British Musician, Adam Lanceley’s world was turned upside down when only ten years old when he was involved in a devastatingly severe car accident that left him with life changing injuries.
The doctor told him he would likely never be able to walk or talk again. Adam defied the odds and was able to turn his life around.
Though a creative musical soul, sportsman and high-achieving academic, Adam suffered deeply with his mental health.
Experiencing PTSD, severe anxiety and depression, he has spent most of his life living alongside these intrusive mental health struggles, which many of us can relate to.
Adam is a testament to proving that positivity and handwork can enable you to create a better life for yourself whilst also openly discussing and navigating through the negative mental health encounters along the way.
Adam said: “I really don’t remember much of my life before the car crash – just various images – nothing I can connect together in a storyline, though.
“I know I was a very good sportsman, and I know I was a very high achiever academically. “
He added: “I also know I put a hell of a lot of pressure on myself in everything I did!
“But everything just seemed to go black for a while.
“What I remember about regaining consciousness, I’m sure, isn’t the way it was, as in it was probably far more gradual & sporadic than how it’s come to seem to me.
“My life since then has been like several different mini-lives. When I knew I wouldn’t be able to pursue a career in sport any more, I felt totally at a loss.
The musician stated that he tried acting, which he found he had a natural talent for, even getting into The BRIT School and East 15 Acting School, one of the centres of excellence for drama in the country. However he started to suffer from severe depression and other mental health afflictions.
Adam said: ” I was quite lucky to meet a musician at a part-time job I had who encouraged me to write things I struggled to deal with and have been at college with a sound engineer.
“Without these two things, I don’t know if music would’ve found me.”
For any budding musicians put there Adam said music is a far more effective way of combatting mental health issues than hiding behind someone else’s character.
If you or anyone you know has a life changing experience that you would like to share with us email admin@looneychickblog.co.uk.
After reading an article I have to question how useful celebs and charities are when it comes to mental health talks and campaigns?
Social media influencer Joe Sugg is an ambassador for Every Mind Matters, with TV personality Scarlett Moffatt an ambassador for the Samaritans.
Princes William and Harry and the Duchess of Cambridge are also patrons of and founded the mental health charity, Heads Together.
Its all very well having all these charities and celebs who give talks every other mental health day or week but what have they done for mental health.
There are lots of mental health charities here in the UK, however, we still have a rise in mental health especially during the COVID lockdowns.
Its all very well raising money for mental health but who and where does the money actually go to?
Celebrities might not be being paid but they do get travel costs paid for.
Would the money not be better spent on treatments and researching mental health?
Having worked for a charity before I know that everyone who works at these charities (accept the volunteers) earn a significant amount of money especially the CEO’s.
For example did you know that the CEO for Mind, Richard Brook earns £72,800 per year?
Royalty are also raking in the money as patrons.
They don’t actually do a lot of work just a few media talks and visits and the charity has to pay for their appearances and security.
Back in 2018 Theresa May’s 2018 Green Paperon transforming childrenand young people’s mental health committed to a radical £300 million shake-up of support in schools.
The government promised its plans would tackle the “burning injustice” of mental health illness.
However, the government have now used the pandemic as an excuse for not delivering and with rising numbers in both young and older people more funding and staff are needed.
The NHS Long Term Plan, published on 7 January 2019, provided a number of further commitments to improve mental health services.
On adult mental health services, the Plan committed to providing an additional 380,000 people per year with access to adult psychological therapies by 2023/24.
It also stated that new services to support patients going through a mental health crisis would be introduced.
I have personally contacted many local mental health charities for help and reached out to the CMHS on many occasions.
Out of the charities I have contacted I have only had success with two, Penhaligan who I’m currently having counselling with and Mind in Devon.
I’m still waiting for Waves Counselling to contact me, I haven’t heard anything from them since my telephone assessment a few months ago.
I received a letter from Trevillis House inviting me to a one off appointment to assess my needs. But I don’t hold out much hope. Watch this space.
Summer is on its way and with lockdown easing its healthy to get into the perfect inspiring morning routine.
‘Morning Routine’ has had an average of 6.6k Google searches per month over the past year, and Google Trends shows the searches are constantly increasing.
