Mental healthy

The today my great news mental health support on all human.  All in the Mind has been following the
progress a scheme called Think Ahead,
which trains high-flying graduates to
become a new generation of mental
health social workers. A bit like Teach
First, they are taught mostly on the job
with a lot of special support. Not
everyone in the field supports the idea
but there has been no shortage of
applicants. One of the first trainees,
Charlotte Seymour who used to work in
the legal field, is now based in east
London where her clients' needs vary -
from very practical help with sorting
out rent arrears to emotional support
when they fear their mental health is
deteriorating. She met Emma during a
stay in hospital, under section and her
mental health is now vastly improved.
But a family bereavement has affected
her deeply. Despite not eating or
sleeping for days she keeps her
appointment with Charlotte to discuss
how to keep herself safe at this
difficult time.
In our Insiders' Guide series - if you've
been referred to mental health services,
what can you expect to happen at that
first appointment? Lisa Rodrigues who
has had mental health issues herself
and has long experience managing
mental health services and Sri Kalidindi,
a psychiatrist with South London and
Maudsley NHS Trust explain what's
involved. This includes building up a
good rapport and the taking of a full
medical history - including traumatic
life events and social circumstances.
This helps to establish a diagnosis.
Making a list might help if you are
anxious - but you should also be
realistic as most problems aren't sorted
out straight away. A mental illness
might make you feel like you don't
deserve help - but everyone does, so
it's important to go along to that first
appointment with an open mind.
If you're not sure about something how
do you make a decision? Who should
you believe if you rely on others to help
you decide? Researchers have found
that if someone appears confident then
we are likely to be influenced by them -
our brains literally tune in to confident
people. Psychologist Dr Dan Campbell-
Meiklejohn from the University of
Sussex has scanned the brains of
people and discovered that they assess
the confidence of others using a
specific part at the front of the brain, in
the prefrontal cortex. He asked people
to play a computer game - with a
"virtual" jar of marbles - where the
colour of the next one pulled out had to
be predicted. Computer-generated
faces - with more or less confident
expressions - helped to influence their
decisions.