It's good to talk ... and text

WE'RE always being told that it's good to talk. But, now we're in the 21st century, we've discovered that it's also good to text.

Which is why the New Forest's new five-strong assertive outreach team is using every modern method in the book to help them connect with people with mental health problems who are afraid or unwilling to face up to the fact that they're unwell.

"It means you go out to try to get them. Some will be people who are very reluctant to take medication or have a chaotic lifestyle, who are often involved in substance misuse or are regularly in trouble with the police or are being evicted from their home," says locality manager Peter Smith, who heads up New Forest adult mental health services.

"They are quite troubled people who don't accept they have a problem.

"The team will visit people. They'll meet with them and take them to McDonalds if that's what it takes. They'll often keep in touch by texting as nearly everyone seems to have a mobile phone."

With an annual budget of £5m and 200 staff, the forest's adult mental health services is busy, but seldom seen due the discreet nature of its business.

This may be 2004 but there's still a stigma attached to illnesses which are every increasingly treatable and, often, curable.

Sometimes society still brushes it under the carpet.

Yet the New Forest has a new jewel in its crown in the form of the Woodhaven mental health unit, near Calmore.

Costing £8m to build and opened four months ago, it has 36 beds and 100 staff.

It cares for the acutely unwell, who usually stay for around six weeks while they are stabilised on medication and receive a range of therapies.

Clearly intricately designed, Woodhaven is a soothing place on the edge of the countryside.

The rooms bathe in light which splashes through large windows and highlights the paintings, many of which are the work of the unit's clientele.

"We're not complacent about moving into a new building - a lot of the work has been refocusing the patient day," says Peter.

"We're being a lot more thoughtful about ensuring the inpatient stay is productive.

"We're involving people more in their care. We've introduced diaries not only so they can write down their reflective thoughts but can plot their appointments.

"A day can be very long and bewildering when you're out of your usual environment and routine.

"Also each patient will have a nurse who will spend 45 minutes a day with them. It might be they don't want to talk for that time but it's there."

New Forest adult mental healthcare has a budget of over £5m a year, half of which goes on running Woodhaven.

But this is the tip of the iceberg.

There are also two community mental health teams based at Waterford House, New Milton and Anchor House, Totton, plus the Copper Beeches rehabilitation unit in Ashley, near New Milton.

They have contracts with the voluntary sector who provide two resource centres at Marcella House in Hythe and The Hollies in New Milton which, as well as offering clients a comforting haven, provide one-to-one support for them in their homes.

Then there are two supported housing units, one in Lymington and one in Hythe, with a total of 17 bedsits.

And there's New Forest Employment and Training which assists about 40 clients at a time in finding employment through CV and interview advice.

Added to this they take care of women with post-natal problems for Southampton, Eastleigh and the New Forest.

And there are two full-time carer supporters, who devote themselves to looking after patients' families and friends.

"What we often heard from carers was that they didn't get the support and advice they needed until after the crisis was over.

"If they are coming to terms with this thing that has torn their family apart they need the help.

"People think about mental health just in terms of being an inpatient but, with the range of services we offer, we actually have something in the region of up to 1,500 people that we're working with.

"We're a community-led service. Most people are in the community for most of the time, it's rare they come into hospital."

Among the problems tackled by New Forest adult mental health services are some worrying trends, such as the growing suicide rate in young men and the fact Britain has the highest rate of self-harm in Europe.

"I personally think that that sort of thing will be related to modern society really and factors like alienation caused by families being much less central to people's lives.

"Factors like unemployment are a major contributor to young male suicide, as are poor housing, or trying to live on benefits."

Mr Smith says how mental health issues are reported in the press can often be unhelpful in tackling the stigma attached the subject.

"If something dreadful happens, because it's news, it's picked up in that way. From my side of the fence that can sometimes feel as if it's only presenting one side of the story.

"A homicide or suicide engages with the fears of the public. I generally think we need 10 good stories to counterbalance one bad one.

"We do take every opportunity to present positive images of mental health to counterbalance some of the negative perceptions people have of those with mental health problems.

"We're producing a video with support from Southampton Institute - it's a chance to share the positive work we do.

"And on World Mental Health Day we have stalls at Brockenhurst and Totton Colleges to help students begin to think about mental health issues.

"It gets people to think 'perhaps I should think of becoming a doctor of social worker?'"