Established 2005 Registered Charity No. 1110656
Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760
DONATE
RECENT TWEETS
Things can get overwhelming on this big rock called Earth,
particularly when experiencing homelessness and mental health
issues. Our writer sees where systems need improving, and shares
tips on how to step back and move forward in life. By Leon Eckford
Welcome to Wonderland, where my quest for knowledge leaves me endlessly searching for new ideas, innovation and existing research on understanding the fabric of my reality and how I navigate it in practical terms.
If I peer into the looking glass, I think I’m trying to understand the brain, what makes us human and how we manage our self during the ultimate Willy Wonka golden ticket that is life. This is a personal journey, just as a disclaimer. You can only live your journey, so this offering is through my tiny slither of perception in what is a rather large universe.
When I think of the journey through the rabbit hole, I look externally, I see fear and panic beamed at me on 24 hour news, if I want it. I’ve got YouTube telling me what I like and what I don’t like. Facebook feeds my negativity and my cute cat video cravings. I’ve got Amazon Prime, Gorilla food deliveries, I can work from home, where I can fill my head constantly to avoid the underlying existential crises. I’m talking war, sex, lies and betrayal in politics, pending cost of living crisis, no affordable housing, corrupt officiating, essential services cuts and, and, and, and… Television is the opium of the masses, said someone a lot smarter than me.
Is society merely a collection of social norms which we abuse and use to our own advantage dependent on where we are born? Have I created my own personal tea party, where I’m both the King and Queen of Hearts engaged in just about manageable chaos, in the face of crippling existential fear? Yes, we’re going deep. I’m asking myself, directly. With no answer in place.
For me, I manage my mental health specific to this external content by generally disengaging with it all. I’ve deleted my social media, hardly watch TV and only check sports highlights on YouTube. Your brain processes this content and you have to manage an emotional response. As a consequence, if your content is negative, the emotion is going to match.
Internally, my rabbit hole is pretty much the same as yours. I experience grief and loss, growth and development, love and harmony but also guilt, sadness, regret, hope, inspiration and the complete gambit of emotions that we all go through. It’s a tough ask, and the only thing that separates me from people I work with in my homeless outreach work is I’ve got enough coping mechanisms, enough support around me to walk through life without fear and anxiety suffocating me completely.
We all adopt depressive states and hyper sensitive reactions from time to time, whether it be having a panic attack at losing the keys, or engaging in shouting matches on the morning commute. Anybody who doesn’t know what anxiety feels like is telling you lies. On an individual level, the statistics around mental health in England are notoriously incomplete, unreported and generally really difficult to get an accurate handle on. The numbers are in and the evidence is clear: nobody really has a clue about how many people are actually untreated, undiagnosed and walking about unwell.
There are some really concerning patterns around rising suicides across the board, with a spike in under 25s adding to this, suicidal thoughts reporting increasing, self-harming rising and a wider conversation developing around personality disorder and schizophrenia diagnosis, causing real concern from a research and treatment perspective.
On the streets of Tower Hamlets, we see untreated disorders every day. A constant stream of undiagnosed individuals lost in gaps between substance misuse treatment and consistent mental health treatment.
Live clean, eat correctly, engage in physical activity, find meaning in your days, reconnect with nature, nurture your support networks and your close relationships and remember to lift your head and look at the stars. Talk to people you don’t know, pay kindness forward, love your neighbours and let’s try to foster an environment of compassion, love and genuine connectivity.
And also, we need to accept that we’re in a unique situation as one human being, being part of a sevenbillion-plus strong species on a planet circling a star. If you genuinely think about that, it's a mad rabbit hole.
