A huge congratulations to Kayley Easterbook for taking on the huge challenge of the Spartan Race last week.
"The event was brilliant, I really enjoyed myself." said Kayley who is raising money after her experience of PP.
Kayley endured the mud and obstacles after her hard work and training for the event:
"The white APP shirt got totally covered in mud but I wore it around nonetheless".
Thank you so much for doing this Kayley.
Please support her amazing effort by clicking here.
Lewis Roberts, a Medical Student researcher working with APP to understand the impact of the EastEnders storyline on women with experience of PP, presented his findings at the UK and Ireland Marcé Society (UKIMS) last week. Lewis tells us about the experience….
On Sept 15th, I attended the UKIMS annual meeting in central London. The day was led by a mixture of perinatal academics and practitioners, presenting a wealth of emerging research in the field of perinatal mental health. Topics ranged from paternal PTSD to the impact of antenatal antidepressant treatment. I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to present my research project at this event. The experience was a real privilege and something that I won’t forget.
The work that I presented investigated the impact of the recent EastEnders storyline, where the character Stacey experienced postpartum psychosis, on women with experience of the condition. After carrying out individual in-depth interviews with nine women recruited via APP, who had recovered from postpartum psychosis, five key recurring themes were found. The EastEnders portrayal impacted upon: ‘public education’, ‘stigma’, ‘personal disclosure’, ‘reassurance’ and ‘family relationships’. I briefly summarised each theme during my fifteen-minute talk, before highlighting some of clinical implications this work may have. These implications include identifying the significant impact that improved public understanding of postpartum psychosis has on women who have experience of the condition, aiding recovery and communication and decreasing stigma. The study highlights the potential benefits achievable, and risks to be aware of, for organisations like APP when collaborating with script writers in the production of future mental health drama storylines.
This was my first experience of presenting this work outside of university, and while I was excited at this prospect, I was very nervous about delivering a talk to an audience of eighty people. However, although I was unable to prevent my legs from trembling as I stood at the front of the conference room, I feel that I delivered this talk to the best of my ability, and couldn’t have asked for any more. The presentation was received well by the enthusiastic and inquisitive audience, and a few individuals approached me with questions about the research during the coffee break which followed my talk.
It was inspiring to spend a day amongst such an engaging group of professionals who were so passionate about perinatal mental health, and it has definitely encouraged me to pursue further research in this field of healthcare. I am extremely grateful to the Marcé society for giving me the opportunity to present this research, and I hope that I can build on this valuable experience by presenting this work to future audiences.
The shortlist for this year's Mind Media Awards features four powerfully told stories of postpartum psychosis. They are:
Mind's CEO, Paul Farmer said, "The media we consume, whether through TV documentaries, print news, digital blogs, radio or film, has a huge impact on people’s attitudes towards mental health problems."
We believe that all four of these sensitively told PP stories go some way to raise awareness of the symptoms, help reduce the stigma surrounding this mental illness and help those who develop Postpartum Psychosis get diagnosed and treated more quickly.
The winners will be announced on 14th November.
Congratulations to APP trustee Clare Dolman who has been invited to take part in the development of a national ten-year strategy for mental health research.
The recently published Five Year Forward View for Mental Health recommended that the Department of Health, working with others, should set out a ten-year strategy for mental health research. The work has been divided into different areas to cover Basic Research, Translational Research, Population and Health Services Research and Children and Young People.
Clare, who lectures at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London on service user research, often referring to examples from her own experience of bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis, has been asked to be Deputy Chair of the Population and Health Service working group. Clare said,
“I’m very pleased to have been asked to take part in this important exercise, especially as it enables me to represent people using mental health services, particularly perinatal services”.
Overseen by Professor Chris Whitty, the government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, these groups will meet over the next few months with a view to publishing recommendations next year.
This week also saw the launch of a paper written by Clare on on decision making in pregnancy for women with bipolar (see photo) which you can find here. Double congratulations!
