Coping at Christmas

by Lisa HarrisNo Comments
Contact your GP, your local mental health crisis intervention team or rapid intervention team if you need immediate support.   Call 111 if you urgently need medical guidance or treatment.    Call 999 if you require emergency (life threatening) medical attention.  Attend A & E if you need urgent medical attention.   If you know somebody is at immediate risk or is harming themselves or somebody else, the safest response is to dial 999.  Staff are trained to deal with crisis situations and can advise you or call on professionals as required.  Samaritans https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/ Call 116 123 free from any phone to talk about anything that is upsetting you. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  SANE https://www.sane.org.uk/how-we-help/emotional-support/saneline-services  If you’re experiencing a mental health difficulty or supporting someone who is, you can call SANEline on 0300 304 7000 4pm–10pm every day.  SANEline is a national out-of-hours mental health helpline offering specialist emotional support, guidance and information to anyone affected by mental illness, including family, friends and carers.   The Mix https://www.themix.org.uk/get-support  For those under 25 you can...
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Grief stole my Christmas

by Lisa HarrisNo Comments
When grief stole my Christmas,and the lights from the tree.It also took awaythe light that shone in me. It stole the season's greetingswritten on every card.It dried up all my words,making communicating hard. It stole every bauble I had hungand left my branches bare.The thing is though, if I'm honest,I didn't really care. Grief didn't just steal my ChristmasIt had also taken me.It left a shell of a person.I forget who I used to be. Until one day I was out walking,and there sitting in a tree,was the most beautiful robinstaring down at me. Those bare branches came to life.It shone the colour red.A reflection of its breast,sent memories to my head. With the flutter of its wings,my heart too began to flutter.and then it sang a tuneand with that I had to stutter. The words of Christmas carolshad found their voice again.The glitter that was stolennow fell down with the rain. I couldn't wait to get home.I knew grief would still be there,but it never did steal...
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