Work experience - Mental Health First Aid 2 Day Training

Hello! 

It's Thursday the 21st of August 21:23

Day 1 of the Mental health first aid training was today and it was AWESOME! Maybe a little long (9:30am to 5pm). 

I woke up pretty late, but still made it on time الحمد لله (thank God), I hate being late, too much awkwardness. 

The training day 1 was made up of two 3.5hours sessions. The first half they spent most of it introducing what mental health actually is by making us do brainstorming activities with different people. Once we did that we talked about clinical depression, the facts, the information and also the signs & symptoms. 

Definition: Clinical Depression: is one that lasts for at least two weeks and affects the young persons behaviour and has physical, emotional and cognitive effects. 

It also interferes with the ability to study, work and to have satisfying relationships. 

Natural brain chemicals called neurotransmitter, are thought to be the cause of depression and it's symptoms. These chemicals are messengers. The chemicals travel from nerve cell to nerve cell in the brain. When the person is depressed, their brain has less of these chemicals. The main chemical messenger in the brain which controls mood is, serotonin.

There are A LOT of different causes for depression, such as, exposure to family or community violence, death of someone close, or even just caring full-time for someone with a long-term disability. 

The interesting part was the stories different people had to say about their experiences. I would share them with you, but since I'm aiming to become a doctor, I need to practice patient confidentiality. 

First aid for depression:

1. Ask, assess, act

2. Listen non-judgementally

3. Give reassurance and information

4. Enable the person to get appropriate professional hell

5. Encourage self help strategies 

There are a number of useful places to seek help for a person who might be depressed or suffering from anxiety. 

- Your GP

- Psychiatrist

- Councellors and clinical psychologist

- Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)

- Interperosnal psychotherapy (IP) 

- Psychotherapist

- CAMHS, Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service. 

Anxiety

Firstly, we learnt the different types if anxiety, anxiety disorder and normal anxiety. Normal anxiety is the day to day anxiety everyone feels just before an exam etc. These causes never lead to panic attacks, whereas anxiety disorder lasts longer than usual and can eventually lead to panic attacks because it is more server and it also interferes with school, work and relationships. 

Examples of anxiety disorders include: 

- Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) 

- Panic disorders 

- Phobias 

- Social Phobias 

- Seperation anxiety disorder

- Actute stress disorder and list-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

- Obsessive- compulsive disorder (OCD) 

You can also find people with both anxiety and depression. Some people might need mediciations, whilst others need a councillor or psychiatrist. To each their own. 

At the end of the day we were given homework, the homework is to go home and take 1hour to do something you enjoy. Awesome right?!!! 

Today I've learnt that mental health has so many different aspects and forms. I've also learnt that it isn't easily recognised by the person or even the people around them. I've learnt that a certain situation can cause someone to become depressed whilst the same situation can cause no mental change to another person. 

 

Finding volunteer work for Medicine!

Hello!

It's Monday the 11th of August 2014 20:21 

Last time we spoke, well I said I was going to use the last 3 months of my holiday to do some reading. But um let's be honest here, no university reading has taken place at all. Lacking motivation I guess. I've got less than 2 months of my holiday left. 

So your probably reading this because your either looking for a hospital volunteering opportunity or your following the same path as me, either way, welcome! 

I've been STRUGGLING! To find some volunteering at a hospital or GP or a clinic but NADA! Nothing! ZILCH! 

That's really irritating because to apply for medicine you have to do some sort of health related volunteering, for a long time, to show your commitment I guess. 

Last month I applied for a 2 day mental health first aid training which is on the 21st and 22nd of August so I will let you know how that goes. It's completely free so I'll find a link for anyone who wants to gain a little health related experience. 

Link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mental-health-first-aid-youth-21st-and-22nd-august-2014-registration-11839322733?utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email_attendees&utm_term=event

I've also checked out the Do-it page, which you ain't familiar with, can I just say, YOUR MISSING OUT! Big time. There are sooooooo many opportunities on that website, just no hospital or GP related stuff I guess. But nevertheless an experience has to be gained so we need to find other places to volunteer. 

http://www.do-it.org.uk

If you can't already tell, I'm desperate. I NEEEEEEEED experience. So I applied to work with older people who are in care homes, to hold a reminiscing group. how awesome does that sound (p.s. I'm not being sarcastic). I also applied to become a friend for disabled, elderly or mental people. 

I've got a workshop for this on the 27th of August, so yeah I'm kind of excited. 

If I do end up working there, by the time I end up applying for medicine I could write about the experience and include the fact that I worked there for over a year (estimate, from September 2014 to October 2013). I'm planning on staying with them even after I apply for medicine, obviously depends if I actually like it or if I'm good at it. 

I just wanted to say to you all, no matter what experience you need, apply for anything close enough to what you need even if it is something you don't want. Like I would LOVE to volunteer at a hospital but no one ever replies. So I have to go and apply for the next best thing. 

About 2 years ago, I was looking for somewhere to volunteer and found a great opportunity at St Johns ambulance.  Trainings were usually in the evenings so mum told me to not go. I wish I didn't quit but I guess what's meant to happen will happen. 

Just remember that it's not what type of volunteering you found that matters but what you've learnt. 

Now I've got the experience part out the way, I guess next thing is about hobbies? 

Until next time ^_^