PHaMs Lookout
April 2015
Content
Walali News
Groups &
Meetings
Page -2
FOODcents,
Myths about
Anxiety
Page – 3
Peer Story &
Health news
Page – 4
SANE report on
Psychosis
Page – 5
April Calendar
Page – 6
Partner Agencies Schedule:
by appointment only
PTSD Women’s Support Group
Drug Arm Counsellor
Department of Human Services
Alcohol & Drug Foundation Qld
Centacare Counsellor
Monday (fortnightly 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Tuesday 1:30 – 3:30pm
Tuesday 1:15pm – 2:45pm
Thursday 10:00am -3:00pm
Friday 10:30am – 3:30pm
Published by:
Australian Red Cross
PHaMs
14b Cambridge St
Rockhampton QLD 4700
Tel: 07 4922 0020
Walali Neighbourhood
News
SMART Recovery is starting!
SMART Recovery is a voluntary self-help group that assists people in recovering from
alcohol, drugs and other addictive behaviours. Based on cognitive behavioural therapy
(CBT), SMART Recovery empowers people with practical skills, tools and support to
manage addictive behaviours. Weekly SMART Recovery group meetings commence in May
at the Walali Neighbourhood Centre. For further information please contact
Shelly Green (facilitator) 49 220020.
The Walali Neighbourhood
Centre has a new external
Please join us for our next up coming free workshop.
service to offer the community.
These workshops are for people to explore recovery and
“Drug Arm” will be commencing
their life, in a fun and safe peer group setting.
drug and alcohol counselling
The next workshop will be:
each Tuesday. Bookings are
essential. For further details
•
Dealing with Crisis
Located at -
Community Health
Cnr of Bolsover St & Cambridge
please contact the PHaMs team
ph: 49 220 020
- 8 April 2015 , 10am – 1pm
For further information contact Shelly Green (facilitator)
on 4922 0020
WRAP, developed by Mary Ellen Copeland is a planning
process that involves assessing the self help tools and
resources that we have, and then the using of those tools
and resources to develop plans for keeping ourselves
well. WRAP is totally self-determined.
Workshops will be running each Tuesday from 11am –
12:30pm for six weeks. These workshops will be at the
Walali Neighbourhood Centre. For further details contact
Shelly 4922 0020
•
Week 1 – Developing the wellness toolbox
•
Week 2 – Daily maintenance plan
•
Week 3 – Identifying trigger & action plan
•
Week 4 – Identifying early warning signs plan
•
Week 5 – Things are breaking down action plan
•
Week 6 – Crisis planning & post crisis planning
FOODcents
By bringing people together for a series of hands-on
Myths About
Anxiety
Destroyed
workshops, Australian Red Cross FOODcents® programs
teach people how to get value for money and achieve a
balanced diet in a relaxed atmosphere. Red Cross helps
people to make sustainable changes to diet, physical
activity, food budgeting and healthy weight; helping them
to improve their health, prevent and manage chronic
disease better and learn skills for economic self-reliance.
Myth:
Anxiety is not a normal part of life
Completely untrue! Everyone experiences anxiety to
some extent, on a daily basis. Not only do things that
cause stress happen to everyone from time to time, but
without any anxiety, you wouldn’t be motivated to do
much. If you didn’t feel anxiety when a car sped towards
you, you wouldn’t get out of the way! Some anxiety is also
The program is holistic, multifaceted and community
focused – it’s a healthy lifestyle program that targets
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from
culturally and linguistically diverse communities, migrants,
refugees, prisoners, the elderly, people with mental illness
and young people.
needed to help us perform at our best. Not to mention that
we also experience positive anxiety – also called
"excitement”!
Myth:
People who have anxiety just need to
relax
This is about as absurd as telling someone with a broken
leg to just get it together and run a race – it just ain’t
Red Cross offers free training sessions and is delivered
gonna happen. Like the broken leg, anxiety disorders are
by staff and volunteers to groups over four to eight
serious illnesses and there are treatment options
sessions with flexible timeframes.
available to help manage them, which have been proven
to work through years and years of really clever people
We aim to teach people how to get value for money and
conducting research. Although relaxation might be a part
achieve a balanced diet through:
of the treatment plan, it also needs to happen in line with
•
increased consumption of fruit and vegetables.
a whole bunch of self-help strategies. Other treatment
•
improved awareness of good nutrition, healthy weight
options may be advised by a mental health professional.
and physical activity.
Myth:
The only people who get anxiety are
just naturally nervous anyway
•
skills to choose, prepare and cook healthy meals,
•
greater economic self-reliance through improved
Anyone can experience anxiety. In fact, anxiety is one of
budgeting skills.
the most common mental illnesses in Australia. The 2007
increased confidence in implementing new knowledge
Australian Bureau of Statistics annual survey has
and skills, and
evidence to say that it is the most common mental illness,
reduction in food insecurity, community participation
with 14% of people over 16 years of age who completed
and reduced social isolation.
the survey experiencing an anxiety disorder – that’s about
•
•
Our FOODcents program begins 21 April. For more
1 in 7 people! Anxiety disorders are a result of
details contact Bonnie 4922 0020
complicated interactions between genes and personal
experience.
http://au.reachout.com/
R
ound and round and up and down,
Welcome to Bipolar a lived experience
story
Part 1.
Bipolar is mental illness that has been around for many
years, previously call Manic Depression. Fortunately for
us we have the best in medicine and professionals
working for us now even if it seems like they don’t know
what they are doing for us at times, we will receive
some recovery bit by bit. For my own experiences I
went from the age of eighteen to the age of fifty living
with this no named illness. I lived a life of a drunk and at
times some other types of drugs. So when I reflect back
now ( please think about how your life is going right
now) I was in a manic episode which I lived in for all
those years and mistook a young hero drinking the world
dry instead of being aware of what was really happening
to me. If you find that you are young and having these
mixed up thoughts see if you can find someone like
myself to talk to. I am here to give you an honest
explanation in your word at the relevant
age limits. Some of the people that have contacted me
are sixty year olds right down to fifteen year olds. The
only difference is how long this illness has had a grip on
them. Mania is what our high is called and symptoms of
this are major highs where we seem to be the only one’s
that understand what is going on. Some have said that
they walk with God. So much goes wrong at once that it
becomes very hard to untangle.
Published by:
Story by Bruce Edwards
For support
please come along to our next support group
Red Cross
meeting:
Bipolar Fellowship meets first Tuesday of the month
Cnr Bolsover and Cambridge Street
Community Health , entrance through Cambridge St
For details, Bruce Edwards
0419715345
Bruce.edward1@bigpond.com
Health News
Research finding
1 How many are affected?
Sixty-four thousand people with psychotic illness are in contact with public mental health services every year. Two in
three experience their first episode before the age of 25.
2 Who is affected?
People with psychotic illness are more likely to be male, living alone and have disrupted education.
3 What are the effects
Psychotic illness often has a severe impact on ability to function in daily life.
4 Physical health
People with psychotic illness are experience very poor physical health, and are more likely to attempt suicide than the
general population.
5 Mental health services
People with psychotic illness are the predominant users of mental health services, and make heavy, regular use of
other health services.
6 NGO services
Mental health non-government organisations (NGOs) provide a range of services, and are highly valued by people
living with psychotic illness.
7 GP services
People with psychotic illness see their GP nine times a year on average: almost twice as often as the general
population.
8 A home and a job
People with psychotic illness have a very high rate of unemployment and are at greater risk of homelessness.
9 Social isolation
Nearly a quarter of people with psychotic illness reported feeling socially isolated and lonely. One in eight had no
friends at all.
10 The challenge
The People Living with Psychotic Illness study provides compelling evidence of the need to improve our mental health
services, and recommendations on this are spelled out under Action on every page of A SANE Response
http://www.sane.org/images/stories/information/research
What's happening at Walali Neighbourhood Centre
14b Cambridge St, Rockhampton
Ph: 4922 0020
April 2015
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
1st
2nd
Closed
•
•
7th
•
Closed
Computer Basics
10:30 – 11 :30am
Good
Friday
8th
Barista Club
1pm – 3pm
9th
•
Gym with John
9am – 11:30am
3rd
Gym with John
9am – 11:30am
•
6th
Friday
10th
Gym with John
9am – 11:30am
Walali Neighbourhood Centre closed
13th
14th
•
15th
16th
•
Gym with John
9am – 11:30am
17th
Gym with John
9am – 11:30am
Walali Neighbourhood Centre closed
20th
21st
22nd
Closed
23rd
• Fun & fitness
10am – 12pm
• Gym with John
9am – 10am
• Gym with John
9am – 10am
• Choir
1pm – 3pm
• Crafty Yarners
10am – 12pm
• Computer Basics
10:30am – 11:30am
• WRAP
11am – 12:30pm
• Barista Club
1pm – 3pm
• Food cents
1pm – 3pm
27th
28th
•
• Fun & fitness
10am – 12pm
• Choir
1pm – 3pm
Gym with John
9am – 10am
• Crafty Yarners
10am – 12pm
• WRAP
11am – 12:30pm
• Food cents
1pm – 3pm
29th
Closed
30th
• Gym with John
9am – 10am
• Computer Basics
10:30am – 11:30am
• Barista Club
1pm – 3pm
24th
•
Ozcare garden
project
10am – 12pm
•
Almost anything
goes
1pm – 3pm