sleep and mental health | Secure Healthcare Solutions

Mental health problems are often triggered by events, lifestyles, or genetics. It can sometimes be clear that you suffer from mental illnesses or you may not be aware that you suffer from mental health illness. It is advised to get properly assessed by a doctor to determine if you have a mental health illness. The NHS reports that approximately one in four adults and one in ten children experience mental health issues in their lifetime.

Mental health is something that a lot of us can relate to, we are here to support and tailor care for people with a range of mental illnesses. Individuals may have mild or more serious mental health issues. Problems could include, schizophrenia, bipolar, depression, anxiety, personality disorders, eating disorders, and much more!

Secure Healthcare Solutions are here to provide care and support within homecare services and within the care home environment for individuals experiencing mental health problems. We focus and cater care to meet the needs of the individuals requiring support. Our carers, support workers, and nurses are professionally trained to deliver quality mental health support and are provided regular training.
Our mental health plans are individually created to meet the needs of individuals being cared for, based on pre-admission and through a risk assessment, to enable us to create effective treatment plans for short-term and long-term clients.

As a healthcare agency that provides mental health support workers and nurses, we have a great deal of experience to support and care for individuals that experience mental health.

Secure Healthcare ensures to create a safe living environment, focusing on fun activities and social involvement within homes and care homes and we work with the local community.

Mental health support in your home
Individuals will continue to live in their own homes but have access to a support worker who you can talk to support you while living independently.

Supported housing for individuals with mental health needs
Generally, individuals will have their own flat within a complex where there is mental health support staff on-site to provide support when necessary. The staff may not be there 24/7.

Care homes for people with mental health needs
In a care home setting, residents normally have their own bedroom, but share social spaces. Staff is on-site at all times to deal with residents’ needs.

How we can help?

Meal preparation
Helping with washing and cleaning, it could be washing the dishes, over hoovering the home
Assisting with washing, dressing, and ensuring individuals are maintaining a good personal appearance.
Support with social activities
Housework and light domestic duties
Preparing and cooking meals
Support with household bills and filling in the paperwork

If you are experiencing mental health, the NHS recommends various charities that deal with various mental health illnesses, who are here to support you during difficult times.

Click here to find out more

Speak to our trained professionals today to see how we can support individuals requiring care with mental health. Email us at homecare@securesolutions.co.uk or call us on 01902 302 017 to discuss how we can support you to provide the best possible care and support.

Many effects of a lack of sleep, such as feeling grumpy and not working at your best, are well known. But did you know that sleep deprivation can also have profound consequences on your physical health?

One in three of us suffers from poor sleep, with stress, computers and taking work home often blamed.

However, the cost of all those sleepless nights is more than just bad moods and a lack of focus.

Regular poor sleep puts you at risk of serious medical conditions, including obesity, heart disease and diabetes – and it shortens your life expectancy.

It’s now clear that a solid night’s sleep is essential for a long and healthy life.

How much sleep do we need?

Most of us need around eight hours of good-quality sleep a night to function properly – but some need more and some less. What matters is that you find out how much sleep you need and then try to achieve it.

As a general rule, if you wake up tired and spend the day longing for a chance to have a nap, it’s likely that you’re not getting enough sleep.

A variety of factors can cause poor sleep, including health conditions such as sleep apnoea. But in most cases, it’s due to bad sleeping habits.

Find out the common medical causes of fatigue.

What happens if I don’t sleep?

Everyone’s experienced the fatigue, short temper and lack of focus that often follow a poor night’s sleep.

An occasional night without sleep makes you feel tired and irritable the next day, but it won’t harm your health.

After several sleepless nights, the mental effects become more serious. Your brain will fog, making it difficult to concentrate and make decisions. You’ll start to feel down, and may fall asleep during the day. Your risk of injury and accidents at home, work and on the road also increases.

Find out how to tell if you’re too tired to drive.

If it continues, lack of sleep can affect your overall health and make you prone to serious medical conditions, such as obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Here are seven ways in which a good night’s sleep can boost your health:

1. Sleep boosts immunity

If you seem to catch every cold and flu that’s going around, your bedtime could be to blame. Prolonged lack of sleep can disrupt your immune system, so you’re less able to fend off bugs.

2. Sleep can slim you

Sleeping less may mean you put on weight! Studies have shown that people who sleep less than seven hours a day tend to gain more weight and have a higher risk of becoming obese than those who get seven hours of slumber.

It’s believed to be because sleep-deprived people have reduced levels of leptin (the chemical that makes you feel full) and increased levels of ghrelin (the hunger-stimulating hormone).

3. Sleep boosts mental wellbeing

Given that a single sleepless night can make you irritable and moody the following day, it’s not surprising that chronic sleep debt may lead to long-term mood disorders like depression and anxiety.

When people with anxiety or depression were surveyed to calculate their sleeping habits, it turned out that most of them slept for less than six hours a night.

4. Sleep prevents diabetes

Studies have suggested that people who usually sleep less than five hours a night have an increased risk of having or developing diabetes.

It seems that missing out on deep sleep may lead to type 2 diabetes by changing the way the body processes glucose – the high-energy carbohydrate that cells use for fuel.

5. Sleep increases sex drive

Men and women who don’t get enough quality sleep have lower libidosand less of an interest in sex, research shows.

Men who suffer from sleep apnoea – a disorder in which breathing difficulties lead to interrupted sleep – also tend to have lower testosterone levels, which can lower libido.

6. Sleep wards off heart disease

Long-standing sleep deprivation seems to be associated with increased heart rate, an increase in blood pressure and higher levels of certain chemicals linked with inflammation, which may put extra strain on your heart.

7. Sleep increases fertility

Difficulty conceiving a baby has been claimed as one of the effects of sleep deprivation, in both men and women. Apparently, regular sleep disruptions can cause trouble conceiving by reducing the secretion of reproductive hormones.