It’s mental health awareness week. As such, we’ll be posting a topic each day in support.

What Is Mental Health?

As part of mental health awareness week, I will be posting something every day on this matter.

Good mental health means you feel able to enjoy things, you feel confident, self-assured, sleep and eat well, can connect emotionally with others, have the energy to get through the day, and you look forward to things.

The opposite is true for someone with a mental health difficulty.

Feeling hopeless, not feeling able to connect on an emotional level with others, not feeling a sense of achievement or success in life, not hearing positive attention for something you’ve done, not able to make decisions, not wanting to challenge yourself, not having the capacity to sit and reflect on your emotions and thoughts, not feeling safe and secure, and not having people look up to you…these are all signs that you or someone else is suffering with a mental health problem.

From my experience working as a psychologist and working therapeutically with adults and children with mental health problems, and my own personal experience, I understand how courageous people are in making that first phone call for support or first visit to their GP, as their change in mood isn’t going away.

Pick up the phone, or ask someone you know to do it for you and get help today. There are several organisations that you can contact:

You’re GP, Your employee’s private health care provider scheme, NHS counsellors, NHS 111, The Samaritans, private psychologists, Cognitive Behaviour Therapists, and charities, such as Mind and Young Minds. Details of these follow.

Samaritans Telephone 116 123

HCPC Telephone 0300 500 6184

BACP Telephone 01455 883300

Mind Telephone 0300 123 3393