Trott shows 'stress-related illness' happens to the best of us

Jonathan Trott is not the first world-class cricketer to return home from the intense spotlight of the Ashes tour with a stress-related illness. The nature of the game - a team sport played by individuals – and the type of personality required to excel, risks the mental health of many of its players.

The big question is whether the sports associations are doing enough to support players at all levels within the game.

According to Telegraph journalist Steve James, himself a former cricketer, there is still a culture of secrecy within the sport when it comes to mental illness. Indeed the word ‘depression’ was rarely mentioned in the numerous media interviews.

Writing in the paper on Monday 25th November, James says that sport should be grateful for the bravery of cricketers such as Marcus Trescothick, Darren Cousins and Tim Ambrose who have all spoken publicly about their mental health over recent years.

The courage it takes to do this or to show any indication of weakness within such a macho sport was self-evident from the comments that Aussie player David Warner made a few days earlier about Trott having ‘scared eyes’.

The type of training given to the physical body should be extended to ensuring the health of the mind.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is well proven to be effective in ‘retraining’ the mind to allow an individual to consider the world from a better perspective. It helps create a tool kit of coping mechanisms for the pressures of life.

PsychologyOnline’s approach to CBT is particularly effective and it is available wherever you are, 24x 7, all that is required is a computer and an internet connection.

However robust you are, intense ambition, long periods away from home, high pressure, high financial stakes, detachment from family are all risk elements that can adversely affect your mental health.

Perhaps now is the time to promote the concept of a ‘physio for the mind’ and use the pressures faced by our top sportspeople to show that although depression is something that can happen to the best of us, it can be effectively treated.

Re-thinking Psychological Therapy in a new NHS: PsychologyOnline attends New Savoy Partnership Conference

Improving the quality of mental healthcare while navigating a path through the new clinically-led commissioning framework is just one of the themes to be explored at the seventh annual ‘Psychological Therapies in the NHS’ conference, 28 and 29 November at the Mermaid Conference Centre in London.

PsychologyOnline will showcase its unique online therapy at the high-profile event, and in so doing will rub shoulders with leading mental healthcare policy-makers including the Care Minister Norman Lamb and Dr Geraldine Strathdee, NHS England’s head clinical director for mental health.

The two-day conference at the end of November, organised by the New Savoy Partnership, will investigate whether the coalition government’s Mental Health Strategy is working and whether more needs to be done to “join up” the way talking therapies are commissioned and accessed on the NHS.

In 2011, the government issued a “No health without mental health” pledge, and committed to improving access to psychological therapies by broadening the focus of IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) initiative.

As a consequence, PsychologyOnline was commissioned earlier this year by the Surrey Mental Health CCG Collaboration as one of four therapy providers.

Surrey GPs referring patients to the innovative service say the evening appointments have been particularly popular with patients who work during the day or those who find it difficult to travel to meet a therapist face-to face.  It has also allowed more men, who are often embarrassed to seek help in person, to access the therapy they need, without taking time off work.

All that service users need to access online CBT is a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone which is connected to the internet.  Therapy can begin within 24 hours of referral and can be undertaken from the comfort of home or wherever the patient feels most comfortable.

Barnaby Perks, chief executive at PsychologyOnline, is encouraging delegates to come along and meet the team and find out how online CBT could make therapy more accessible.

“At PsychologyOnline, we’re proud of our innovative way of delivering highly-effective therapy.  All our therapists are UK trained and accredited and our service has been proven to be effective in treating moderate to severe depression.

“PsychologyOnline’s therapy can treat a range of mental health conditions, including anxiety, stress-related disorders, phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder and postnatal depression.”

To find out more about PsychologyOnline, please visit www.psychologyonline.co.uk.

Technological Innovations in Mental Health: PsychologyOnline Exhibits at London Launch Event

PsychologyOnline’s innovative text-based approach to cognitive behavioural therapy will be on show at the Technical Innovations in Mental Health conference on 11 November 2013.

The symposium, held at the Royal College of Physicians in London, will highlight the latest technological advances in the field and consider how these advances could help transform the delivery of therapy to service users.

The event coincides with the launch of MindTech, the NHS National Institute for Health Research’s new initiative to promote the use of technologies for mental healthcare in England.

Cambridge-based PsychologyOnline provides a unique form of live online cognitive behavioural therapy via a text-based instant messaging system. All service users need is access to a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone which is connected to the internet.

Therapy sessions can be held at flexible times, including evenings and weekends, from the comfort of home or wherever the patient feels most comfortable.

Surrey is one of the first areas to offer PsychologyOnline “on prescription” to service users in its five CCG areas. Therapy is also accessible to all via Thinkwell, the firm’s pay-for service.

Barnaby Perks, chief executive at PsychologyOnline, has welcomed the conference as an exciting chance to showcase the firm’s unique online therapy and is encouraging fellow delegates to come and meet the team.

He adds: “It is good to see the health sector embracing new developments in technologies in the mental health field.

“PsychologyOnline allows more flexibility in the way mental health services are delivered and is also a means to cope with the increased volume in demand that we’ve seen over recent years.

“There has been a growing acceptance of internet technologies for accessing services of all types and many NHS Trusts and commissioners are interested in how PsychologyOnline could work for their patients.”

Keynote speakers at the conference include Dr Geraldine Strathdee, the national clinical director of Mental Health for NHS England and Dr Louise Wood, the head of NHS Research Infrastructure and Growth at the Department of Health.

For more information please visit: www.psychologyonline.co.uk or MediLink