Mind over Mood weeks 1-2 (7-week workshop – one morning per week) Monday 9th , 16th & 23rd February and 2 nd, 9th, 16th & 23rd March

When we talk about mental health, the focus often falls on "fixing" what’s broken or curing an illness. However, true recovery is about much more than just a lack of symptoms; it’s about the human elements that help us feel whole again. This is where CHIME comes in. CHIME is a framework that identifies five essential things people need to feel they are recovering and living a good life, regardless of the challenges they may still face.

In Week 1 of our workshop, a new group of us began exploring this framework as the "back-end" for our long-term wellness. While our ​WRAP plans give us the daily logic to manage our health, CHIME represents the core values that make recovery sustainable. Developed by researchers to identify common threads in successful recovery journeys, CHIME stands for Connectedness, Hope, Identity, Meaning, and Empowerment.

Mind Over Mood Programme Overall Learning Aims: 

• To learn how our thoughts influence how we feel and how we behave.
• To identify and challenge unhelpful thoughts and beliefs.  
• To identify and change aspects of behaviour that may be worsening our mood.
• To learn tools, skills and practical steps we can take to improve our mood.

To make these abstract concepts tangible, our facilitators provided us with a CHIME Scoreboard. This exercise allowed us to move beyond theory and perform a real-time "system check" on our internal landscape. We rated ourselves on a scale of 1 to 10 across five key categories:

• C (Connectedness): How connected do you feel to others and your community?
• H (Hope): How hopeful are you about your recovery at the moment?
• I (Identity): Do you feel like you have a strong sense of who you are outside of your mental illness?
• M (Meaning): What makes life feel meaningful to you right now?
• E (Empowerment): Do you feel a general sense of control over your mental health and your life?

Analysing the Results

By adding these ratings together, we produced a total score out of 50. The goal of this exercise isn't to achieve a "perfect" number, but to gain clarity. For many of us, seeing the numbers on paper acted as a diagnostic tool; it helped us identify which areas are currently thriving and which might need more intentional support through our Wellness Tools.

For instance, if a score in Identity (I) is low, we might choose to prioritize tools like a creative hobby or journaling to reconnect with ourselves. If Connectedness (C) is lagging, we might reach out to a supporter or attend a peer group. In this way, CHIME acts as the compass that tells us where our WRAP plan needs to be directed next.

Once we finished filling in the CHIME scoreboard, the workshop moved into an introduction to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

At its core, CBT helps us navigate challenges by looking at how our thinking patterns influence what we do. It is highly effective for things like depression and anxiety, but it’s also a powerful tool for simplifying overwhelming situations so they feel easier to handle.

It works by breaking down large, complex issues into five interconnected parts:

• Situations
• Thoughts
• Emotions
• Physical Feelings
• Actions

​Because these areas are all interconnected, a single thought can quickly trigger a physical reaction or an emotional response, sometimes trapping us in a negative cycle. CBT provides the tools to recognize these cycles, allowing us to challenge unhelpful patterns and develop healthier ways of thinking.

​​Next, we took part in a practical exercise to see how the Five Areas model works in real life. We looked at a specific situation: 'I was out walking my dog at 8am yesterday morning when I saw Mary. I went to say "hello" but she walked right past me without looking up.' By applying the model to this scenario, we could see how different interpretations of Mary's behaviour might lead to very different emotional and physical reactions.

Later, we looked at the Activity Diary, which is used to log daily life and rate how much our mood is affected by each event. Completing a diary like this helps to highlight the relationship between our actions and our feelings. Once these patterns are clear, we can be more intentional about choosing activities that provide a healthy mix of Achievement, Enjoyment, and Closeness.

In our second week of the Mind Over Mood workshop, we spent time talking about what depression actually is. Rather than using complicated medical terms, we looked at it as a common experience that affects how we feel, think, and get through our daily lives.

Our session started with a discussion on how we define depression. We talked about how it is different from just feeling sad for a day or two - it's a lasting experience that can make it very hard to feel motivated or enjoy the things we love.

This experience is incredibly common, affecting 1 in 4 of us, regardless of our age or background. By actively changing our thought patterns and behaviours, depression can interfere with our ability to function effectively; make our day-to-day responsibilities feel like a significant struggle.

During the session, we talked about how depression is less like a single cloud and more like a change in the entire climate of our lives. It settles over everything we think and do. To help us organise these thoughts, our facilitators then introduced four main categories that cover the most common symptoms:

1. Our Thoughts (Cognitive) Depression often shifts our internal "narrative." This can lead to a negative self-image or a lack of self-compassion, where we become our own harshest critics. It also explains "brain fog" - those times when concentrating, making decisions, or remembering details feels like a major challenge.
2. Our Feelings (Emotional) While a low mood is common, the facilitators highlighted a much broader range of emotions. This includes feelings of guilt, inadequacy, or hopelessness. For many, it isn't just sadness; it can feel like a persistent sense of "emptiness" or an underlying anxiety that makes everything feel more fragile.
3. Our Physical Bodies (Somatic) We also looked at the physical side of things, such as changes in sleep and appetite. This area is often marked by a deep sense of exhaustion and a lack of energy that rest doesn't seem to fix, along with those "unexplained" aches and pains that can accompany a low mood.
4. Our Actions (Social) Finally, we looked at how our behaviour changes, which often leads to a cycle of isolation. We might withdraw from friends or stop doing activities we once enjoyed. It's difficult cycle to be in: when we feel the most lonely, we often feel the least able to reach out for the support we need.

After looking at the symptoms, we moved into another group discussion to explore the different factors that can lead to depression. It was helpful to see that there is rarely just one single cause; instead, it is usually a combination of different elements.

To organise these, participants looked at two main categories:

​

1. Biological Factors: The things we are born with, like genetics, can play a part, alongside internal factors like hormones. Brain chemicals act as a vital communication system in the mind; when the balance of this system shifts, it can have a direct impact on how we feel and function every day.
2. Psychological Factors: Our mental and emotional experiences, such as specific thinking patterns or a long-term sense of failure, can influence our well-being. External life events - including experiencing a loss or periods of high stress - can also contribute to the development of depression.

​Depression often acts like a loop where one symptom feeds into the next. Breaking it down into a "vicious cycle" helps show how it gains momentum:

​The goal is to turn that downward spiral into an upward one. By making small changes to what we do, we can shift the entire pattern:

The BACE model is a simple tool used to ensure we are meeting our basic needs. Balancing these four areas helps us maintain a healthier routine and can be a key part of reversing the downward cycle of depression.

• B - Body Care Activities that keep your physical health in check. For example, getting enough sleep, eating a balanced meal, taking a shower, or going for a short walk.
• A - Achievement Tasks that give you a sense of accomplishment, no matter how small. Examples include: finishing a chore, replying to an email, tidying a room, or learning something new.
• C - Connection Interacting with other people to avoid isolation. These activities include things such as calling a friend, having a coffee with a neighbour, or simply saying hello to someone at the shop.
• E - Enjoyment Doing things purely because they make you feel good or relaxed. You may like listening to music, reading a book, watching a favourite show, or engaging in a hobby.

To help us track these areas, we were introduced to the BACE Weekly Activity Diary. This is a simple log where you can write down the activities you do each day. By looking back at the week, you can see which areas are being met and where you might want to add a little more balance to help life your mood.

If you would like to find out more about the Mind Over Mood programme, or any of our workshops, feel free to call us on 086 1746330 or send us an email at [email protected]. To keep updated on workshops/events, check our website and/or Facebook/Instagram/X.