National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)
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Mental health in a changing world

Blog posted by: Paige Ataou, trainee dietitian, 10 October 2018.

Paige Ataou shares her experience of mental health in the changing world and talks about environment and relationships

Paige Ataou, trainee dietitian 

 

Sharing accommodation is widespread at university and is now becoming more popular for professionals. The cost of housing is forcing young people to share housing for longer than previous generations.

As someone who has lived in shared housing, I am aware of the challenges it can present for someone with mental health issues. As well as dealing with the everyday problems that arise from living with strangers, I also needed to make my housemates aware of my care plan in case I had an episode. Not everyone is understanding and I have experienced both positive and negative emotions. Having like-minded people in your home is very important but this can often be difficult to find in practice.

I’m originally from Wales and part of my recovery involved moving to London. London is a great multicultural city and meeting people from all around the world has helped me reduce my anxieties.

We need to be aware of how our environment impacts our mental health. If we understand how our housing choices or relationships affect us, we may be able to make positive changes.

I love the fact that NICE is making progress in mental health and especially highlighting issues to do with multimorbidity, shared-decision making and putting the patients’ needs first. I’m currently studying to be a dietitian and multimorbidity is something we consider extremely important.

Listen to our podcast on multimobidity:

 

Channel website: https://www.nice.org.uk/

Original article link: https://www.nice.org.uk/news/blog/mental-health-in-a-changing-world

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