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Please Note: This is the Official Your Voice in Sheffield Mental Health Website; the website based at the old address "yourvoicesheffield.org.uk" has nothing to do with us and does not have adequate information on mental health. Please Note
Main Electronic Links -- Continuing  | Per Issue  |
There is a £10 book voucher for the best letter published in each issue -- subject to the Editor's judgement.
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See Your Voice eBook Launch
and extra albums 1 , 2 and 3
Coming Soon "Analysis with Frodo and other Stories . . ." eBook  (use "view image" -- right click -- to view) Costs £4 with free bibliographies on Recovery, Creativity and Wider Mental Health (There's been a major delay; we hope to have it all working sometime.)
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You can become a Forum member by following the Forum directions under "Register". Applications are checked electronically to avoid having people who do not care about mental health service users, carers and professionals in the field, messing things up for those who do. Usually these would-be members are stopped from joining, protecting the privacy of the small number of people who have joined and contributed. The Forum is a resource for everyone who is genuine, no matter the views, so long as they are legal. All postings are vetted but will not be needlessly censored. No images or attachments may be posted at present. Any such items should be sent to webmaster@yourvoicesheffield.org .
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Your Voice in Sheffield Mental Health magazine.
Web Home.
We hope you find the magazine interesting.
In the meantime, if you need to contact us:
Our Address: Our Phone Number:
Your Voice 0114 242 3675
Office
Woodbourne Business Centre
Jessell Street
Sheffield, S9 3HY
If you wish to discuss publishing an article, poem, image or other content relating to mental health in Sheffield or the wider world, or if you have a letter for the editor, please contact mailto:editor@yourvoicesheffield.org F.A.Q. (click on a question below)
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My "nerves" are in tatters. Sometimes I feel shaky. I
can't get out much. I have panic attacks (feels a bit like
I'm going to die of a heart attack). What's wrong with me?
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You, dear friend, have an anxiety condition. Humans have
two natural ways of escaping danger -- running away (flight)
or standing firm and defending oneself (fight). Since we no
longer live in the kinds of societies where these basic
responses worked, we sometimes can't fight, and we have
no-where to run away to. The result is "danger turned
inwards" -- you become hyper-sensitive, hyper-critical and
hyper-worried. Your body reacts by producing more and more
of the "danger hormones" (like cortisone) which in turn lead
to rapid heart beats and blood pressure, sometimes headaches
and a constant "hung-over" feeling -- dry mouth, sweating,
palpitations, etc.
Entrenched anxiety leads pretty quickly to depression if you
don't tackle it.
Treatment may require some short-term medication, but at
some point you ought to try Cognitive Behavioural Therapy,
which can stop you feeling so bad by teaching you how to
confront negative influences in your thinking.
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I worry about my mental health. I don't want to be "mad".
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The problem is with people's idea of "mad". Most people
with mental health worries would never be noticed as "mad".
Even really "mad" people can't understand why they do what
they do some of the time. They worry, too -- or at least I
do, and I can be really, really "mad" occasionally.
Fortunately, with the help of "Your Voice in Sheffield
Mental Health" magazine and website, as well as loads of
doctors, nurses and a few psychiatrists, I'm now able to
worry less.
It's all about being honest with yourself, and then with
others you seek out to help you. And you've got to be
careful not to let others get you carried away by this or
that "agenda" or cult or ideology that seems to be really
bizarre. There have traditionally been many nasty people --
con-men and con-women -- in the mental health arena. They
will steal your soul if you let them, and they hide beneath
a thin veneer of pseudo-science and phony medicine.
"Your Voice" is a good guide to avoiding some bad stuff and
adopting some good stuff. And it's written by service
users, carers and professionals connected with Sheffield and
the surrounding area.
There are 12 years of archives of such writings on the
website at http://www.yourvoicesheffield.org
Send any questions you have to the editor.
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Someone told me I am depressed. Does this mean I have to be
treated? I don't want to take medicines.
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Depression just means low feelings. It happens every day,
and we get used to dealing with it.
When low feelings persist and eat away your own self-image,
making everything you feel or do seem useless, making your
self-worth shatter -- that becomes Clinical Depression.
If you have this more unusual kind of depression, then in my
opinion you need help. For a short time, that may mean
medicine, though there may be other ways. Talk with your
doctor!
You can only be required to take medication if you are "a
danger to yourself or others", and most anti-depressant
medicines are relatively safe; known side-effects can be
monitored.
