Sunday evening in specific was extremely bad; it was exacerbated by the thought of going back into the stressful environment of work the next day. I detested the company I worked for, although I was in a senior position, I was still the target of gossip and trip ups by staff! I was a good boss too; if I had been an ass then perhaps I would understand. Anyway, long story short, my husband became unwell so our family priorities changed and I took up the position of home maker, mum and nurse. You probably know how it feels to suffer from a lack of sleep, particularly if you can’t get enough rest for an extended period. These periods of not sleeping can go on for days, and when you do eventually sleep, you do not feel regenerated, you feel like crap.
For those of us experiencing mental health problems, it can be much worse. Some symptoms (and some medication) can make it hard to get to sleep, and research shows that a chronic lack of sleep can be an important factor in exacerbating or triggering a mental health crisis. I take a fair amount of medication and I shared the non sleeping problem with my doctor, we decided to move some tablets to a 2PM slot rather than an evening. Now, whether it was psychological or not, it worked and still does now. I sleep like a baby!
Every year, people face crisis due to lack of sleep as well as other factors, but you will be amazed to know that sleep deprivation can set off a mental health episode. The charity Rethink Mental Illness assist thousands of people experiencing mental health problems, providing a safe, calm, short-term and supportive environment which can be an effective alternative to hospital. Ask your doctor or call Rethink and self refer. Last year Rethink assisted 60,000 of us – wow!
Rethink was initially created to challenge public attitudes to mental illness and make a better life possible for people suffering with this debilitating illness. The Time to Change Pledge Wall is the place you can tell people what you pledge to do about discrimination against people with these problems.
Rethink work with lots of partners across the NHS and charity sectors; they are currently (among other things) ensuring that people affected by schizophrenia and psychosis, and their families, get the support they need which is where Rethink will assist in the transformation of ideas into meaningful actions.
In the UK attitude towards mental health illness have definitely tackled the stigma attached to illness, but it’s obvious that patients still aren’t getting the necessary treatment. I know individuals that are secretive of how they feel and how the illness affects them; they keep it quiet as they are worried that if they display a good day, their benefits will be stopped and they wouldn’t know where to go from there! This is instead of maybe having the opportunity to be praised for having a good day; because it shows a positive step towards recovery or towards being steady and settled on their medication. Covering up a good day with a bad day is detrimental to their recovery; their mask can cause a good day to turn bad.
And that’s where you come in.
Rethink want to assist more people like us by supplying a fabulous and effective Sleep Pack. What’s in it? Eye Mask, Lavender Oil, Lavender Bubble Bath, Hot malt drink, Ear Plugs and finally tips for getting off to sleep. Can’t get one? Go to a 99p shop, you will be surprised what you can pick up and create your own pack. Before you do anything talking to the doctor is an absolute must; some doctors may offer a sleeping pill to help you out temporarily but in my experience once you have sleeping pills it is extremely hard to stop taking them and therein starts the slippery slope of possible dependency.
Ask the doctor to assess you for depression as inability to sleep is a big indicator of this, you may be offered anti-depressants, their purpose is to boost levels of serotonin in the brain which will help lift our mood. Also request the assistance of therapy, you may have the opportunity to attend a group cognitive behavioural therapy session and also one to one person centred therapy.
It is the right time to ask to be referred urgently to Rethink or a Sleep Clinic; If your sleep is sorted and you are well, you want to help others get that all important sleep. You can donate £3.00 which buys one very important Sleep Pack and give someone the very best opportunity to their recovery.
The other piece of advice I have for you is to do a shake down, it’s great fun! So hop out of bed when you cannot sleep, find a space and spread out like a tree then shake uncontrollably from head to toe, shout loudly, “aghhhh….” get all the tension out. It works; someone called me at ridiculous o’clock and it interrupted my sense of calm and sleep – so up I jumped and did the shake down! If you’re old enough, remember the shake n Vac advert from the 70’s, and if not, it’s old fashioned fun! Well do that but far more rigorously and without a hoover! Here you go and have fun:
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