Recovery College for All BSMHFT

Recovery College for All BSMHFT:

Welcome to Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Trust’s Recovery College for All.

94% of our students who attended sessions in our first term said they had learnt a new skill and developed a deeper understanding of recovery.

Recovery College Resources

Welcome to BSMHFT Recovery College.  Currently the college is closed but we wanted to share some helpful resources which you can work through at your own pace, in this time of uncertainty.

Recovery College Resources

Visit the website in order to choose from the sections listed here:

• Five Ways to Wellbeing
• Sleep
• Goal Setting
• Resilience – Positive statements
• Things I can control

Some helpful tips:

At times of uncertainty, things can start to feel overwhelming and out of control.  This is a normal reaction to an abnormal event – you are not alone, we are all in this together.  We’ve put together some ideas that can help:

Call a friend or family member: Connect with others – call or make contact online.  It doesn’t replace face to face contact but feeling alone and isolated can add to our feelings of distress, so making time to connect with others can make a huge difference.

Laugh: laughter releases endorphins – anything that can make you laugh and lift your mood can help.  It might be a funny meme, your favourite stand-up comedian or cat videos on YouTube.  You could also share these with others to brighten their day.

Treat yourself: It might be adding a chocolate bar to your shopping, listening to your favourite band, having a bubble bath or watching a film – something to look forward to can give a real boost and helps us look after ourselves.

Try to have a routine: Get up at the same time each day, have a shower and get dressed – it is difficult when we aren’t able to follow our usual routine, but we can create new ones.  Have regular catch ups with your friends and family – this will give you something to look forward to.

Do something you enjoy: it might be cooking, knitting, dancing, yoga, drawing, writing – anything that you can focus on that gives you some enjoyment and pleasure.

Connect with nature: if you can get outside, try to go for a walk in your local area or if you have a garden, sit outside.  It is possible to observe social distancing and enjoy the outdoors.  If you are unable to get outside, open the windows – notice the calmness and changing in the season.

Step away from social media / the news: Keeping up to date with what is happening is helpful – but try to limit this to once per day – don’t have the news rolling in the background or news alerts on your phone.  Finding time to switch off is key.

Reach out: it is difficult to navigate this uncertain time.  Reach out to others, they are most likely feeling the same as you, making connections can help us feel less alone.

Be kind: in these unprecedented times, now is the time (more than ever) to look after you.  We are all doing the best we can.  Be kind to yourself, be kind to others. Try not to compare yourself to others – life is not Instagram or Facebook – if all you do today is get up and make yourself a cup of tea that is OK because you are being kind to yourself and giving yourself what you need at that moment.  Remember, “this too shall pass.”

Helpful Resources

We appreciate this is a very worrying time and it is difficult to know where to go for useful information.  We have put together some helpful online websites:

www.nhs.uk/coronavirus

www.gov.uk/coronavirus 

www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus/coronavirus-and-your-wellbeing

www.recoverycollegeonline.co.uk

Thanks to our colleagues in Tees, Esk and Wear NHS Foundation Trust who have shared their own Recovery College Online resources.  In particular, they have developed a ‘Coping during a pandemic’ course: https://lms.recoverycollegeonline.co.uk/ These resources are free to access  – some might require you to register.  Please note this is not run by BSMHFT but we are sharing with their permission in the hope that it may be of some use to you.

0121 301 3992

bsmhft.recoverycollege@nhs.net

What is recovery?

Recovery is a journey towards mental wellbeing, and a sense of purpose and hope in life, with or without symptoms of mental illness.

Everyone’s journey of recovery is unique and personal to them. So it’s really only you who can define your own recovery journey.

We know there is no formula for recovery, but there does appear to be three things critical factors: hope; control, and; opportunity.