Over the past week, discussions around mental health have been spreading widely across social media. This clearly shows that these conversations have been triggered at a faster pace by recent, very sad real-life events within our community. Before anyone questions why I’m joining the discussion, I want to be clear that I have no expertise in mental health but I am a responsible citizen and like you, I want to help. I believe if we move forward as a collective, if we collaborate ideas, possibly from the people who are living with mental health issues, and those who care and support, we could come up with a workable solution that is created by the community to support the community.
My involvement is to solely support through collating an article to be shared openly on darling-squirrel-bc6e5e.instawp.xyz to help communicate how the St Helena community feels about current mental health status and the support available to those affected. This article could become the basis for finding funding.
Observations on a few key points have stood out: we seem to be gaining more traction on this subject for mental health, but there are many unanswered questions, we ask within ourselves.
- What support is currently available?
- How can we utilise this better?
- Why are we reactive and not proactive to an issue that is in front of our eyes and so present in our community?
- How can we help others that we know are struggling?
- How can we all get involved, taking initiative as a community to support those living with mental health challenges?
- Are more males affected by this mental health issue than females?
- Do males speak more openly than females or vice versa?
- Could we implement guidance given by our guardians, parents and grandparents better help?
- How can we encourage our government to strengthen support for our people?
There was also a campaign started recently to create a mental health charity. Has this developed any further than initial discussion? It seems to have gone quiet, though it could be a great asset to our community at this time.
Please share your feedback to help shape an article for circulation within our community, so we can work together to support one another. If you don’t feel comfortable commenting publicly, you can email your contribution to editor@sthelenaonline.org.
Do you know anyone who is struggling right now as you read this? Do they have any views to share?
Finally, I want to share a brave and powerful video (with the permission of the originator of this film) that gives perspective on how those around us might be affected by mental health struggles. Remember it’s okay not to be okay.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback.