East Primary Care Mental Health Team

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East Ayrshire Primary Care Mental Health Team (PCMHT)

What do we do? We provide a range of mental health and psychological treatments for people who are experiencing common mental health difficulties. The service is for people aged between 18 and 65 who may benefit from a brief course of treatment.

What are common mental health problems? The most commonly experienced mental health difficulties are depression, panic attacks, severe stress and anxiety disorder. Just over one in four (28 per cent) of us will experience a mental health issue at some point in our lives.

What do we offer? Our service is open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and we see clients in a variety of health centres and clinics. We offer a range of options and this leaflet describes the most popular choices over the following pages. At the moment, the longest waiting time is for individual therapy.

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Courses available from the PCMHT The East PCMHT offers five courses for our clients. These are the: • Health awareness class; • CBT in Action class • Guided Self-Help class • Assertiveness class; and • Mums’ health class.

Why does a class setting help? A class provides opportunities to: • meet other people who may be experiencing similar difficulties to you; • gain support and understanding about yourself from others; • learn about your own personal symptoms and triggers; and • learn ways of coping with how you feel. Our courses focus on techniques to recognise and manage your symptoms. There is no pressure on anyone to disclose personal information if they do not wish to. The PCMHT provides a training area for student professionals, and students may be present during your contact with the service.

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If you would prefer not to have a student present, please let the team secretary or therapist know. How do the courses work? Each course is made up of eight sessions - each lasting one hour and 30 minutes. The class usually starts with a short discussion and sharing of relevant issues and experiences. During the structured part to each session you can focus on various topics and do some practical work on different skills or strategies.

How do I get the best from the classes? You can make best use of the class by attending each session and trying to take part in discussions if possible. Listening and supporting other class members can also be beneficial. It is important to respect the confidentiality of all members of the class, and they will be asked to respect yours.

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Health awareness class The health awareness class is suitable for clients with anxiety and/or depressive symptoms. The eight topics covered in the course are: • understanding signs and symptoms of anxiety; • how challenging unhelpful thoughts and behaviours can reduce anxiety; • signs and symptoms of depression; • assertion skills– behaviour types that we see in ourselves and others; • how to be more assertive and things that get in the way; • the links between activity levels and the quality of sleep; • understanding how antidepressants work; and • Understanding the connections between food, mood and energy levels.

Assertiveness class Assertion involves standing up for our personal rights and expressing our thoughts, feelings and beliefs directly, honestly and openly, in ways that are respectful of others. Assertion means feeling on an equal level with others, whoever they may be, and being able to take responsibility for ourselves and our actions.

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The topics covered in the course include: • behaviour types that we see in ourselves and others; • recognising our own individual rights; • understanding the importance of body language in communication; • learning how to make requests and say no; • learning how to express feelings, thoughts and needs in a constructive way; and • learning how to give and receive criticism constructively.

Mums’ health class The Mums’ health class is for mums experiencing low mood/anxiety who have given birth in the past year. Each session deals with relevant health issues such as: • What is postnatal depression? • Anxiety management and how to relax • The role of exercise and diet in recovery • Thinking • Goal setting • Communication and assertiveness • Partners and relationships • Keeping well

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CBT in Action Class The CBT in action group is a seven session treatment group offering a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy approach to managing symptoms of anxiety and depression. The aim is to promote mental health/wellbeing and to develop resilience by providing health educational information as well as support/guidance with symptom management and constructive coping techniques. Group sessions therefore focus on recognition of the symptoms of anxiety and depression, triggers to this and identifying the difference between helpful and unhelpful coping strategies.

Guided Self Help Class The Guided Self Help Class is a four session treatment group where members learn skills and techniques to identify, challenge and change any unhelpful thoughts and behaviours. Members will also be offered two individual sessions, one to initially assess difficulties and a final session to review progress from within the class.

Self-help worker Your self-help worker is there to help you talk about your difficulties, identify changes that you can make and to help you learn new ways of coping with your problems. You will meet your self-help worker at your first appointment, which lasts approximately one hour. Your self-help worker will help you identify specific problem areas and construct a plan of action to combat your difficulties.

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Putting this plan into action may involve self-help materials and/or local sources of support - both of which your self-help worker will be able to advise you about.

Individual therapy A number of clinicians offer a range of talking therapies in the East PCMHT. They include counsellors, mental health nurses, occupational therapists and psychological therapists. Your first appointment, which will last for approximately one hour, will be for assessment only. This appointment will give us the chance to learn about your difficulties. It will also give you the chance to discuss the services we offer and help you decide what approach could be useful to you. After assessment, it is up to you to decide whether you wish to continue. Should you decide to go ahead, you will be told how long therapy is likely to last.

