Home General Info & Awareness Let’s Talk – Mental Health – 2nd Feb 2017!

Let’s Talk – Mental Health – 2nd Feb 2017!

by InvisiblyMe

There’s been Bell’s Let’s Talk Mental Health recently. Now it’s the UK’s turn with the Let’s Talk Mental Health day that’s shortly coming up! On February 2nd, the day is to encourage talking about mental health. It’s to raise awareness, challenge preconceptions and fight the stigma surrounding issues that touch many of our lives, directly or indirectly.

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The old expression “don’t bottle it up” is quite true. Worries, concerns, and a myriad of mixed emotions can build up like a pressure cooker. Sometimes it can help to share it with someone, be that someone you know or a total stranger through a service such as the Samaritans.

I have to be honest, talking about how you’re feeling and what you’re going through doesn’t suit everyone or every occasion. Sometimes, it’s a matter of being ready to share when the time is right. But what does help is to feel less alone. What does help is to not feel ashamed or embarrassed or judged. It’s ignorance and lack of understanding that results in negative reactions when it comes to mental health, and bit by bit we can help to change that. Bit by bit, we can open ourselves up to our own human condition. We are not perfect, we are not infallible. We are strong and we are damaged and we are complex. There is no shame in how we feel or how we are coping. There is no shame in saying you need help, in admitting to yourself or others that you have anxiety, depression, an eating disorder, bipolar, or any other mental health issue.

Let’s make a pledgeTo talk a little more when we need it, and to listen a little more when someone else is in need.

Green speech bubble with the words 'Get talking about mental health'.

[ Updated : Unfortunately “Time To Change” was closed in March 2021 ]

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5 comments

VirtualWombat January 28, 2017 - 10:52 am

All excellent advice. Nice post!

Reply
myfamilyhomeblog January 28, 2017 - 11:20 pm

I thînk this is becoming easier, to be open about suffering from a mental health issue .. I suppose I would rather some conditions were not lumped under the heading of ‘mental health’ .. I prefer ‘health issues’ because I think there are some many degrees of these conditions and if we are all honest with ourselves we suffer or have suffered with a condition of this nature at some point in our lives, or it is something we are aware of and try to manage ourselves for fear of being labelled.

I suffer from OCD and have done for many years now, it peaks in intensity at certain stress points in my life and can consume my daily life, it definitely limits what I can do day to day and has curtailed my life massively, I have learnt how to manage the condition and largely it is unnoticed by those around me (apart from my husband of course) who is very patient and understanding.

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InvisiblyMe January 29, 2017 - 12:42 pm

Personally, I don’t like labels all that much either, nor do I like thinking of issues I’ve dealt with, be them depression, eating disorders or anxiety, as ‘mental health issues’. So I think you’ve raised a really good point there. I’m glad to hear your husband is patient and understanding, that’s wonderful to hear. Thank you for the comment 🙂

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Nyse January 29, 2017 - 9:03 am

This is really important, it’s sad to see when others judge others because of their mental health issue. Mental health issues are just as serious as physical ones, so it’s about time people practiced a little more empathy!

Reply
InvisiblyMe February 1, 2017 - 10:27 pm

This is so very true. I think more empathy would make the world such a calmer, more compassionate place in general. Thanks for the comment! x

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