When people are in acute crisis, residential care may be needed, but this should not be seen as a medical issue.

Keep active - do something physical each day. Could be as simple as taking the dog out for a walk (if you've got a dog!), but could be going for a swim, or going to the gym every day.

When people are in acute crisis, residential care may be needed, but this should not be seen as a medical issue.

When you notice an unhelpful emotion or a shift in mood, or when you notice that you're doing something you know can cause problems (being snappy, for example, or drinking too much), that could act as a cue to examine your own thoughts - "what am I thinking?".

Keep your brain active. Engage your brain. Your brain is the most fantastic machine ever created, and it needs to be exercised.

I believe that mental health services should be based on the premise that the origins of distress are largely social.

People deserve to have their experiences understood in a genuine bio-psycho-social approach. All too often, this is ignored in favor of what is a very reductionist, bio-medical, model.