We’re halfway through Dry January and if your resolve is starting to waiver, take heart: there’s just over two weeks to go! If your willpower is slipping, maybe it’s time to remind yourself of the reasons you attempted an abstemious start to 2019 in the first place. For many, it was perhaps part of your traditional new year resolutions, not only to detox from the excesses of the festive period, but also to kick off the new year with a healthy start.

Whatever the reason, just remember that shunning alcohol for brief periods is not only good for your body but also for your mental health. 

With the stresses of the fast-paced world of today often being the catalyst to us reaching for the odd drink or two, it is good to know the evidence behind warnings to be careful about your regular alcohol consumption.

Dr Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, in his forward to its report, Cheers? Understanding the relationship between alcohol and mental health, written by Dr Deborah Cornah, states: “The reasons we drink and the consequences of excessive drinking are intimately linked with our mental health, and this holds the key to dealing with growing worries about alcohol misuse.”

We drink alcohol for many reasons: to help us relax after a busy and stressful day at work, to give us ‘Dutch’ courage, to seal business deals and to toast life’s milestones and many, many more.

But it becomes detrimental to both our physical and mental health when we drink because we ‘need’ it, to numb ourselves from feeling unwelcome emotions and often because we can’t remember life without it.

Some 38% of men and 16% of women are now drinking above recommended limits and 1.1m people nationally are alcohol dependent, with the report finding that people often drink to alter their mood – or change their mental state.  And according to the World Health Organisation we are dicing with danger.

 “Sufficient evidence now exists to assume alcohol’s contributory role in depression,” according to the WHO’s Global Status on Alcohol report on alcohol, 2004.

The Mental Health Foundation refers to recent studies which have found that up to 12m adults in the UK drink to help them relax or overcome feelings of depression. However, drinking to mask anxiety, depressed mood or general unease has the opposite effect, once the drink wears off. This is why a physical hangover is very often accompanied by anxiety or low mood.

Evidence shows:

• significant connections between reported alcohol use and depressive symptoms
• people report using alcohol to help them sleep
• people drink more when experiencing moderate to high levels of shyness or fear
• anxious people use drinking ‘to cope’ and are more likely to avoid social situations where alcohol is not available
• as many as 65% of suicides have been linked to excessive drinking
• 70% of men who take their own lives have drunk alcohol before doing so
• almost a third of suicides amongst young people occur while the person is intoxicated
• anxiety and depressive symptoms are more common in heavy drinkers
• heavy drinking is more common in those with anxiety and depression
• there is a significant relationship between job stress and alcohol consumption
• many GPs believe that alcohol is a cause of mental health problems.

Read more on the Mental Health Foundation’s relationship between alcohol and mental health here:

For assistance in overcoming alcohol abuse contact:

When Francis Tumelty first donned his running shoes he could barely run a mile. But these days the Finance Manager of Action Mental Health has so finely tuned his endurance he can run a marathon in under three hours.

With four marathons under his belt so far, including Belfast, Dublin, London and Edinburgh, Francis (48) is leading the charge for the Deep River Rock 2019 BCM relay race, challenging fellow workmates among AMH’s Services to form teams for a bit of friendly rivalry within the charity.

He has a bit of a head start on most of his AMH colleagues – three times Francis has reached the finish line in under three hours – twice in 2hrs 59 and most recently in Dublin when he shot home in just 2hrs 58.

Squaring the quartet of marathon efforts, a few months ago in Edinburgh, an injury and bad chest infection thwarted a similarly eye-watering time. At that time he could only achieve… wait for it – 3hrs 12 minutes!

With such fast times it seems Francis was born to run, but he recalls that first time when one mile nearly brought him to his knees. As a member of his children’s schools Parent Teacher Association, he signed up for a 10K fundraiser and he couldn’t back out, even though he had to pull up after his first training mile, breathless, with aching legs.

The father of three found that though he played football previously, being running fit was a whole new ball game.

“I was 35 and I’d joined the PTA at our kids’ school and we were doing a 10K fundraiser.  I went out myself and ran a mile but I had to stop. I thought to myself ‘I can’t do this’. But I couldn’t give up, as it was for the school.”

