The Blues Busters programme run by St.Helen’s Thatto Heath Children’s Centre and funded by St.Helen’s Primary Care Trust is a public health programme aimed at addressing post natal depression. It employed a ‘toolkit’ of cognitive coping mechanisms developed by Laughology to help the mental health of mothers suffering from PND.

The subsequent evaluation showed that the women involved found significant benefits in taking part in the programme and the initiative was also viewed positively by the Children’s Centre Coordinator. The evidence suggests that this is an intervention that warrants further opportunities to prove its value in helping to combat PND.

The programme is designed to equip participants with the knowledge of what humour and laughter is, how it can be used appropriately, how to use a ‘toolkit’ of cognitive Laughology coping mechanisms and the skills and techniques to allow
The mothers who completed the programme considered that it had completely achieved what they hoped it would:                                                                                               

‘I actually had lower expectations of results. I feel much calmer in control and with a toolkit of techniques to help’

‘I have gained some mental tools to help me deal with the irrational behaviour that I had with PND. I actually thought at the beginning that it would not offer me much and it has far exceeded my expectations’

The participants felt that both the delivery and content of the programme was of a high quality. When asked what the best thing about the programme was, they gave a range of answers such as:

‘Being able to be myself and talk about things and not be judged and know that I am with people who are feeling and thinking the same way as myself’

‘a toolkit of techniques help in my day to day life when I lose the plot’.

The participants were unanimous in calling for more sessions, describing them as a ‘great benefit’. One reported that ‘It’s literally saved my life. I would have completely gone mad without my weekly fix’.
Laughology facilitator and director Staphanie Davies was praised by the mother’s taking part. ‘I can’t speak highly enough of Steph’ wrote one, while another reported that ‘Steph was instrumental in (us) having that much trust in each other’.