Guest Blogs

World Bipolar Day 2022

My daughter has bipolar; she is amazing, clever, funny, beautiful, thoughtful and kind. She can also be crippled by depression to the extent that she can’t take care of herself. She can’t wash herself, her hair, her clothes and lies in bed day after day; she can’t prepare food or…

World Bipolar day 2022

We are both members of the IMHN (Independent Mental health Network) IAPT (Improving access to psychological therapies) EBE (Experts by Experience) Group.    And there you have it; get yourself a diagnosis of Bipolar 1 or 2 and you fall into a hidden world of acronyms, mysterious services, medication, therapies…

Greater Manchester IMHN - who are we?

In this series we will introduce our staff team so you can get a better idea of what we do and more importantly why we do it... My name is Sophie Webb, and I am an Engagement Officer at the Greater Manchester branch of the Independent Mental Health Network (IMHN).  …

IMHN: Mental Health and Housing project, review by Melanie Anderton

Trauma Informed Mental Health Awareness Training for Housing Support Staff (Pilot Nov 2021 – Feb 2022)  It’s been a privilege to be involved in the co-production and delivery of the Trauma Informed Mental Health Awareness Training for GM housing support staff.   After 12 weeks of delivering phase 1, to approx.…

Greater Manchester IMHN - who are we?

In this series we will introduce our staff team so you can get a better idea of what we do and more importantly why we do it! First up our Engagement and Co-production Manager... My name is Niamh Carroll, and I am the Engagement and Co-production manager at the Greater…

Talk, Understand, Listen for InPatient Settings

Talk, Understand, Listen for InPatient Settings (TULIPS) is a research project funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). We work in partnership with patients and healthcare professionals to increase access to psychological therapies on mental health inpatient wards. Inpatient wards refer to wards for individuals who are admitted…

Putting yourself in other people's shoes: 'Hidden' podcast by Made By Mortals

Andy Smith, musician and director of Made by Mortals, shares his journey in creating a powerful podcast series in collaboration with a theatre group of people who have experience of mental health illness.   Made by Mortals was launched in 2017, after Andy and theatre-maker Paul Hine could see there…

How it feels to start working with IMHN

Niamh Carroll  (Engagement Coordinator) and Anthony O’Connor (Expert by Experience) share their experiences about the development of the IAPT (Improving Access to Phycological Therapies) Expert by Experience group from the first meeting to now. Within this blog, they take it in turn to describe their journey as either a member…

'Include Me In' by Anthony O'Connor

When I was first approached to write a blog, I was unsure and didn’t think I had anything to say that might interest anyone. So, I went on the IMHN webpage and had a look around and remembered that one of the things that encouraged me to join the organisation…

Suicide Prevention - Missed Opportunities and Lessons Learned

"Is suicide preventable or inevitable?  For me, the answer to this depends on whether missed opportunities of the past are today’s lessons learned.  With this in mind I plan to share my lived experience with the social housing workforce and explore strategies to improve engagement between service users and housing…

How to set up a peer support group

1. Attend a group, in fact attend a few!  There are plenty of peer support groups out there, in your area and online. It will help to see and feel exactly what peer support can look and feel like in different contexts and attending to different needs. You’ll pick up structural…

HubOfHope.co.uk

If you are struggling with your mental health and don’t know where to go, you’re not alone. Knowing where to go to get support has notoriously not been easy, but with the new hubofhope.co.uk website - things are looking up. Hub Of Hope has been designed to bring together local,…