Category: Your health



Covid19 – Coronavirus

At this worrying time many of us are experiencing stress or anxiety so we have brought together some resources that may help.



Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia, also known as Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), is a condition that affects muscle coordination and perception (this can include balance, vision, memory, hearing and the awareness of where your limbs are in space).

It is a complex neurological condition which exists as a condition on its own, but is often found together with Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome or joint hypermobility.

Movement and fine motor co-ordination difficulties may manifest in being accident-prone, having difficulty with handwriting and body imbalance resulting in headaches. There may also be a range of co-occurring difficulties which could include challenges in planning, organising, completing tasks, pronunciation of some words, sequencing words, seeing words “shimmer” on a page and memory.

While Development Coordination Disorder is often regarded as an umbrella term to cover motor coordination difficulties, Dyspraxia refers to people who have the additional challenges outlined above and it affects up to four times more men than women.

Alongside these issues, Dyspraxics often have a highly developed critical function making them good at problem solving; have the potential to think very quickly and are instinctive communicators.

“The fact I work in a creative industry probably helps. We Dyspraxics think in a different way”

Florence Welch


Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression)

Going through bipolar mood states can be extremely difficult to cope with but support is available

Bipolar Disorder, also referred to as manic depression, is a serious condition marked by alternating periods of elation or mania- feeling very high and overactive followed by episodes of depression.

According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists about one in every 100 adults has Bipolar Disorder at some point in their life and men and women are affected equally. The ArtsMinds survey showed that 324 respondents had experienced strong mood swings in the six months prior to the survey and 109 had been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.

The causes are not fully understood but it is thought that a combination of elements can work together to cause it.  NHS Choices state that “extreme stress, overwhelming problems and life changing events are thought to contribute, as well as genetic and chemical factors”.

There are two types of the disorder and although usually a long term condition, effective treatments can curtail its impact on daily life. There are also support groups and a lot of advice for living with Bipolar.

“Diagnosed Bipolar. Currently seeing a psychologist for Cognitive Analytical Therapy. Been quite stable the last 6 months despite not taking psychiatric drugs”



“I was diagnosed bi-polar in 2012 after decades of manic depressive swings. Have been on Lithium since then - a wonder drug”



Talking therapies

Want to find out about therapy or finding an accredited therapist?

Talking therapies or talking treatments include counselling and psychotherapy. Counselling usually refers to a short period of treatment that centres around behaviour patterns. Psychotherapy focuses on working with clients for a longer-term and draws from insight into emotional problems and difficulties. During talking therapy, a trained therapist listens to you and helps you find your own answers to problems, without judging you. It’s an opportunity to look at your problems in a different way with someone who’ll respect and encourage your opinions and the decisions you make.  Such therapies can help with difficult experiences or feelings or some mental health disorders.

In our survey, 1347 people had talking therapy on the NHS and 1277 had undertaken this privately. 1213 people said they had found the therapy very helpful, 875 moderately helpful and 536 said the therapy had not helped at all.  Respondents mentioned CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy ), CAT (Cognitive Analytic Therapy) and DIT  (Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy) but there is a range of talking therapies available.

Before undertaking any type of talking therapy you need to be sure of the therapists’ credentials, what the therapy involves, how long it might take and how much it might cost if you are not accessing it through the NHS.  Be aware that anyone can call themselves a counsellor, a psychotherapist or a psychologist, even if they have only done a short weekend training course – or have no training at all- so do make every effort to check things out properly.

“Talking therapy was most useful to support me through the worst times.”



“Needed to go to GP before rehearsals as I couldn't stop crying, was stressed and not sleeping . Given psychotherapy on NHS. Fully recovered a year later.”



Sleep

Sleep is closely linked to mental and physical well-being. Are you worried you are getting too little or too much?

In order to live well we all need regular and efficient sleep, but in our business this is not always easy to achieve. Working at night, touring, odd hours, anxiety, different time zones, very early starts, can all present challenges to sleeping.

In our survey, 2112 people said they suffered from poor or disrupted sleep and 958 said they got too little sleep.  Within these responses, erratic sleep patterns, on-going insomnia, sleep deprivation or sleeping too much are all raised as adversely affecting mental health.                                                                                    

 

“ Anxiety started after working away from home in the theatre for nine months during which I suffered badly with insomnia. ”



Self-esteem

Self-esteem affects how we think and relate to other people and has a direct bearing on our well-being

Self-esteem is an aspect of the way we view ourselves, the overall opinion we have of ourselves and the value we place on ourselves as people. Low self-esteem means that the tone of this opinion is negative.

Of course, most of us have mixed opinions of ourselves, but if you constantly feel you are inadequate or inferior it could have a damaging effect on your life.  Some 46% of people who replied to our survey question concerning experience of mental health problems in the preceding six months, listed low self-esteem. Some of these commented on the particular nature of the entertainment industry and the feeling that the performer has little control as being a major part of their problems in this area.

“an overall nagging sense of failure is something that I do fight with ”