Untreated depression usually worsens if you are using
alcohol a lot, have problems with cocaine, methamphetamine
or pills, or are isolated, not by choice.
You need to keep up a good diet, including carbohydrates,
proteins, a small amount of fat, a lot of fibre, and all the
vitamins and minerals you get from fruit, green, red and
orange vegetables, yeast extract (Marmite, Vegemite, mild
beer etc.) and nuts, berries, etc. If your diet becomes
inadequate, your depression will continue or decline.
Talking Therapies are OK for depression in mild to moderate
cases, but not so good in Severe Depression.
Aside from being miserable, the biggest danger of depression
is suicide. From my own experiences, I can tell you that
the suicidal acts can come with little notice. What you
have to keep a look out for is the suicidal ideas; MOST
people with depression have these frequently, and there is
nothing wrong with this. But if you find that you have a
plan for suicide, TELL SOMEONE. Samaritans are available on
the phone 24 hours a day, and they will talk with you about
your problems, possibly signposting some ways of getting
practical help. Samaritans' numbers are always in the front
few pages of the Phone Book. If you can't get a phone book,
dial one of the connection and search numbers.
"Acute depression" usually goes away in most people, once
the causative event (such as bereavement) is accepted and
time and social involvement take over. Rarely, acute
depression becomes continuing depression and must be treated
unless you wish to let it fester. We all have acute
depressions in our lives; these do not need to kill us.
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Sometimes, I just can't stop talking, or doing stuff, or
thinking about dozens of things at the same time. I feel
"high", but very confused. I've had this before, and it's
always different. Most episodes last a few hours, some a
few days, and one went on for a month or so. Is this mania,
and does that mean I'm a manic-depressive, or bipolar?
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Maybe, and maybe not. Bipolar disorders vary a lot. The
old term "manic-depressive" was superseded by "bipolar 1" in
the 1980s, though it is still often used. Very few people
are manic-depressive (about 8 per 1000). In this main
condition, mood is stable for periods of time, followed by
mood instability, ranging from psychotic and suicidal
depression, to really, really driving forms of
hyperactivity, recklessness, cocaine-like sense of joy and
power, and everything seeming endowed with meaning. People
with this kind of bipolar need fairly permanent medication,
and a certain loss of freedom (especially over finances).
Since the 1980s, other forms of "bipolar" have been
identified, though there is a lot of dispute about the
differential diagnosis of each. As a result, "bipolar" has
become over-diagnosed, belittling the seriousness of the
main condition.
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Jozef Sen, of Sheaf Domestic Abuse's Janus Project
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We are grateful to Friends of Your Voice who support the aims and objectives of the organisation.
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¨ Clive Betts, MP for Sheffield Attercliffe
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¨ Rt Hon David Blunkett, MP for Sheffield Brightside
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¨ Rt Hon Richard Caborn, MP for Sheffield Central
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¨ Rt Hon Nick Clegg, MP for Sheffield Hallam, Deputy Prime Minister
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¨ Meredydd Hughes, Chief Constable, South Yorkshire Police
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¨ Prof FA Jenner, Professor of Psychiatry (retired), University of Sheffield
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¨ Meg Munn, MP for Sheffield Heeley
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¨ Tony Pedder, Chairman, Sheffield PCT
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¨ Kathryn Riddle, Chairman, NHS Yorkshire and Humber
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¨ Cllr Mick Rooney, Sheffield City Council
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¨ Angela C Smith, MP for Sheffield Hillsborough
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¨ David Stone, OBE, Chair, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
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¨ Alan Walker, Chairman, Sheffield Health and Social Care Trust
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¨ Nick Warren, Chief Executive, Voluntary Action Sheffield
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Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the input that the Sheffield community makes to the ongoing success of Your Voice. NHS Sheffield provides our core funding and we have also received financial support from Sheffield City Council. We benefit from the training and accountancy projects administered by VAS and we enjoy excellent relationships with other user led, voluntary and community mental health organisations in the city. Our greatest debt of gratitude is reserved for all of our contributors and readers - we wouldn't exist without you.
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in Your Voice are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily represent those of the Editorial Team. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, we cannot be held responsible for alterations which occur during the publication process.
Articles are copyright of Your Voice and individual contributors. In principle we are happy for articles to be reprinted in other publications provided that Your Voice is acknowledged but we would be grateful if you would contact us first so that we can obtain the writer's permission.
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