Mental Health Awareness

25/12/2024

Merry Christmas but if it's a hard one for you that's ok, it's ok not to feel ok, just because it's Christmas.

16/09/2024

Tell us about what mental health (MH) topics are on your mind or have seen lately

11/06/2022

The government are currently reviewing the Mental Health and Wellbeing Plan and are wanting input by people who experience/have experienced and/or support those experiencing Mental Health difficulties....
They are wanting to hear back by 7th July, if you'd like to have your say follow this link...

This discussion paper and call for evidence seek views on what we can do to improve everyone’s mental health and wellbeing.

17/04/2022

So it's Easter again, whether you're religious or not Easter is often filled with the concept of rebirth and new beginnings with the start of spring in the air. With that in mind we can always make a new start, you are allowed to move forward of your mistakes, shame and guilt aren't bad feelings they are there to tell us we want to make a change and that's a positive thing, but you have to allow yourself that change and to allow yourself that right to change don't let shame or guilt fester into self-loathing or punishment. Give yourself compassion! Also don't hold on to resentment or contempt for others, holding on to this only posions your own chance to move on and have joy. Change doesn't happen overnight and letting yourself let go of pain from your own mistakes or from others actions, doesn't happen overnight but like spring it slowly blossoms and you might get a back lash of winter of bitter chills but this passes and soon change and new life is seen. Compassion is a powerful tool! (There are therapeutic tools to increase compassion based skills you can look up).

By DB

01/02/2022

So I have been pondering on Bereavement and how little people talk about death and loss and how people can feel alone in their grief when they've lost someone. So I thought it was time to encourage sharing...Comment what loses you have experienced, maybe we can see how we can start to talk about it more with each other.

Comment with the symbols that represent who you've lost....

♥️ = Immediate Family/loved one (including a partner).
🧡 = Extended Family (you had contact with).
💛 = Friend

Share something about them if you wish

12/01/2022

I wanted to share a pleasantly unexpected experience I had a few days ago.
I was watching a few minute clip of a very well performed scene of a programme, and I began to feel emotional. I could feel the tears welling up behind my eyes and my chin start to curl in reluctance as I automatically started fighting it. Fighting my emotions.

I've realised over time that this response happens automatically, and presumably with the intention to protect me from feeling hurt. This is a part of myself that was born at the height of my depression and never went away. Before then I'd have described myself as a very 'feeling person', becoming emotional regularly when watching films or listening to beautiful music.

I became convinced that these emotions and feelings were no longer a part of my personality due to a mixture between living with depression or perhaps my medication.
I was wrong, thankfully. I am learning to embrace feelings again, for them to be a guiding force in my life. Not as a definitive way of navigating the world, but to use them as indicators and catalysts for change.

I like this quote because it stresses the importance of being connected to our feelings, being able to express them, but to be patient when discerning them.
I concluded that I had lost a key part of myself because I hadn't felt that way in a while. My usual emotional response was buried in self preservation, but in truth they hadn't gone anywhere. Becoming more connected to my feelings has allowed me to start embracing again a fundamental part of who I am.

Anxiety sometimes born of fear of the unknown, and that what's around the corner is something bad or a challenge too great for ourselves. How often do we imagine that what's around the corner might equally be something wonderful?
It was lovely to cry, and I hope to have that experience again soon.

25/12/2021

Am feeling this today. Anyone else?
I wanted to give a special shout out to those whose mental health has a tendency to decline over the holidays, especially Christmas. Ive just taken myself away for 20 mins or so just to take some deep breaths.You're not alone if this is also you!
Sending you all my love, to those whose mood are particularly low. And to all, Merry Christmas or whatever this period means for you!

09/11/2021

This is very true I have felt this with my own growth, but you do learn to be comfortable with confidence, being assertive and enforcing your boundaries and prioritising your needs. It is your right to have your needs prioritised and boundaries accepted.

DB

01/11/2021

The masks we wear

*Trigger warning - su***de/suicidal thoughts*

This post of 7 years ago was made 6 days before my admission into hospital. I wasn't in a good place already and I'd then lost my rucksack with all of my college work in it. This came a crucial point when I went from already feeling like I'd lost control of my life, to becoming more unhinged. My cup was almost full.

I then proceed to make a "joke" about deciding whether to find a "balcony" or "high cliff" to jump off of. I've been reflecting on this and on other stories of survivors or victims of su***de, and wondered how so many people go under the radar.