October – November 2024 : Change
CONTENTS
BACK ISSUES
- Issue 152 : October – November 2024 : Change
- Issue 151 : August – September 2024 : Being Heard
- Issue 150 : June – July 2024 : Reflections
- Issue 149 : April – May 2024 : Compassion
- Issue 148 : February – March 2024 : The little things
- Issue 147 : December 2023 – January 2024 : Next steps
- Issue 146 : October 2023 – November 2023 : Kind acts
- Issue 145 : August 2023 – September 2023 : Mental health
- Issue 144 : June 2023 – July 2023 : Community
- Issue 143 : April 2023 - May 2023 : Hope springs
- Issue 142 : February 2023 - March 2023 : New Beginnings
- Issue 141 : December 2022 - January 2023 : Winter Homeless
- Issue 140 : October - November 2022 : Resolve
- Issue 139 : August - September 2022 : Creativity
- Issue 138 : June - July 2022 : Practical advice
- Issue 137 : April - May 2022 : Connection
- Issue 136 : February - March 2022 : RESPECT
- Issue 135 : Dec 2021 - Jan 2022 : OPPORTUNITY
- Issue 134 : September-October 2021 : Losses and gains
- Issue 133 : July-August 2021 : Know Your Rights
- Issue 132 : May-June 2021 : Access to Healthcare
- Issue 131 : Mar-Apr 2021 : SOLUTIONS
- Issue 130 : Jan-Feb 2021 : CHANGE
- Issue 129 : Nov-Dec 2020 : UNBELIEVABLE
- Issue 128 : Sep-Oct 2020 : COPING
- Issue 127 : Jul-Aug 2020 : HOPE
- Issue 126 : Health & Wellbeing in a Crisis
- Issue 125 : Mar-Apr 2020 : MOVING ON
- Issue 124 : Jan-Feb 2020 : STREET FOOD
- Issue 123 : Nov-Dec 2019 : HOSTELS
- Issue 122 : Sep 2019 : DEATH ON THE STREETS
- Issue 121 : July-Aug 2019 : INVISIBLE YOUTH
- Issue 120 : May-June 2019 : RECOVERY
- Issue 119 : Mar-Apr 2019 : WELLBEING
- Issue 118 : Jan-Feb 2019 : WORKING HOMELESS
- Issue 117 : Nov-Dec 2018 : HER STORY
- Issue 116 : Sept-Oct 2018 : TOILET TALK
- Issue 115 : July-Aug 2018 : HIDDEN HOMELESS
- Issue 114 : May-Jun 2018 : REBUILD YOUR LIFE
- Issue 113 : Mar–Apr 2018 : REMEMBRANCE
- Issue 112 : Jan-Feb 2018
- Issue 111 : Nov-Dec 2017
- Issue 110 : Sept-Oct 2017
- Issue 109 : July-Aug 2017
- Issue 108 : Apr-May 2017
- Issue 107 : Feb-Mar 2017
- Issue 106 : Dec 2016 - Jan 2017
- Issue 105 : Oct-Nov 2016
- Issue 104 : Aug-Sept 2016
- Issue 103 : May-June 2016
- Issue 102 : Mar-Apr 2016
- Issue 101 : Jan-Feb 2016
- Issue 100 : Nov-Dec 2015
- Issue 99 : Sept-Oct 2015
- Issue 98 : July-Aug 2015
- Issue 97 : May-Jun 2015
- Issue 96 : April 2015 [Mini Issue]
- Issue 95 : March 2015
- Issue 94 : February 2015
- Issue 93 : December 2014
- Issue 92 : November 2014
- Issue 91 : October 2014
- Issue 90 : September 2014
- Issue 89 : July 2014
- Issue 88 : June 2014
- Issue 87 : May 2014
- Issue 86 : April 2014
- Issue 85 : March 2014
- Issue 84 : February 2014
- Issue 83 : December 2013
- Issue 82 : November 2013
- Issue 81 : October 2013
- Issue 80 : September 2013
- Issue 79 : June 2013
- Issue 78 : 78
- Issue 77 : 77
- Issue 76 : 76
- Issue 75 : 75
- Issue 74 : 74
- Issue 73 : 73
- Issue 72 : 72
- Issue 71 : 71
- Issue 70 : 70
- Issue 69 : 69
- Issue 68 : 68
- Issue 67 : 67
- Issue 66 : 66
- Issue 65 : 65
- Issue 64 : 64
- Issue 63 : 63
- Issue 62 : 62
- Issue 61 : 61
- Issue 60 : 60
- Issue 59 : 59
- Issue 58 : 58
- Issue 57 : 57
- Issue 56 : 56
- Issue 56 : 56
- Issue 55 : 55
- Issue 54 : 54
- Issue 53 : 53
- Issue 52 : 52
- Issue 51 : 51
- Issue 50 : 50
- Issue 49 : 49
- Issue 48 : 48
- Issue 47 : 47
- Issue 46 : 46
- Issue 45 : 45
- Issue 44 : 44
- Issue 43 : 43
- Issue 42 : 42
- Issue 5 : 05
- Issue 4 : 04
- Issue 2 : 02
- Issue 1 : 01
- Issue 41 : 41
- Issue 40 : 40
- Issue 39 : 39
- Issue 38 : 38
- Issue 37 : 37
- Issue 36 : 36
- Issue 35 : 35
- Issue 34 : 34
- Issue 33 : 33
- Issue 10 : 10
- Issue 9 : 09
- Issue 6 : 06
- Issue 3 : 03
- Issue 32 : 32
- Issue 31 : 31
- Issue 30 : 30
- Issue 29 : 29
- Issue 11 : 11
- Issue 12 : 12
- Issue 13 : 13
- Issue 14 : 14
- Issue 15 : 15
- Issue 16 : 16
- Issue 17 : 17
- Issue 18 : 18
- Issue 19 : 19
- Issue 20 : 20
- Issue 21 : 21
- Issue 22 : 22
- Issue 23 : 23
- Issue 24 : 24
- Issue 25 : 25
- Issue 8 : 08
- Issue 7 : 07
- Issue 26 : 26
- Issue 27 : 27
- Issue 28 : 28
- Issue 1 : 01