Members of One in Four Holistic Mental Health and Well Being Autumn 2016: Edition 7 £2.50 Focus on Stress & Anxiety If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn't ask me, I'd still have to say it." George Burns 1 Editors Letter The One in Four has been running for nearly two years and it was felt to be time to review the direction that the magazine should take as well as other ideas for future editions. Originally, the magazine was written by members of Mind for the members and staff of Brecon and District Mind. Its circulation has now increased to include hospitals, doctor’s surgeries. libraries and other organisations such as ‘Gwalia’ and ‘Kaleidoscope’. This means that we are circulated to psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, doctors, general public and Mind trustees, staff and members. One or two articles are now written with this change in mind. In this latest edition of One in Four we focus on stress and anxiety and have a number of varied articles again mainly from members (thank you so much for your input) about this topic. At the open meeting the question was raised about helping students who have mental health issues which is a growing problem. It was also felt that the activities in Brecon and District Mind should be increasingly highlighted and I hope that we have achieved this in the current edition. Finally, if there are any points that you may wish to highlight then please feel free to contact me on my email address which is [email protected] AndyH – Editor DISCLAIMER: Please note that the views and opinions expressed in this booklet do not necessarily reflect the opinion of every person of Mind and whilst freedom of expression is encouraged it is suggested that each person takes responsibility for their own research and information gathering. Contents 3 – 12 Stress and Anxiety 23 Out Reach Centres 13 Poems about Stress & Anxiety 24 EcoGroup, Men’s space, The Eve Project, 25 Community Art, Film Group 14 Contact Information 26 The Allotment Garden 15 Complementary Therapy 27 Friends Active Monitoring with 28 Stepping Stones ‘Haygarth’ Surgeries 16 BOG Summer Events Report 29 The Eve Project 17 - 19BOG Programme 30 A Group with a Changing Name 20 Puzzle Page 31 Activate Your Life 21 Eco Group 32 Drama with Franca Art in Mind 33 Puzzle Page Answers 22,23 Members Meeting 34 Brecon & District Mind Activities 2 Stress related Irritable Bowel Syndrome When I offered to write for the 1 in 4 about Stress and Anxiety; my first thought was to write about how Stress and Anxiety affects me physically. How it could be said that Stress and Anxiety can be separated by the type of physical manifestation? My story starts 25 years ago and then jumps to 3 years ago. I have a vivid recollection of the first time I experienced the extreme effects of stress, physically. I was living in shared housing, had a good, happy life and a full-time job. I can’t even say that there was a trigger for my stress other than not enough relaxation and perhaps a poor diet. One day I woke in pain: 5/5, 8 hours later it increased to 9/10. I called a friend and was taken to the local Accident and Emergency Dept. Very quickly I was diagnosed with “Stress Related” Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). I won’t go into detail about the treatment, the advice was to rest, limit my caffeine intake, drink water and take pain relief. It took a week for me to fully recover. I worked out that it was up to me to manage this condition because I certainly didn’t want to be in that state again. We can’t always manage the pressure we put ourselves under, but we can restrict its effects. For many years I had no IBS symptoms and I put this down to regularly receiving alternative therapy treatments. For the past 5 years I have not had access to a regular therapy and have had to be aware of the signs of the IBS starting. When it happens I buy an over the counter medication which deals with all of the symptoms, rather than targeting specific ones which the GP’s tend to do. I had one more instance a couple of years ago, that not even the medication could slow. The symptoms began 1 week before my in-laws were due to stay for a week and by the time they arrived and their stay progressed all I could do was stop the symptoms increasing. Within 2 days of them leaving I returned to normal. Fast forwarding to 2013/14 I experienced an “Anxiety Attack for the first time, which did not give me any IBS symptoms. I experienced a mild “Nervous Breakdown”, which I think is now referred to as a “Mental Crisis”. I had experienced pressure emotionally in my personal life for some time; something else happened which was “the straw that broke the Camel’s back”. I had a number of anxiety attacks during that period but looking back was not able to separate them because I seemed to be in a permanent state of anxiety. Since my initial recovery I still have Anxiety Attacks; they happen either because I am nervous about doing something that I have not done before, or because something occurs spontaneously which puts me way out of my comfort zone. An attack begins with butterflies, quickly followed by bats in my stomach; my hands shake, my temperature rises and the feeling of nausea begins. In extreme cases I feel a sense of panic rising, my voice changes and I come across as aggressive (to those who do not know me). The nervous ones I can control with relaxation techniques. The spontaneous ones take hours to recover from, but I usually have to sleep. I end as I began: Can it be said that Stress and Anxiety manifest different physical symptoms within one person? NIK S 3 Stress and Mania My first manic episode developed when I was stressed due to overwork, lack of sleep, living on my own and continually worrying about personal and work issues. I worked for 112 hours out of 120 hours on a business plan but instead of becoming more tired my mind kept expanding. The area of the brain where this occurred was like a huge processor of information. This ‘Processor’ was out of control like a washing machine churning through information and trying to answer questions in an illogical fashion. Thoughts ended up as being destructive and took me on a journey that would lead to my death if I could not make some sense of what I was going through. I therefore took notes and started to understand my churning thoughts. I was on a journey and it was like I was living a dream/nightmare. During my mania I also had thoughts about children and the need to understand them. When I was no longer manic I felt very threatened by what children were going to do to me and my own feelings. Later, I realised that my thoughts were not about children but myself as a very young child up to five years of age approximately. I was at a very impressionable age and my parents understandably tried to tell me about their own experiences some of which had been passed down from generations. These thoughts became precious to me and were so strong that no logic could displace them; I believe they were in fact placed in ‘The Powerful Processor of Information’ in the brain and became the cause of destructive mania when I moved into it for a long period of time. In simple terms, dad supports a football team and his passion for it is passed down to me at an early age and also becomes a passion for me as well; as another example, I made mistakes as a young boy and rather than dad being understanding I got told off. I believe that being told what to do can lead to illogical thoughts and mania occurring in that particular part of the brain I believe that depending on how I was brought up depends on how safely I can access that part of the brain where mania takes place. By trying to come to terms with some of my feelings I have now found calm, clear thoughts with less conflict between my own feelings and logical thought. From my self-analysis, important areas that I have highlighted that have helped me avoid destructive mania were a much better understanding of the need to manage stressful periods and having parental help during early childhood rather than being told or left to my own devices (for example, young children playing for hours on their computers). ANDY H. 4 Anxiety and Stress Anxiety affects me round the clock and has done for a large part of my life. I feel wiser and more educated now with how I deal with and confront fear. However, this doesn’t diminish the debilitating power it has on me at times; from social events to just talking to friends and family. I physically feel fear in my chest telling me to be aware of potential threats. I know a lot of the time it is irrational but for whatever reason I have built this system in my body to protect myself.