1. OASIS Service Promotion Session
Timothy Bemrose (CPN) and Ayo Davies (Senior OT)
Outreach and Support in South London (OASIS)
9th October 2018
Wellbeing and Mental Health Network

2. Objectives:
To increase awareness of early warning signs of mental health difficulties
To talk about OASIS - who might benefit from our service and how to refer
Housekeeping info (mobile phones, toilets, fire exits)

3. Who are we? A health service offering assessment and intervention
Aimed at improving well-being and reducing the risk of symptoms worsening
Helping people get their lives back on track and reach their potential
Our service is made up of Clinical Psychologists, Occupational Therapists, Nurses and Doctors

4. Mental health problems
Mental health problems are very
common and there are lots of
different types.
About a quarter of the population experience some kind of mental health problem in any one year.
Anxiety and depression are the most common problems (around 1 in 10 people affected).

5. What things can affect our mental health?

6. What is anxiety?
A normal response to situations that we see as threatening
Characterised by feelings of worry, nervousness, fear or unease about something with an uncertain outcome
When we perceive a threat, our fight or flight response is triggered and we experience the physical symptoms of anxiety

7. What is stress?
Stress is your body’s reaction (emotional & physical) to a stressor or a number of stressors
A stressor is quite simply anything that adds pressure, worry or physical problems
We tend to feel stressed when the demands we face seem to outweigh our ability to cope

8. Stress bucket
The bucket represents how able we are to deal with stress. The size of the bucket is different for each of us. What may cause one person great stress may not cause another person stress.
Each day water (stress) drips into our bucket. Too much water will make our bucket overflow. We need to make holes in our bucket to relieve our stress. Holes represent the coping strategies we have.

9. Early warning signs: stress
Low energy / tiredness
Worrying
Frequent colds / illness
Unable to switch off
Trouble concentrating
Feeling overwhelmed or unable to cope
Feeling frustrated/ irritable
Headaches
Trouble relaxing
Feeling bad about yourself
Tense muscles
Difficulty sleeping
 Upset stomach / change in appetite
Avoiding situations or people

10. What is ‘at risk mental state’ (ARMS)?

11. Early warning signs: ‘at risk mental state’
Struggling to cope at school, college or work
Constantly thinking about particular ideas or beliefs
Preferring to spend time alone, away from family and friends
Unusual experiences like seeing or hearing things that other people can’t
Feeling anxious, irritable or depressed
Feeling that things and people seem strange or unreal
Changes in sleeping and eating patterns
Confused or muddled thinking

12. Self-help strategies Increasing activity Lifestyle balance
Setting goals
Problem solving
Challenging unhelpful or negative thoughts
Managing worries

13. Get active, feel good Increased activity Greater energy and motivation
Feel hopeful,
more confident,
less guilty
Feel more
positive

14. Lifestyle balance
Routine
2) Pleasurable
3) Necessary

15. Setting goals
The first step to breaking the vicious cycle is to set goals.
Goals are important as they give us both a direction and destination to work towards.
Setting goals can feel overwhelming if they seem unrealistic or too demanding.
Therefore it is important that you set SMART goals

16. Problem solving Identify the problem, break it down if needed
List ALL the possible solutions
Consider the pros and cons of each solution
Select one to try out
Plan how you are going to do it
Put plan into action
Review

17. Thinking differently Some useful questions to ask yourself:
Is there another way of looking at this?
Would somebody else think my thoughts were based on facts?
Is there any evidence that supports or goes against this thought?
Have I dealt with similar situations in the past?
Am I falling into an unhelpful thinking trap?
Is thinking this way helping my confidence?
What would be a more fair and realistic thought?

18. The 4 U’s of worry We often worry about things that are: Unimportant
Unlikely
Uncertain
Uncontrollable

19. Worry tree

20. Worry time
Involves postponing worries and scheduling in 20 minute period of our day where we allow ourselves to worry
When worries come during the day, we simply write them down and come back to them in our allocated worry time
This helps us limit the amount of time we spend worrying in our day
When we re-visit our worries we might no longer feel we need to worry about them, or we can look at them in a more rational manner and deal more effectively with the worry

21. Referring to OASIS
Distress and disturbances can be precursors to serious mental health problems
Unusual or anomalous experiences may mean a person is at risk of psychosis
Evidence based intervention can reduce untreated psychosis and delay or even prevent onset
We provide a two year package of care in helping people to move forward in their lives

22. How do we offer help? Detailed assessment within 2 weeks of referral
Psychological therapy
Medical consultation and treatment
Practical advice around issues such as housing and finances
Support in taking up new opportunities in study or work.

23. How to contact us:
Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any queries at all. We are more than happy to discuss individual cases
To make referrals, please contact us on:
Telephone:
OASIS
190 KENNINGTON LANE
SE11 5DL