Wellness experts at Eden’s Gate have delved into the morning routines of our favourite celebs and influencers to discover how we can take their tips and tricks to transform mornings into the most positive part of our day.
Louise Thompson
Made In Chelsea’s Louise Thompson loves to start her day early, often waking up before 6 am.
Ex-party girl Louise has had a complete lifestyle overhaul over the past few years, leading to her starting her own fitness and wellness brand turtle (formally Live Like Louise) with a large community of subscribers.
Typical Morning Routine:
6 am – Wake up
6.15 am – Drink a pint of hot water and lemon
7 am – Fitness Class with Trtle community (Yoga, Hiit, Weights depending on day)
8 am – Go for a Walk
Ryan Libbey
Personal trainer and Made In Chelsea cast-member Ryan Libbey is a proud member of the 5 am club.
The idea is to wake up at 5 am on weekdays to start your day with purpose and end it with satisfaction.
Ryan is a firm believer that when your alarm goes off at 5 am if you can make the great decision to wake up, you’ll make good decisions for the rest of the day.
Typical Morning Routine:
5 am – Wake up
5.15 am – Journal – Write down what you want to achieve that day to start the day feeling organised and on top of your to-do list.
6 am – Read a chapter of the book – Make a coffee or tea and take the time to relax and enjoy a chapter of your favourite book. Ryan likes to read inspirational non-fiction books such as Shoe Dog by Phil Knights or Atomic Habits by James Clear.
6.30 am – Go for a walk – Ryan walks his dog Koji daily and says it helps to clear his head; he enjoys the tranquillity of being awake and outside whilst the world is sleeping.
7 am – Fitness Class with Trtle community (Yoga, Hiit, Weights depending on day)
Zara McDermott
Ex Love Islander and Made In Chelsea cast member Zara McDermott has become a poster girl for fitness and a healthy lifestyle, using her Instagram page @adaywithzara to share recipes, workouts and more with her followers.
Typical Morning Routine:
8.30 am – Wake up
9 am – Breakfast (porridge or protein granola with almond milk, blueberries and raspberries)
10 am – 90-minute workout
Joe Wicks
Joe Wicks, AKA The Body Coach, is a huge advocate of HIIT training.
He says, “I love smashing my workouts in the morning. It gives me loads of energy and sets me up for the day.
I’m more productive and just generally happier after I exercise.” Joe is also an advocate for morning meditation, saying “Meditation helped me to slow down, breathe, and let myself go to a place of calm and peaceful presence I’d never been to before.
To be honest, I don’t do it consistently, and I don’t always enjoy it.
But I do it about three or four days a week, which I feel is perfect for me.”
Typical Morning Routine:
8 am – Wake up
9 am – Workout (PE with Joe or filming for The Body Coach TV on YouTube
10 am – Meditation (3-4 days a week)
Sarah Ashcroft
Sarah Ashcroft is a fashion, beauty and lifestyle influencer on Instagram (1.2 mil followers) and Youtube (263k subscribers).
Typical Morning Routine:
8 am – Wake up
8.50am – Tidy apartment
9.15 am – Workout 30 mins
10 am – Make smoothie (Banana, coconut milk, ice, vanilla protein)
11 am (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays only) – Run 2k
Also, I’m not manipulative, I would do anything for the people in my world, and sometimes I feel they need protection from this cruel world with cruel people.
I’m not a game player or someone who likes to hurt people.
I want the best for my family and friends, but sadly, no one sticks around to help.
To all the thoughtless, narrow-minded judgemental idiots who think I’m a lesbian, guess what?
You will be disappointed to hear that I’m not, I have trust issues
I can’t even keep friendships for longer than 5 minutes.
Unlike some, I’m not someone who flaunts myself on social media, has fake eyelashes and is full of lip filler to impress the abusive man who never noticed you.
I’m not one of those pretty girls who needs hair extensions and a ton of make-up to make myself feel good.
A real friend wouldn’t hold my past against me or accuse me of things I haven’t done.
You treat me like a freak for taking anti-depressants and constantly criticise.
