Charity encourages UK to talk about mental health after government drops ten year plan
The UK observed Time to Talk Day this week, encouraging people to speak about their mental health.
It comes just after the UK government have dropped their ten-year mental health plan, replacing it with their Major Conditions Strategy.
This is a strategy that encompasses mental health with other conditions including cancers and Alzheimer’s disease.
Mental Health Charity Mind has expressed its disappointment with the decision.
Their CEO Sarah Hughes said: “While we’re still waiting for details of the Major Conditions Strategy, a plan this general is unlikely to help achieve that.”
The charity has still continued with its efforts to raise awareness about Time to Talk.
Communications and Fundraising Manager at Mid Kent Mind Tom Fishenden explained its significance, saying: “Time to Talk day is really all about breaking that myth, encouraging people to have conversations, giving them tools and resources that can support those conversations, and really just showing people that actually it’s okay to talk about mental health.
“It’s okay to want to engage with support services.”
Making the decision to speak about your mental health isn’t always easy, but initiatives like Time to Talk are aimed at reducing the difficulty by destigmatising the topic.
Mr Fishenden offered his advice by saying: “It’s very easy to think, okay, I’m going to have a conversation about mental health.
“What do I do?
“How do I make it this big, grand thing, and how do I tackle it properly.
“Actually, it can be as simple as saying, I want to have a conversation about mental health.
“I’m going to reach out to my friend and see if they want to go for a coffee.”
One in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem in their lifetime, yet it is still something that some find a challenge to talk about.
Daisy Lyddall helps with communications in the Student Support and Wellbeing department at the University of Kent, and believes Time to Talk is a step towards a more accepting society: “Having a scheduled day where people come together and discuss their mental health really helps destigmatise the conversation overall in wider society, and completing fun tasks together while you talk about mental health makes the conversation less serious, and less scary.”
The University of Kent put on a number of activities for the occasion.
Joshua Stevens works within Student Services at the university, and helped facilitate these events.
Talking about the activities, he said: “So we had some craft activities in the library, and we also had an event in our community garden in Canterbury.
“So that was all to help people find a more comfortable situation to talk about their mental health in, besides just a traditional therapy setting.”
The campaign may be over for this year, but charities like Mind hope conversations about mental health will go on, and that the government won’t go silent when it comes to mental health provision.
