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Volunteer News and Views
The art of reflection: What we’ve been up to over the past three months…
By Kaleh Ali, London volunteer
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Since our last newsletter, we have been so excited to make another one for you guys. Your positive feedback and reviews left us with a big smile. In this new article, I will be talking to you about my 5K May walk, Stress Awareness Month and the challenges the lockdown lift may bring some people.
As some of us may be aware, this May, PAPYRUS teamed up with ‘Run for Heroes’. The creators of the 5k lockdown challenge. It was my first time participating, a very rewarding and memorable experience. The best thing about this 5k May challenge is that you do not need to just run it, you can cycle it or walk it too. I chose to walk the 5k in my local area, I took many pictures on my journey of the photo-worthy nature that made my walk a calming and reflective one. The walk not only allowed me to give back by donating £5, but it encouraged me to go on more elsewhere in London. As my 5k walk made me feel so tranquil and peaceful I began to take more walks. I drove to Greenwich where I went on walks by the water, I was able to see many beautiful, astonishing and breathtaking landscapes and sites.
If you’re aged 35 or under, and experiencing thoughts of suicide, call HOPELINEUK on 0800 068 4141, text 07860 039967 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org – open 9AM to midnight, every day of the year. We are also here for
“I would urge anyone looking to raise money, who enjoys
walking, running or cycling to join this challenge. The 5K May challenge happens every year. However, if you missed out this year or just want to fundraise, there are many more opportunities to help out and fundraise. Many of the fundraising options include sports events and challenges, for which PAPYRUS provides advice and support.
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On the topic of relaxation and calmness, April was Stress Awareness Month. During this important month a lot of awareness is made about the causes and solutions to handling stress. According to the Mental Health Foundation, 74% of UK adults have felt so stressed at some point over the last year they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope. This highlights the importance of organisations and charities raising awareness of stress as it can be so damaging to someone’s mental, physical and emotional health. The importance of strategies and techniques being used to lower stress levels are so important.
One of the many strategies for controlling stress levels includes Stress Less cards. Stress Less is a pack of 100 cards that relay useful advice and tips on how to manage stress and stay positive. This is a unique and different way of approaching stress management. The colours and images throughout the card set have a hugely calming ambiance.
Additionally, another way a person can manage their stress is by talking to someone. Talking to someone whether that be over the phone or in person, allows you to confide what may be causing them stress, through this they may also be able to explore ways of dealing with the stresses. PAPYRUS’s suicide prevention helpline, HOPELINEUK, is open every day from 9am to midnight. HOPELINEUK is open to anyone who is having suicidal thoughts and for yourself, if you’re worried about somebody who is experiencing thoughts of suicide .
If you’re aged 35 or under, and experiencing thoughts of suicide, call HOPELINEUK on 0800 068 4141, text 07860 039967 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org – open 9AM to midnight, every day of the year. We are also here for anybody concerned for a young person who might be experiencing thoughts of suicide.
By Mark Rigby, London volunteer
The world will be different when we emerge from the pandemic because we will be different. The differences between our prepandemic selves and our new selves may be difficult to notice in some of us, but I have no doubt that they’ll be there in some small way. In others, the changes that have taken place within us will be more significant.
So, this is my first hope: may our changes be for the better. May the sum of our collective changes allow a new brighter world to blossom into existence.
Yet for every hope, I have a worry. Sometimes I have ten worries for every hope. Sometimes I have ten hopes for every worry. This is life, and this is okay. My worries can spiral until I drown within them, but my hopes can rise higher and higher until I’m soaring through the sky. Hope is beautiful.
My relationship with the pandemic and all it has bestowed on the world is mixed. I often feel guilty when contemplating the good it has brought, particularly when I consider any direct positives it has had on my own life. Yet no sooner do these thoughts begin to uplift me, I’m reminded of the destruction it’s caused around the globe. The guilt and doom close in until I then see all the negatives and upset it’s also caused to my own life. My head turns upside down and back again until it settles on thoughts of hope.
Yet sometimes I worry that there aren’t hidden blessings in tragedy. I worry that I merely scan for hope, and try and re-order things so that positives may be rescued. A technique that helps me to move on. To make the best of things. I worry I’m kidding myself. Or is this in fact something to be commended and a healthy sign of resilience? And perhaps hope does exist and I’m not making it up at all. Perhaps the hope I find is true and good, and beautiful. I didn’t bake banana bread during the pandemic. I didn’t get fit. I didn’t learn a new language. I didn’t write that novel. I didn’t play the ukulele. And because I didn’t do all these things and more, I panic. I consume myself with guilt. What did I do with all that extra time during lockdown? Well, I survived one of the craziest times of our collective lives, that’s what. I got through each day. That is enough. That is always enough, pandemic or not. Life can be tough. Pandemic life can be even tougher. And when all this is over, it will be enough to have simply made it from one side to the other relatively intact and ready to step back into life.
But am I ready to step back into life? My mind is mixed on that too. The pandemic pressed pause on the world, certainly my own. By the time it arrived I was physically and mentally exhausted from city life. I was taking small steps out of a catastrophic burn-out. The chaos of which rushes through my head when I think back to it. I’m forever crushed inside a sweaty tube carriage.
