World Mental Health Day

Hi guys,

Thank you again for visiting my blog.

Today is World Mental Health Day. Some of you may have read from my previous posts about some of the struggles that I had previously had with mental health issues but thankfully I feel a lot better now but sometimes I still remember the times when I was in a darker place.

For me World Mental Health Day is about 2 things:

1) Raising awareness
2) Education

Today has been such a good opportunity to raise awareness about a mental health issues as a lot of people already know that it is world mental health day and I think it has been trending on Twitter most of day. It is days like today that we should talk about mental health more because this is the opportunity to portray what living with a mental health condition can be really like and also to help challenge stigma and other peoples perceptions.

To start off with during the day I went to university to help support my fellow runner Emma who is an amazing mental health advocate. I could only make it for 4pm due to work in which Emma gave an introduction before a number of speakers spoke of the event. I know Emma and the rest of her team have put a lot of hard work into this event and it was nice to see people coming to learn about mental health. 1 of the speeches was from the CEO of Lancashire Mind and I like the fact that he emphasised that mental health is just as important as physical health as because some people can think this is not the case because a mental health issue tends to be hidden.

This evening I also took part in a Twitter chat in which the challenges around mental health were discussed. The chat was hosted by @sassyblogchat and we used #sassybloggers. Before I took part in this chat I already knew of the importance for mental health to be taught in schools because young people need to be taught that it is ok not be ok. I think many valuable lessons could be learnt such as the services that GP's and hospitals may be able to provide so young people know where to go to get the help and support they need. Also they can learn about the importance of talking and seeking support.

One thing I always like to emphasise is the importance of talking and offering support and encouragement to others. I tend to think the more people talk truly about how they feel the more the listener can support them. People deserve the help and support but sometimes they have to help themselves first in order to get that support. This helps them to realise they are not alone and that there is someone out there who is willing to take them seriously and wants them to share their worries and concerns with you. This can give them comfort especially to someone who has self esteem issues because it can help to make them feel cared about and well supported. I saw amazing video that Lauren and her friends made and put on Youtube that emphasise this point. Please click on this link for the Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-_mJP-AUVs.

I think all is all today has been a great day to help educate people but we need to talk about mental health on a more frequent basis and not just days like today.

1 final point that I would like to make which I also mentioned in my previous post is that for anyone who wants to learn about mental health please join #talkmh which takes place on Thursdays from 8:30pm - 9:30pm. The reason I emphasise this chat in particular is that the people are so supportive of one another and I believe it is a really strong community that would welcome anyone who also doesn't have a mental health issue but just genuinely wants to learn.

Keep talking and keep supporting guys.

Thanks for reading.

Faisal