I've concluded that this, in large part, is I'm consequence to the 'Masks' that we wear.
Humans are social and emotionally driven creatures and we make choices based on how we feel about ourselves and other people.

Why do we wear them?

Here are a few masks that you likey wear on a daily basis or keep in the draw for special occasions:

We wear masks to shield our vulnerabilities, making them seem small and insignificant or even not there at all. This is common especially to those who have a poor perception of themselves.
We don't like to be perceived as weak or too reliant on others, as this suggests we are deficient in some way. Feigning strength allows others to be convinced that they don't need to worry about you.
We wear masks in order to minimise harm (real or perceived) to those we love and respect. This can run anywhere from being open about belief systems, to gender identity to fear of losing someone through our honesty.
We wear masks to conceal our guilt or shame and avoid the judgement of others.
We wear them to intimidate others or isolate ourselves, dissuading others from seeking meaningful connection with you, avoiding closeness and intimacy.
We may use humour to distract others (or ourselves) from the deeper, uncomfortable and painful feelings we're avoiding and don't want others to focus on.

The mask of humour has been a frequently worn visage by me and in my post, without realising I'm doing it, I am trying to communicate pain but not having the language to do so. By being a "funny person", I used this as a cloak, despite needing to feel seen, to mask my pain and distract others.

Many people who become suicidal are wearing masks with the intention of keeping themselves alive, whilst simultaneously reducing the harm they might cause to others. This applies to depression and many other mental illnesses, but I'll stick with this issue for now.

Things to reflect on: What masks do I wear? What are the benefits I feel from wearing them? What potential harm and risks are created by wearing them?

In my case:
I use humour daily, and so using humour while joking about my intense and frightening feelings potentially gave people the impression that I wasn't in serious danger or in any danger at all.

I shielded my vulnerabilities despite really needing help, decreasing the chances of others feeling like they should reach out. This then fed the feeling that I wasn't cared about and thus became a self fulfilling prophecy.

I felt that by revealing my struggles that I would play into the beliefs of others that my choices have caused me to be this way, so I masked this for them not to have the satisfaction.

Masks serve a purpose and to recognise what their function is can help us understand ourselves better. Which masks are creating greater risks for ourselves rather than helping us? Which ones are getting in the way of us getting the help we need, feeling connected to others, or simply being our truest and best selves?

Hopefully understanding how and when we wear masks will help us become a bit more sensitive to the ways that others express themselves, and when confronted by difficulty, we might be more receptive to what lies beneath the mask and not just the presenting issue. Connection is one of the great tools we have in keeping each other safe and becoming more sensitive to the needs of others.

***de ***deprevention

17/10/2021

Hi everyone if you feel that this page has been helpful to you, please feel free to leave a review to give the page more awareness and help others become more informed about mental health.

And if you want to join the conversation and post something meaningful to you about mental health, please message us!

Thank you ❤

17/10/2021

This is in memory of a therapy session I had in hospital. The message is simple: feel your feelings, even the painful ones. Rather than fight them, embrace them and they will leave on their own accord. Fight them, and they will fight back, exhausting you, sucking your hope dry. Being mindful of our feelings is a great first step, sharing them with someone safe can do more for you than you imagine.

The Cloud and the Net

I stood out in a clearing green,
on a path on which so clearly seen,
the billowing darkened clouds a yonder,
where my deepest fears are furiously conjured.

"I've dealt with this before", I thought,
"Your power in my field is nought.
For I have sacred articles with me,
such holy vigor, you will see".

But in that fateful moment brave,
the light had left him now betrayed,
and ever still the shadow loomed
closer to complete my doom.

Frozen still my limbs remained,
that icy chill entrap my veins,
but I choose not to be overcome,
to give up my will for this blighted sun.

At last I've found a net I think,
one to make that great cloud shrink,
or indeed to catch this impassable morass,
ere it overtake, and crush my fettered soul at last.

The net I've realised, has no power,
to quell this cruel infecting flower.
Perhaps there is a different way,
to simply give this tide of darkness leave to stay.

Perhaps I need to stand and wait,
allow the vapour to dissipate.
I understand the need to fight or flight,
to force myself into light,
for this willful, terrifying haze,
submitting to time's unending gaze.

By David Sheppard