When I listen to you and stop taking them, the side effects are crippling.
To all the people that have left or no longer want to know me, it’s your loss.
To threaten and taunt me with the one thing that gives me nightmares and nightmares.
Then you tell my parents and me you don’t want to know me.
Accusing me of following your family on social media.
A friend for life! You’re the cruel one, and I hope you sleep knowing no one would do the kind things I did when you were down.
I’m not like them, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a person who can have fun.
You tried to break me, made me want to end it all, and you failed.
I’m not perfect, but do I deserve to be treated like a killer recluse?
Hated and left like a toy you no longer use?
It’s Mental Health Awareness Week 2021, and I’m trying to put the message out there.
Be strong, and don’t let the bullies get to you.
If you are struggling, call one of the numbers on the helpline page.
Due to the devastating struggle for counselling in Cornwall, I’ve been having counselling with Penhaligan as the community mental health team is non-existent during the pandemic.
The devastating struggle for counselling in Cornwall has become so severe that I have struggled a lot as have many others during the pandemic.
This led me to seek out emergency crisis teams such as Valued Lives and Mind due to no mental health treatments or support available between 2020 and 2021.
I’m now into my third year of having no mental health support from the Community Mental Health Team, so I’ve had counselling off Penhaligon in Cornwall.
December 2018 was my last CAT therapy appointment at Bolitho House in Penzance, but since moving to South East Cornwall, I’ve had one assessment at Trevillis House.
The psychiatrist told me I would have to accept my original diagnosis, even though they feel it’s incorrect. I’ve been on a waiting list for coping strategy therapy since Summer 2019.
I contacted Value Lives, a crisis centre, after Christmas, and they put me in touch with a free service called Penhaligon counselling.
Within a few weeks, a lady contacted me, and I had one session. Unfortunately, she was unable to continue, so I was put back on the list.
After a week, a man contacted me to say he would be happy to give me some sessions via Zoom due to the pandemic face to face.
Penhaligon Counselling offers free or by donation counselling services from Cornwall College students who are training to be counsellors.
During my sessions, I have been looking at some of the exercises in my CBT and DBT.
Two Exercises that have stood out for me are the REST technique when you look at a situation and write it down and evaluate it.
At first, I thought when I’m angry or upset, I don’t see reason, and like many others, I lash out without looking at the bigger picture.
For example, I could be upset because someone hasn’t messaged me back.
Instead of thinking the person no longer likes me, I should be looking at other options, such as the REST technique.
The second exercise I looked at was emotions and how they link to behaviours.
If being generous makes you happy and is not met with the correct response, upset and anger come out.
When contacting the CMHS team at Trevillis House in Liskeard I was told that I hadn’t been contacted by them due to a lack of staff during the pandemic. So as sad as it is I’m not surprised when I read about the rise in suicides in the last year.
Have you or your loved ones ever tried these techniques? Did they work? What strategies work for you? Let us know in the comments below or on our social media pages.
This is the first-ever box I have reviewed, and being a thirty-something year old I found that the price was a little steep at £25 a month or £75 every three months, and that’s not including postage. Postage costs depend on the type of subscription you choose.
When opening Teen Calm’s Self-Care box, I picked out a card that I will be keeping on the office’s notice board. It’s a good idea to look at positive messages throughout the day.
The next thing to pull out is 54 ways to ease the anxious mind cards. My 10-year old niece and I will be looking at these more closely when we have our chill time in the cabin. Watch out for a blog post on these at a later date.
I then picked out Aromatherapy bath potion sea salt infused with a blend of pure essential oils. This is the perfect thing to use after a long day at school or work.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a bath, so a pity its not or bath and showers. My niece will be enjoying a long relaxing soak in a tub after forest school. I usually have showers to help me relax after a long day.
The handmade lavender soap was a lovely idea. The soap is made by a company called Grace’s Generation.
The worry doll was one of the best surprises as I’ve never seen or heard of these before. The story of the original Guatemalan worry people, apparently you put the doll under your pillow when you go to bed, and in the morning, your worries will disappear. Not sure it works, but I love the doll and the idea.