How can we make best use of therapy? Therapy is most effective when it is not something done to you by an expert but is something which you take an equal role in. At a practical level, it means making a commitment to attend each of your appointments and being ready to

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make changes. This might include reflecting on what was discussed in the sessions between appointments or trying to do any ‘homework’ set by the therapist. Questions you could think about before your first session: • What is the nature of your difficulties, how long has it been like this, when did it start and how does it affect your life? What has made you seek help now? • What aspects of your life give you satisfaction? • In what way do you hope therapy can help? If the change you want came about, what would your day- to-day life look like?

Wasted appointments Unfortunately, we have a high number of wasted appointments and this adds to our waiting times. If you have an appointment that you cannot attend, please contact us as soon as possible to re-schedule your appointment. If you want to withdraw from the service at any time, please contact us so that your appointment can be given to someone else. If you do not attend your appointment and do not contact us, you will be discharged. If you cancel more than one appointment, you may be discharged.

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Useful helplines

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) 0845 769 7555 (24 hour) Drinkline 0800 917 8282 NSPCC 0808 800 5000 Kidscape, London 08451 205 204 Breathing Space Helpline 0800 838 587 (6pm-2am) Fellowship of Depressives 0870 774 4320 Anonymous (information line) Scottish Domestic Abuse 0800 027 1234 Overeaters Anonymous 01236 825507 Age Concern Scotland 0845 125 9732 The Rural Stress Information 0845 094 8286 Network Farm Crisis Network 0845 367 9990 Parentline Scotland 0808 800 2222 Gamblers Anonymous 0370 050 8881 Sexual Health Line 0800 567 123 NHS 24 111 (24hrs) Childline 0800 11 11 Samaritans freephone number 116 123 CRUSE Bereavement care 0844 477 9400 Living Life telephone based 0800 328 9655 guided self help

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Mental health websites:

www.mentalhealth.org.uk Facts and information on mental health and related sites www.seemescotland.org Anti-stigma website and national campaign www.sane.org.uk Mental health (general site) www.mind.org.uk Facts and information on mental health and related sites www.penumbra.org.uk Information on mental health www.samh.org.uk Information on mental health and related sites. Recent publication “After a suicide” www.llttf.com A web based course that aims to provide access to high quality, practical and user-friendly training in life skills using a cognitive behavioural approach www.bacp.co.uk Information on counselling and psychotherapy www.glasgowsteps.com Information on mental health and coping strategies 11 ...Information for you...Information for you...Information for you...Information for you...Information for you...Information for you

Depression specific websites: www.bluepages.anu.edu.au Website with information on depression including comprehensive “what works” section on different treatments www.beyondblue.org.au Provides information on depression range of fact sheets www.moodgym.anu.edu.au Web-based self help

Young People:

www.youngminds.org.uk National charity committed to improving the mental health of young people www.depressioninteenagers.com Developed by The Young People’s Unit at the Royal Edinburgh hospital

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How do I contact the team during the day? If you have already been referred to the Primary Care Mental Health Team, please telephone 01563 826338 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. If you are not an existing client of the team, your family doctor (GP) can make contact with this service for you.

How do I contact the team after 5pm? You cannot make direct contact with the team after 5pm. However you can leave a message on the team’s answer machine and we will respond to you the following day. If you need help with a mental health problem after 5pm you can contact NHS 24 on 111. You can also get help and advice by contacting: The Samaritans on 08457 909090 Breathing Space 0800 838587

East Ayrshire Primary Care Mental Health Team 26/27 Lister Street University Hospital Crosshouse KA1 2BB

If you would like to give us some feedback on our service please go to www.patientopinion.org.uk.

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Privacy notice The Health and Social Care Partnerships work closely together to improve people’s experience of services; and to give them the support they need to live safe, healthy lives in their own communities. While consent will not be required for the sharing of information between NHS Ayrshire & Arran and each of the three Ayrshire local authorities for the purpose of delivering integrated health and social care services, you will be informed about how your information will be collected, held and shared. This will ensure that we can deliver co-ordinated care that is easy to access and is focused on the best outcome for you. In addition, the Health and Social Care Partnership may be required to share personal data with other public bodies where required by law, for the prevention or detection of crime or the protection of children and vulnerable adults. Any use of personal data will be in full accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

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Tha gach sgrìobhainn againn rim faotainn ann an diofar chànanan, clò nas motha, Braille (Beurla a-mhàin), teip claistinn no riochd eile a tha sibh airson a thaghadh.

0800 169 1441 Tell us what you think... If you would like to comment on any issues raised by this document, please complete this form and return it to: Communications Department, 28 Lister Street, Crosshouse Hospital, Crosshouse KA2 0BB. You can also email us at: [email protected] or [email protected]. If you provide your contact details, we will acknowledge your comments and pass them to the appropriate departments for a response. Name ______Address ______Comment ______

Last reviewed: May 2019 Leaflet reference: MIS11-256-CC/PIL16-0142