We're delighted that two supporters are taking part in two different races to raise money for APP this October.
On 1st October, Kayley is taking part in the Spartan Sprint in Windsor Great Park. Spartan races are full on, featuring over 15 obstacles such as a rope climb, fire jump, tyre drag, wall climb and more over 5-6k. Kayley has been in serious training, lifting weights and getting Sprint fit.
Please wish her well and increase her motivation by sponsoring her amazing effort. All funds raised will go towards raising awareness of Postpartum Psychosis. We're hugely grateful to Kayley not only for signing up to this physical challenge but also for distributing our patient information guides in her local health services and sharing her personal story.
A few weeks later, Debbie takes on the Great South Run in memory of her cousin Rosy. It's a fast and flat 10 mile course through Southsea and Portsmouth. She's also been in training, running rain or shine and just got her APP vest and flyers in the post.
Please support Debbie's amazing efforts to raise vital funds to help keep our peer support and information services available to everyone who needs them.
Find out more about APP's work and read personal experience stories on our website. We provide the only PP peer support network in the UK.
Congratulations to APP Media Volunteer, Katy Chachou, who pulled out all the stops to get her story told in a sensitive, informative and positive way by the Daily Mail.
APP was contacted by freelance journalist Jane Feinmann following the paper's recent report on the tragic case of Alice Gibson-Watt.
Katy and her husband George were interviewed for the piece and a photographer sent to get pictures of mother and daughter today. Katy even agreed to be contacted while on holiday abroad to make the article happen.
Also included are some great quotes from APP Chair, Giles Berrisford, alongside informed comments from perinatal mental health experts Dr Judy Shakespeare and Dr Carrie Ladd from the Royal College of General Practitioners.
It's a great piece combining a traumatic personal experience with expert opinion. It demonstrates that PP can happen to any new mother but that full recovery is possible. We hope it will help raise awareness of PP among a large and new audience. Happily, the online article also carries a link to APP's website at the foot and embeds our stigma-busting video.
Huge thanks to Katy and Giles for their excellent work!
The Royal College of General Practitioners has launched a new Perinatal Mental Health Toolkit designed to support GPs and other healthcare professionals as a go-to collation of resources that could support them to deliver the care their patients with perinatal mental health conditions need.
But the Toolkit isn't just for GPs. It contains plenty of patient and even partner resources including APP's Insider Guides and Peer Support Service.
Dr Carrie Ladd, RCGP Clinical Fellow for Perinatal Mental Health, and lead on the PMH toolkit, said it "has been developed in consultation with women who have had perinatal mental health problems, and we hope it will give them the confidence to approach health professionals, and be better informed about their choices and what they should expect."
APP Chair, Dr Giles Berrisford gave a keynote presentation at the launch talking about NHS England's strategy for transforming perinatal mental health. Following the hashtag #PMHtoolkit on Twitter showed how positively the Toolkit is being received and a sense of optimism about the future of perinatal mental health services.
Find out more, take a look at the Perinatal Mental Health Toolkit on the RCGP website.
Could you support APP with a regular, monthly donation?
Monthly gifts give us a predictable income so we can commit to helping more women and families affected by PP. For example, by training more much-needed Peer Support Volunteers or sending our vital PP patient information out to more Mother and Baby Units across the UK.
Monthly gifts are really valuable as they give us a predictable income so we can commit to helping more women and families affected by PP. It's quick and easy to sign up and Gift Aid will be dealt with online. Just click on "make a monthly donation" from our charity page.
You can also set this up through JustGiving but their fees are higher so we receive a bit less of your generous donation.
If you prefer to set up a standing order with your bank these are the details you need to give them:
Our bank: HSBC
Account name: APP Network Ltd
Sort code: 40-15-20
Account number: 91839705
Please complete a Gift Aid form and return it to us and make your monthly donation worth even more. Thank you.
There are many different ways that you can help APP. Take a look at our fundraising page and browse latest fundraising news for more inspiration. Thank you very much.
