Health in Mind, a community-based mental health service in East Sussex, has launched a new wellbeing website offering information for people to assess, understand and improve their mental health.
The website, www.healthinmind.org.uk offers a free service to people looking for support and advice.
It includes a four step toolkit that allows you to take tests to understand the way you feel, provides information on how to cope with feelings, suggests ways to move forward and teaches you new skills.
It also provides an A-Z resource list of local services that may be helpful to people plus collections of stories that can teach and inspire.
Users can search under tags such as depression, drug use, therapy or stress to find the most suitable advice to suit their needs.
The website was produced by Big White Wall whose own award winning website combines social networking and 24/7 support to help people improve their mental health.
Big White Wall is safe and provides a space for people to share their troubles - anonymously.
A link for this is available from the Health in Mind home page.
Sam Allen, Service Director at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said:
“We are really excited about the new website which will give the people of East Sussex a means to support their own mental health.
"We are lucky to have the assistance of Big White Wall who is now bringing their own expertise to the people in our local community through the internet.
Health in Mind has developed partnerships across a number of local and national services with the aim to support people with their mental wellbeing.”
One in four people will experience a mental health problem at some time in their lives, most commonly symptoms like depression and anxiety and this number has been increasing due to the economic climate.
Health in Mind has been operating since April 2010 to provide community advice and support for East Sussex residents.
The service, delivered by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust with leading health and social care organisation Turning Point, aims to bridge the gap between GPs and mental health services.
Martin Packwood is the Mental Health Commissioning Manager for NHS East Sussex Downs and Weald and NHS Hastings and Rother who have commissioned the Health in Mind Service.
He said:
“We are pleased that the Health in Mind service continues to develop as one of the first community services of its kind in the area.
"It is now being adopted by other GPs and those who commission services in Sussex who want to create a similar type of service.
"Health in Mind aims to give people the psychological therapies, tools and advice they need early on to stop them developing more serious problems and therefore requiring more intensive treatments later.
"Through their service centre, Health in Mind staff in GP surgeries, and now their Wellbeing Website they are extending access to mental health services in the community.”
Alongside the Wellbeing Website, the Health in Mind area has been developed on the Sussex Partnership public website, providing information on how the service works and what Health in Mind offers.
The site can be accessed from the Sussex Partnership website homepage via the public, patient and service user link www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/public/him.
Health in Mind operates in East Sussex but the Wellbeing Website, www.healthinmind.org.uk is suitable for everyone experiencing emotional or psychological distress.