One of the best items inside the box has to be The Teenage Guide to Stress book, which briefly covers essential teenage issues such as friendships, exams, education, sex, depression, drink and drugs and eating disorders. If a book like this had been available when I was younger, I would have purchased it. I’m happy for my niece to read this as she needs to be aware of these life problems.
This book is available to purchase from £6.55 on Amazon.
The final item I picked out of the box was a pack of love hearts that I will share with my niece as a bit of a treat.
Teen Calm boxes are definitely great for teens as well as young adults. I would love to receive one of these from a family member or friend when I’m feeling low.
Teen Calm’s boxes make me smile as they are packed with full-size random products with fun, exciting new things to try.
I would also say you get more than your money’s worth in this box, and not many other packages have full-size products. These make lovely surprise gifts for pre-teens, teenagers or adults especially during lockdown or other stressful periods such as exams etc.
If you are reading this, but you don’t have a chronic illness or mental health. Self-Care is for absolutely anyone. Self-care is essential to practice daily.
Let us know if you or your teenagers practice self-care?
The CBT Good Habit Journal was the first book I read based on cognitive behaviour therapy.I received it for Christmas two years ago and have decided to share my thoughts and feelings on this.
CBT is a talking therapy that can help you change the ways in which you think to help you deal with overwhelming problems in a positive way by breaking down them down.
The exercises can make you think about your future and the goals you want to achieve in life.
I’m going to revisit CBT and fill in some of the challenging tasks within this book with my therapist. It will be interesting to see if my goals are the same as they were two years ago and in a year from now.
I have had 6 CBT sessions with Outlook SouthWest, but unfortunately, I felt more work was needed.
I also had a private counsellor who I used as recommended by my previous company healthcare plan. After I left the company, I continued to work with the same psychologist privately until she became ill.
My doctor contacted CMHS (The Community Mental Health Team), who also gave me six CAT therapy sessions before discharging me due to lack of funds, then again when I moved areas.
For those of you who are a bit unsure about CBT, I would suggest buying this book and working through the exercises alone or with a therapist.
I’m going to work with a therapist because I’m struggling to do some exercises alone.
I’m currently working on knowing myself and looking at how I think and learning different ways to cope with these thoughts.
Keeping a journal is a great way to express your thoughts and feelings and to get to know yourself better.
Getting your thoughts and goals down on paper helps release stress, solve problems, and turn those dreams into reality.
Since using The CBT Good Habit Journal, I’ve learnt how to communicate and look at things differently. I’ve also engaging better with CBT this time around than previously.
It can take a while to sink in as habits are often grained deep inside the mind from a young age.
This journal has made me think carefully about how I come across and how I can be a better version of myself, and how I can interact and think differently.
A PR company sent me Hope with Eating Disorders book to review as this is a subject that many of you may have experienced.
Lynn Crilly gives an insight from a personal perspective on what it’s like to be a mother with a daughter suffering from an eating disorder.
In its second edition, the self-help book is available online at Amazon and other book stores for £15.99.
Hope with Eating disorders isn’t a book for sufferers, its a book written by a mother who wants to get her message across on how to help family members overcome eating disorders.
Lynn openly shares the struggles and pain she and her family went through when her daughter Samantha was diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa and OCD in her early teens.
During her daughter’s recovery, Lynn sets up her own counselling business to help educate other parents, carers, siblings and friends about mental illness and treatments and how to support their loved ones.
The book is divided into 12 chapters explaining what eating disorders are and breaking down in simple terms treatments and their impact on loved ones.
Would I purchase Hope with Eating Disorders?
The book is helpful if you have loved ones suffering from an eating disorder. The way Lynn writes this is engaging and easy to read. This is a raw, heartbreaking story with a positive outcome that makes this book worth reading.
The author does not hold back, and Lynn is proof of someone who is positive, and by sticking to methods, she believes in giving family and friends and even eating disorder sufferers hope in their recovery.
I would purchase this book as it gives insight from another person’s point of view instead of the sufferer. I’ve suffered many issues over the years, but this book makes me see things from another perspective.
Let us know your thoughts about the book? Would you purchase the book? Why or why not?