Through the windows I see the blur of all the disgustingly expensive coffee I ever drank. I see the energy takers and time wasters. I see myself fighting, shedding time and dignity. The rent was too high to hold onto them. I see their suits. I see worn out faces – I catch a glimpse of my own. I see the toil and youth I devoted to my master called Ambition. I see the beautiful struggle fade into simply… the struggle. Ten years of desperately chasing career dreams had built and broken me.
There had been some wonderful times, truly exhilarating adventure-filled years, but somewhere along the way I had lost sight of me. I’d lost sight of the world. I didn’t feel a part of it anymore. I didn’t feel a part of my own body. I’d put it through the mill and it was leaving me bit by bit. I felt so bad for my body – what had I done to it? I retreated like a wounded animal. Leaving the house was an undertaking ridden with anxiety. I was nervous all the time. I spoke too much. I was clammy. A lot. But then the pandemic came. Relief. I stepped off the carriage. I’d been gifted an excuse. I could stop and nobody would judge me.
So – no, I didn’t bake banana bread – but I did pause. There have been significant challenges along the way, but there has also been this gift. There has been time. Time for reflection. Time to return to myself. And I can already see that in time I will return to the world too. It’s been a process.
There’s been time to recover, time to heal. Quite simply, time. Unnoticed, subtle, free of pressure and judgement, a wonderful change has taken place. And so that is what I did with my lockdown.
I changed. A change that will set me up for the rest of my life. I will be kinder to myself from now on. I’m no good to the world if I don’t take care of myself first. There is healing to be done on this planet we share and there are wider hopes to reach for – yet they all start with each and every one of us.
So, my concluding hope therefore, is that we’re all kinder to ourselves once we emerge from this. I hope that people don’t lose sight of who they are and their truth. If we all pause once in a while and take the time to check in with ourselves, if we all live our truths and don’t compromise them in the ways that we used to, then the new world that awaits us will be a better one. A healthier one, a happier one. A kinder one.
Summary of and thoughts on recent research at Cambridge University
By ML Barber, London volunteer
British Medical Journal:
BMJ Open 2020 10:e032494
Link: Most young people with increased suicide risk only display ‘mild to moderate’ mental distress – study (cam.ac.uk)
Research was carried out among a large number of subjects, in two groups of young people, through questionnaires to analyse levels of “Common Mental Distress”. Data was also collected from the samples of young people regarding thoughts of suicide and self-harm (non-suicidal). Common Mental Distress is measured by considering general mental health problems, including anxiety, depression and similar traits.
As I would expect, the subjects with severe mental distress were also identified as the ones at the highest risk of suicide. However, for the majority of those experiencing suicidal thoughts or self-harming evidence of only “mild to moderate mental distress” was reported. It is imperative to point out that, regardless of the level of mental distress, if an individual is experiencing suicidal thoughts, early intervention is of the utmost importance.
Dealing with suicidal thoughts first; this affected approximately 10% of cohort 1, of whom 78% fell within the mild to moderate range of mental distress and affected about 5% of cohort 2, with 66% falling within that range.
For Non-suicidal Self injury, the figures were about 9% of cohort 1, with 76% within the mild to moderate range of mental distress and about 12% of cohort 2, with 71% within that range.
It may be that a small proportion of the larger group of those suffering from mild to moderate mental distress who take their lives or self-harm will be a larger number than a larger proportion of the smaller group who suffer from severe mental distress.
Consequently, suicide prevention measures should focus on the whole population, not just those classified as “at risk”, such as those with severe mental distress. In the same way as we promote healthy eating for everybody, we should be promoting things which have a positive effect on mental health, such as self-care, for the whole population.
Of course, we still need to support those most at risk and this support must be ongoing in order to achieve positive outcomes for these people. But, in addition to this, we should all prioritise positive outcomes for children and young people and small incremental improvements in the mental health of the whole population might result in better suicide prevention in general.
Research such as this is important because it highlights what can be done to help prevent suicide and generally raises awareness of the issues. It can also be reassuring to those who do experience thoughts of suicide because they will realise that they are not alone, there are others experiencing similar thoughts. Further to that, should they then seek the early intervention that we recommend, maybe by calling a helpline such as HOPELINEUK (0800 068 4141), they will not feel that they will be the only ones doing so. In addition, those who are concerned about such people can confirm that thoughts of suicide are perhaps more common that they thought. It is also comforting to know that just because thoughts of suicide are present, this does not necessarily imply extreme levels of mental distress.
Two fundamental messages from this research are that suicide is preventable and that improvement of mental health for everybody should be a priority.
I would encourage volunteers to read the article.
Reference: Polek E, Neufeld SAS, Wilkinson P, Goodyer I, St Clair M, Prabhu G, Dolan RJ, Bullmore ET, Fonagy P, Stochl J, Jones PB. How do the prevalence and relative risk of non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal thoughts vary across the population distribution of common mental distress (the p factor)? Observational analyses replicated in two independent UK cohorts of young people. BMJ Open 2020;10:e032494. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-032494
Top five hopes for a post-pandemic world By, Mike, London volunteer
1. That world leaders will work together to try to solve global problems 2. Fairer distribution of wealth, in particular for countries where there is much poverty and suffering 3. Greater tolerance 4. Easier access to essential services 5. Better mental health for everybody