He didn’t give up, and was soon attempting greater distances, finding that if he broke the distance down into small, achievable chunks, he could overcome them.

Soon he was totally hooked on the running bug.

“Nowadays I’ll be out six times a week, with a group of six of us from our club, Newcastle AC led by Coach KipHiggins, and there’s so much craic that the next thing we know, we’ve run up to 22 miles.”

Luckily, he hasn’t left a running widow at home.

“My wife Carmel runs too so it’s a family thing and she has run the marathons with me.”

Looking forward to 2019 Francis is now leading the charge for fellow AMH colleagues to join him for the relay.

“It’ll be a really good team event and I’m hoping we’ll get as many teams together for a bit of friendly competition.”

Whether you run, walk or wheel your way to the finish line in aid of AMH, you’ll be raising funds for a great local charity.  We are one of five charities chosen this year to partner with Deep River Rock Belfast City Marathon 2019.

Run for Action Mental Health

You’ll also be helping to smash the enduring stigma of mental ill-health and shine a light on our marathon motto #BehindTheMilesandSmiles.

#BehindTheMilesandSmiles reminds us of the scientifically-proven mental health benefits of chocking up the miles through physical activity. And it also prompts us to acknowledge that not everyone’s smile is genuine – it can be a mask that hides the sadness of anxiety, depression or another mental illness. People like Robin Williams, Ruby Wax and Stephen Fry are known for spreading the laughter but they all admitted to hiding behind a mask, fighting personal battles with depression.

Sign up to run for Action Mental Health

#BehindTheMilesandSmiles

By fundraising for Action Mental Health you will be helping to make a real difference, helping us to support thousands of people, of all ages, right across Northern Ireland.

• £100 could help provide learning materials to support 100 young people through resilience awareness training.
• £300 could pay for a specialist mental health promotion session for up to 30 young people.
• £500 could help provide personal development sessions for adults recovering from mental ill health, helping them develop strategies to cope with stress and anxiety.
• £1000 could pay for a mental health resilience programme for a local primary school class and their teachers.

Don’t want to run?

Running not your thing? Don’t fancy an 8 mile walk? Why not join one of our cheer stations on 5 May! We’ll get you kitted out in Action Mental Health purple so you can cheer our runners on.

Action Mental Health has called for a commitment that mental health services here will receive their fair share of the extra £4bn in funding pledged to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as a result of Prime Minister Theresa May’s latest £20Bn investment package for NHS England.

The long term plan for England, unveiled this week, pledged to bolster funding for key areas, including GPs, community care and mental health. But Chief Executive David Babington has responded by asking if Northern Ireland’s beleaguered mental health sector would receive its fair share.

“We obviously welcome these additional funds for Northern Ireland, however we need clarity and assurances on where this money will go. It’s not clear that money received in past years through the Barnett consequential has actually made its way to mental health services – more than ever we need commitment and transparency now.”

NHS England has said its extra cash boost will go towards investment in mental health support in schools and 24-hour access to mental health crisis care, among other areas, however, the fate of Northern Ireland’s share remains uncertain.  

“If Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are to receive an additional £4Bn, where will it be spent in Northern Ireland? We need a commitment that funds are ring-fenced for mental health services.”

Mr Babington commented: “For too long, mental health has been the Cinderella service in Northern Ireland and the share of the health budget allocated to mental health has been steadily declining at a time of growing need. We would need at least an additional £130m each year for our mental services just to achieve parity with England. We need urgent action to reverse this trend.”

“Two years ago Stormont closed for business and Northern Ireland continues to suffer substantially more than the rest of the United Kingdom in terms of mental health issues – including our young people. We deserve leadership to ensure this new funding goes to the appropriate mental health services, to enable us to safeguard our future generations.”

Ends

 To find out more information on Action Mental Health and the services it offers, please visit www.amh.org.uk.

Action Mental Health is part-funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014 – 2020 and the Department for the Economy.

Anniversary year sees Action Mental Health score a number of firsts during year of flux

It’s been an eventful year here at Action Mental Health, with the charity scoring a number of firsts during its 55^th anniversary year.