Its important to keep moving your mental health forward as the country stands still with daily routines are disrupted due to COVID.
In the world prior to the pandemic, we were each in our routine, consistently doing the same actions .
Going to work, meeting friends, and doing the things important to maintaining our mental health (that might have been exercise, meditation etc).
As creatures of habit, when we find something that does a reasonable job, we tend to stick with it, even if it’s not the best possible option.
This is what marketing people call ‘satisficing’; where we take the first thing that we deem to be satisfactory for the problem we face, and we run with it.
With so many changes to our daily living, and a huge increase in time spent at home, the normal routine has been blown out of the water.
But what this does give us, if we use it wisely, is time and space to explore.
There will almost certainly be things you wouldn’t dream of giving up.
It could be that your morning meditation sets you up for a productive day, or an evening run helps you to clear your mind.
There is no need to drop them, but there is a chance to discover new options that ordinarily you wouldn’t have imagined.
As with anything new, it can be a little scary – new people, new environments, new things to learn, all of which can make experimenting with new things more daunting.
The best part of our current circumstances is almost every business has had to move online, or at least provide some form of online service.
This means you are free to try as many new things as you want from the comfort of your own home.
This is an opportunity to really go and explore as many different tools, approaches and methods to help you feel as good as you possibly can.
Although you can’t control the world on the outside, now is the time to optimise your world on the inside.
Have you thought dancing could be the energy and morale booster you’d love but have never quite made a class?
Have you heard arts and crafts help people to feel calm and grounded but didn’t quite get the equipment you needed to get started?
Or maybe you’ve wanted to stick to a 30 day yoga series but life kept getting in the way.
Regardless of the obstacles that prevented it in the past, if you act quickly, you can use this time to begin exploring new possibilities for how you can boost your mood and your body.
As well as pushing past the ‘satisficing’ barrier to discover alternative ways of keeping yourself feeling good, it also provides novel and interesting experiences.
So you get to find what feels good for you, while keeping yourself busy and your brain stimulated.
To get you started, all you need is to sit down with a pen and paper, and brainstorm as many ideas as you can.
Be creative, be unrealistic to start with, let your imagination run wild. As you do you’ll open yourself up to new thinking, and different, more practical ideas will flow towards you.
Once you’ve made your list, prioritise the most intriguing, and create a plan to start experimenting.
If one thing is for sure, you’ll be able to look back on this period and see it as the catalyst to moving your mental health forwards.
So as we approach the one year anniversary of almost constant disruption and uncertainty, we can all be forgiven for having some dips in our mental health.
Human beings are creatures of habit, and we really enjoy the feeling of certainty; from knowing you’ve bought the right house to picking your perfect life partner, that feeling of certainty helps us feel safe and comfortable.
How to keep moving your mental health forward
This is an opportunity to really go and explore as many different tools, approaches and methods to help you feel as good as you possibly can.
Although you can’t control the world on the outside, now is the time to optimise your world on the inside.
Have you thought dancing could be the energy and morale booster you’d love but have never quite made a class?
Have you heard arts and crafts help people to feel calm and grounded but didn’t quite get the equipment you needed to get started?
Or maybe you’ve wanted to stick to a 30 day yoga series but life kept getting in the way.
Regardless of the obstacles that prevented it in the past, if you act quickly, you can use this time to begin exploring new possibilities for how you can boost your mood and your body.
As well as pushing past the ‘satisficing’ barrier to discover alternative ways of keeping yourself feeling good, it also provides novel and interesting experiences.
So you get to find what feels good for you, while keeping yourself busy and your brain stimulated.
To get you started, all you need is to sit down with a pen and paper, and brainstorm as many ideas as you can.
Be creative, be unrealistic to start with, let your imagination run wild.
As you do you’ll open yourself up to new thinking, and different, more practical ideas will flow towards you.
Once you’ve made your list, prioritise the most intriguing, and create a plan to start experimenting.
If one thing is for sure, you’ll be able to look back on this period and see it as the catalyst to moving your mental health forwards.
Let us know how your mental health has been moving forward during the pandemic and lockdown?
Have you taken up any new hobbies or gone back to an old hobby?
