News

We recently visited The Farmers Good Mood Cafe in Yaxley, Peterborough. In this blog, we hear from John and Alvin who have experienced mental health challenges and they share how the Good Mood Cafes can help you when you feel like you're not coping. We also caught up with CPSL Mind volunteers Teresa and David Baker, to hear how volunteering at the Good Mood Cafes is so rewarding.

CPSL Mind’s Olivia Hubbard visited two of the community groups to find out more about the incredible impact they are having on people with mental health challenges.

Meet Rachel, a passionate volunteer whose experiences with Williams Syndrome highlight the challenges and triumphs of living with a learning disability, emphasising the need for understanding and opportunity.

To help improve wellbeing in the local Latvian community, Iveta Suna created a ‘Food and Mood’ group to encourage new connections and make delicious healthy recipes.

Happy birthday to our Good Mood Cafe at Haddenham Arts Centre which recently celebrated one whole year of connecting people in our local communities.

Our Peer Support Groups provide the opportunity to share lived experience of mental health with others who have faced similar experiences. Nik and Bridie share their stories of accessing our Personality Disorder groups.

Experiences like Jen’s (below) are the inspiration for our STOP Suicide ‘ASKing Saves Lives’ campaign which launches on Thursday 24th February 2022.

At 12 years old, Megan faced the heartbreak of losing both of her parents to suicide. Now aged 25 and a mother herself, she is sharing her experiences to raise awareness and support others having suicidal thoughts to stay safe.

Support our ‘STOP Suicide – Just ASK’ campaign for World Suicide Prevention Day on Friday 10th September by watching and sharing our innovative new animated film

For Justin Haywood, life had become tough. Undiagnosed mental health problems coupled with life events led to mental health crises. However, Justin’s life took a positive turn when he starting attending our Personality Disorder Service – and he hasn’t looked back since.

Fay Belham, aged 53, has experienced periods of depression throughout her life and, in particular, severe postnatal depression after the birth of her twin boys in 2009.

Those of us who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or do not fit into traditional categories of gender or sexuality (LGBTIQ+) are statistically more likely to experience a mental health problem compared to the rest of the population.

We may have been physically apart during 2020 but we have still been there for each other and nothing illustrates this more than our Peer Support Groups at CPSL Mind which, like the majority of our services, have taken place online for much of this year.

Coronavirus and the isolation caused by social distancing have created numerous challenges for everyone’s mental health. At this time, finding new ways to make sure people get the support they need is more important than ever.

Becoming a new mum is a huge life event that can be both emotionally rewarding and challenging. Perinatal mental health issues affect up to 20 per cent of new and expectant Mums and here at CPSL Mind we offer essential support for those affected.

Sipping on a cup of tea, John Willock is chatting candidly about his experiences of mental health challenges, grief and suicidal thoughts – “I didn’t talk about it for years,” he says.

The experience of personality disorders can be alienating, causing people to have a distorted impression of themselves and their relationships with others. This can create a vicious cycle leading to more and more isolation.

The experience of anxiety can be highly isolating and uncertain, sometimes leaving people with the feeling that there is no solution to their condition. This can in turn lead to suicidal thoughts.