It’s been a year of campaigning, of celebrating significant new and existing partnerships, with a wide range of bodies, and a year of pioneering initiatives to promote the resilience of our younger generation’s mental health, alongside a stream of improved and upgraded services. It’s also been a stellar year of fundraising with Action Mental Health also being the first mental health charity to be nominated as one of the official charities of the Belfast City Marathon, offering us an unprecedented fundraising milestone to look forward to in 2019.

On the campaigning front, for the first time in our history, Action Mental Health brought the fight for parity of esteem for mental health in Northern Ireland to Westminster – firing the first salvo in February and following it up again, with a further call for action direct to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, as the year drew to a close in December.

When the collapse of Stormont left Northern Ireland in limbo, Action Mental Health led a delegation of mental health campaigners and practitioners to London to demand improvements to our local mental health services as agreed by the Assembly in 2016. We called for a mental health strategy, a Mental Health Champion, and for clarity on the allocation of the extra £50m for mental health services promised by the DUP/Tory confidence and supply agreement.

Action Mental Health returned to Westminster again in December to hammer home the need for greater funding for the health service’s ‘Cinderella service’ before members of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.

Action Mental Health also launched pioneering new services, from the Northern Area Mental Health Initiative’s Digital Hub to the newly launched eating disorder service AMH Everybody, offering better hope to those who require this specialist assistance.

In April, Action Mental Health was delighted to come together in a new partnership with New Life Counselling, laying the foundations for future growth of each other’s much needed services.

Action Mental Health has also been honoured to work alongside several leading local businesses as their charity partner. Businesses including Danske Bank, Caffe Nero, Phoenix Natural Gas, Titanic Hotel Belfast, Victoria Square, CTS Projects, HMC Global, Automated Intelligence, Gordons Chemists, PowerNI and Fat Face have fundraised and volunteered throughout the year. We are also delighted to be establish new partnerships for 2019 with MKB Law and Coca Cola.

Integral to Action Mental Health are the nine AMH New Horizons services based around Northern Ireland. This year, the work of the charity’s keystone service was featured in a ground-breaking short film, Of My Kin. Illustrating the real life journeys of people whose lives have been turned around by AMH New Horizons, Of My Kin, produced and directed by award-winning local man Joe McStravick, won plaudits at a host of film festivals and serves to show the difference AMH New Horizons makes to our clients.

Action Mental Health couldn’t survive without its statutory funders, prime among them the European Social Fund, which funds the pivotal ‘Working it Out’ Project delivered by our New Horizons services across NI. This year we hosted Inspectors from the Educational Training Inspectorate (ETI) as part of the ESF Audit / Inspection process.

The Inspectors identified numerous examples of positive activity and good practice throughout our AMH New Horizons services. Their inspection reported that the charity demonstrated a “high level of capacity to identify and bring about improvement in the interests of all the participants.”

They also reported that “learners cited numerous examples of how the project has impacted positively on their lives, including development of their self-esteem, confidence, motivation, and socialisation”.

Young people who attend the BOOST service at AMH New Horizons Fermanagh received a brand new dedicated space thanks to the generous fundraising of the local Rotary Club. The space offers 18-25-year-olds experiencing mental health issues, a new kitchen and hang-out room featuring gaming and high-tech equipment.

AMH’s varied services have also been supported by our range of annual events which not only helps keep the spotlight on mental health, but also gets the community involved on both the volunteering and fundraising fronts. Events like the newly launched Great Big Purple Picnic, which took place in spring during Mental Health Awareness Week, the Granite Challenge, and the Go Purple campaign marking World Mental Health Day in autumn were among the highlights. That global celebration of mental health and well-being was this year the focus of another first for Action Mental Health – the inaugural Head First Awards. Awards were conferred on schools, individuals and groups who go that extra mile to support the mental health and well-being of young people across Northern Ireland.

Supporting people with disabilities and health conditions in Northern Ireland and helping them get back into employment, AMH is one of seven partners within the SES – Supported Employment Solutions consortium. As its co-lead, AMH, along with the Cedar Foundation, has continued to effectively lead SES through a very challenging year for the delivery of the Workable (NI) Programme. Demand for places on programme exceeded capacity in 2018, prompting the capping of new start numbers. However, AMH and SES continue to deliver high quality support to over 350 programme participants across Northern Ireland.

