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Running for Sane – Christie’s story

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Clare Foster
A quick summary:
  • Exercise for mental health
    • Christie’s story
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Exercise for mental health

I’ve been thinking a lot about sport, and running for mental health recently. This is partly due toChristies just giving page work – I’m involved in the development of Mind’s Get Set To Go programme through the Elefriends community. I’ve also written a number of posts for New Level on the benefits of exercise for mental health and wellbeing.

There’s a strong personal connection too. Exercise is a vital tool for managing my own depression and anxiety. Recently I’ve been struggling to balance my mental health needs against the need to rest and recover after physical injury (darn knees!).

It feels as if more and more people are running. There’s definitely more people out and about in the parks and along the canals. This spring and summer has seen thousands of running events across the UK. One of the best things about these events is that each one is full of people pushing themselves for charities that mean a lot to them.

Christie’s story

One of these runners is Christie Plumb. She’s running the British 10k for Sane after losing her Sane logoMum when she was 11. Christie told me she felt that the stigma surrounding mental health problems and a lack of support contributed to her mother’s death. The work of charities like Sane and Mind are helping to reduce that stigma and provide support to those who need it.

Fundraising has helped her to open up about her mum’s death, to talk about it and give people ways to support her.

But Christie has found that running has helped her too. She said that before her boyfriend suggested the NHS Couch to 5k she was convinced that running was “impossible, physically impossible for me”. But she stuck at it and found it was helping with her own anxiety, clearing her mind and improving her confidence.

I really identified with the way she described running her way out of very strong feelings of anxiety and panic.

“Within the first mile, my chest loosens up and I’m not shaking any more. It’s incredible…before the Couch to 5k I had never got past that first barrier. Now I always carry on and push through. In a way it’s an analogy for pushing through anxiety and depression. You just have to keep going, even if it feels like you can’t. You’ll get there in the end.”

In running she has found a way to honour the memory of her Mum, to talk openly about her loss to people around her, to support a charity that means a lot to her and to look after her own mental health. To sponsor her, take a look at her JustGiving page here. To have a go at Couch to 5k yourself, take a look at this page. Who knows where it might lead.

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Wow! This is a wonderful example how good consultation and understanding your audience can lead to great quality information! The consultation, planning, and promotional plans show excellence in producing health information. This shows through in the end products – high quality and extremely well-tailored to the audience. The insight and thought that has gone into this is commendable. 

Dr Hannah R Bridges – HB Health Comms Ltd

Clare created fantastic bespoke moderator training and helped us develop our brand-new survivors’ community. She went out of her way to ensure that the training met our needs exactly by engaging in various in-depth discussions and learning about our sector. But beyond that, she also helped us to build our vision for the community and the community guidelines; created an editable handbook for our future use and changing needs as the community grows; and offered ongoing support with tweaking the training as the forum develops.

Venice Fielding - Cardiff Women's Aid

Clare highlights the wide range of feelings and reactions during and after pregnancy loss, the different impact that each experience can have on each individual and the diverse needs of those affected. Just as important, she acknowledges the difficulty of those who want to offer help, but aren’t sure how to, or when. She makes it easier for them to understand and empathise, and offers practical suggestions with knowledge and also with humility… This is what makes for such a special book, for which many many people will be grateful.

Ruth Bender Atik, National Director, The Miscarriage Association
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