minute walk can clear your mind and help you relax. Manage stress Stress can often be unavoidable, but learning ways to cope is key to good mental health. Try to manage your responsibilities and worries by making a list or a schedule of when you can resolve each issue. Try to tackle problems face on. If you find you are having trouble sleeping, thinking about all of the things that stress you out, write them down and reassure yourself that you can deal with them in the morning. Try to take control of the situation or ask someone for help. Avoid excess alcohol, smoking and drugs Some people drink to help deal with feelings, but any change in mood is only temporary. When you’ve had a few drinks you can feel more depressed and anxious the next day and it can be harder to concentrate. Excessive drinking for prolonged periods can leave you with a thiamine deficiency which can lead to severe memory problems, co-ordination problems and confusion. If you smoke, between cigarettes your body and brain go into withdrawal which makes you irritable and anxious. Other drugs will often leave you in withdrawal and can cause low moods and anxiety. More severe effects of drugs include paranoia and delusions.

Doing something you enjoy Try to make time for doing the things you enjoy. If you like walking, dancing, playing an instrument or watching your favorite TV show, try to set aside some time to enjoy yourself. Reach Out Don’t forget you can reach out to your family and friends or someone you trust. Having a chat can make you feel better and more in control of the situation. You can ask for help from your GP and there are lots of online sites with help and advice on ways to improve your mood. The NHS also has a selection of wellbeing audio guides which can be found on the NHS website www.nhs.uk/ conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/ moodzone-mental-wellbeing-audioguides/).

Dr Emma Chapman

Okehampton Medical Centre

Spectacular flowers and cracking crops at the gardens

The gardens at RHS Rosemoor saw a unique explosion of colour this summer, creating the most dramatic spectacle seen in years.

The warm, wet winter followed by the sunniest May on record and then a bout of rain in June produced an exceptional crop of summer blooms.

Stronger, bigger buds and more prolific flowering created abundant displays of early blooms such as lilies, rhododendrons, irises, roses and hydrangeas, then midsummer flowers such as verbena, rudbeckia, heleniums and geraniums.

And the weather conditions weren’t only favourable for the flowers. There was an abundance of apple blossom, indicating there will be a bumper fruit harvest this year.

The new Heritage Apple Orchard at Rosemoor contains some 45 different varieties of rare Devon apples - which this year are producing their first fruits. Would you dare try a Pig’s Nose? A Sugar Bush? Or even a Grand Sultan? Any of these apples would make a welcome break from the ubiquitous Braeburn or Cox and yet, it would be almost impossible to track them down today. Since the 1960s, two-thirds of our nation’s orchards have been lost, and with them many apple varieties have dwindled or even disappeared.

For hundreds of years, apples were part of the South West’s industry, and this unique new ‘mother orchard’ is both a tribute to the region’s heritage as well as a type of insurance policy; to ensure that these diverse old varieties don’t die out and remain available for future generations.

The gathered apple collection was grafted onto robust root stock and planted in February 2017. Over the next ten years, the trees will carefully be trained and pruned by RHS horticulturalists as they grow into wide canopied trees.

Jim Arbury, RHS apple tree specialist at RHS Garden Wisley, said: ‘We grafted this heritage collection of apples, as new trees grown from seed will not come true to parental type – and it is the unique, quirky tastes, colours and sizes we want to preserve.

‘Since the 1950s our collection has been at RHS Garden Wisley, which now has 700 apple cultivars, together with 120 pear cultivars, over 100 varieties of dessert plums and gages, plus quinces, medlars and nuts. It’s exciting to have a new heritage orchard in the West Country, the spiritual home of British apple growing.’

RHS Members helped raise over £16,000 towards the establishment of the new orchard, which has helped both in paying for the grafting and will towards the long term care and maintenance of the trees and surrounding area.

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