The year also marked a raft of milestone anniversaries, including AMH New Horizons Newry which celebrated 30 years helping the local community through their mental health recovery journeys, alongside Foyle and Belfast which each marked their silver anniversaries – 25 years.

Bringing 2018 to a fitting and festive close, the clients at AMH Promote raised the roof with their imaginative and highly entertaining production of Jack and the Beanstalk. The Bangor based centre, which assists adults with learning disabilities, worked very hard to stage the show, with song, impressive theatrics and effervescent cheer and they succeeded on all fronts.

Chief Executive David Babington said

“2018 has seen some tremendous developments here at Action Mental Health and we are confident they will bring great benefits to our clients and the wider population in Northern Ireland. While the mental health sector faces significant challenges, we remain hopeful for the future. As the year draws to a close, we would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a new year that brings positive mental health and well-being to you all.”

Action Mental Health is delighted to announce its latest corporate partnership – with MKB Law. The Belfast-based law firm selected the leading Northern Ireland mental health charity as its charity partner for 2019 to 2020 and the beneficiary of future fundraising efforts over the period.

By actively supporting Action Mental Health, the Belfast-based firm said it aims to help eliminate the stigma still associated with mental health issues and to help ensure both adults and children receive the support they require.

Associate Director, Suzanne Keenan, comments: “Northern Ireland has a 20% higher incidence of mental ill-health than anywhere else in the UK. As a local firm we are determined to do our part in bringing this number down, and are pleased to be working with Action Mental Health in 2019 and 2020.

“Over 250,000 people in Northern Ireland have a mental health problem. That works out as one in five people. MKB Law operate in many areas of law where people are affected by a mental health issue, specifically Family and Employment Law. MKB Law are honoured to be the first law firm to be supporting Action Mental Health through a charity partnership. Our fundraising will kick off with our staff Christmas Jumper Day on Friday 21st December – remember to check out our social media pages for updates!”

Action Mental Health Fundraising and Communications Manager Jonathan Smyth: “We are very grateful to have MKB Law on board as one of our corporate partners. Action Mental Health works tirelessly with both adults and young people across Northern Ireland to raise awareness and provide support through a wide range of dedicated recovery and resilience programmes.

“Receiving the support of the corporate community, like that offered by MKB Law, helps to ensure the future of these programmes which are becoming increasingly sought-after throughout Northern Ireland.”

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has been told that the region has the lowest spend per capita on mental health – with no sign of that position being reversed.

Action Mental Health was among the organisations giving evidence today to the NI Affairs Committee in London, as part of the Committee enquiry into health spending in Northern Ireland.

David Babington, Chief Executive of Action Mental Health told the Committee that Northern Ireland has the ‘highest incidence of mental health problems in the UK, and the lowest level of spending on mental health services.’ He told the Committee that the situation is ‘unsustainable.’

“The share of health spending which is invested specifically on mental health services in Northern Ireland is 6%. In England that percentage is almost 12% yet our incidence of mental health problems is 25% higher.

“In Scotland and Wales spending on mental health is also higher than in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland the Government has committed to an increase in mental health spending of 10%, significantly higher than the amount spent locally. Yet our need for investment in mental health well-being is higher than anywhere else in these islands

“If we don’t break that cycle, it is self-evident that the problems will continue to mount and that mental health provision will continue to be the forgotten service in our NHS locally.

“If we were to match the English spending on mental health our investment would increase by £130m each year, yet our spending is falling rather than increasing.”

Today’s hearing comes almost a year after Action Mental Health traveled to Westminster to meet MPs from across the UK to lobby for additional funding.

“At that time, a meeting with the Secretary of State was promised , one year on we cannot even get a reply to a request for a meeting.”

The members of the NI Affairs Committee heard that the DUP Confidence and Supply money has not made the difference which was heralded at the time of the deal.

“Figures from the Department of Heath show that that money has been spent on meeting existing pressures rather than delivering any new services. The money is not guaranteed on a recurring basis so that does not allow for long term transformation. Rather than providing a boost for mental health provision locally, this money is a sticking plaster.”

“The trajectory of spending on mental health in Northern Ireland is downward. If we are serious about meeting local mental well-being needs that simply has to change.”

You can watch the Committee Hearing here.