Hi guys.

Thursday Is world mental health day.
The nhs has done a very basic questionnaire, that gives light advice based on your answers. I thought it might be of use to some?

Does anyone know of anyone doing anything to raise awareness for the day?

https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/your-mind-plan-quiz/?WT.tsrc=Search&WT.mc_id=MentalHealthGeneric&&gclid=CjwKCAjwxOvsBRAjEiwAuY7L8nYvKmGWkkeWX-QWCxPqNj1V4bIL0YxFldS4AH5Iq_6AExUBHkIG-RoChNkQAvD_BwE

I'm in awe of all the great advice and support umd members are giving each other both here and in the group me chat!

What a community

Honestly, it's the first I heard about it coming up. I probably should have marked it on my calendar or something. I'll see if I can find somethings going on.

We stick together in more than 1 way...

Out of interest, what is the group me chat thing?

Yeah we do

It's an instant chat, so sometimes a little easier to use.,

Here's the link. All are welcome!

https://groupme.com/join_group/53011141/z2X1s1ej

Thanks Jay, I'm sure there's loads of helpful stuff going on xx

I would like to go into the group too, I'm so proud of this comuunity

Actually Lisa, I'm sad to say I haven't been able to find a damn thing really...

I found that 2019's theme is focusing on suicide and suicide prevention primarily.

These are the only links I could find regarding events or activities thus far.
https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/get-involved/get-your-workplace-involved/resources/mental-health-calendar/wmhd
https://www.mhe-sme.org/save-the-date-world-mental-health-day-2019/

For people who like shiny graphs and metrics
https://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suicideprevent/en/

An interesting note is that while in the east suicides are fairly even across the board, in the west (Americas and Europe), they are predominately low income and male and by a rate of 3 to 1.

But the vast majority of sites (like this one) are just mention that the day is a thing and then recommend fuck all about it.
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/world-mental-health-day

I'll keep poking around though.

Great job Jay!

I can find lots of events in the Uk..

https://www.google.co.uk/search?sxsrf=ACYBGNTTsf2rYQREfs0FbdsTD435siMBxA%3A1570526467384&source=hp&ei=A1WcXYnfFMLhgwfp44bYCg&q=world+mental+health+day+2019+events&oq=events+eorld+mental+hea&gs_l=mobile-gws-wiz-hp.1.2.0i22i30j0i8i13i30l4j0i8i13i10i30j0i8i13i30l2.144175.157142..158848...3.0..0.324.6570.2-21j3......0....1.......8..35i362i39j0i131j46i131j0j46j0i22i10i30j33i160j0i13j0i13i10j0i13i30j33i22i10i29i30j33i10i160.wX9zqpbt0zU#fpstate=tlexp&htiq=world%20mental%20health%20day%202019%20events


Not sure if they are any good mind xx

I know there is a Gunge-based ice bucket challenge thing going in on Twitter. It is UK-based. I'll look it up, maybe we can arrange something together?

I am planning on throwing a 4-day 50% sale on all my material from thursday until sunday, with the full profits going to a mental health charity here in the netherlands(currently even our suicide prevention hotline is a PAID phone number), so I think about donating to that goal.

I am also in discussion to have a chat with a local radio station.

Hi there.

Great that there is attention for this topic. It's necessary, believe me.
I work with mental ill people, but also with these cases.
A lot of pain, and cry's for help are involved. Sadly not all are or being heard, due to shame - disinterest - and pure simply not seeing or hearing .

If someone needs help or someone to talk too, help them out, please.
If you are in this position, and want to talk or just shout at anyone, give me a call. It doesn't matter that not at my job, I just like to help.

Greets, Chris/Jurning

As somebody who has had a lot of trouble in the past I have very mixed experiences of the NHS services. I'm lucky enough the have private cover or been able to pay.
However, I'd not say a bad word about the work that the NHS does or anybody in the profession, so kudos to you jurning.
The hardest part, in my experience, is taking the first step and admitting to needing help. While there is a great perception of stigma, there are also so many people that will help. While I'm not a professional and wouldn't be able to offer any advice, I will always help or listen if people have anything they need to get off their chest. As somebody who has been helped a great deal in the past, I feel responsible when anybody reaches out for help and will always do what I can. There are also some awesome charities in the UK that provide free professional services. It's sad to hear that the same services aren't free in the Netherlands.

Just to mirror:

I am a counsellor for the NHS, the problem here is how long it takes to see a client, I have known it to take months from referral as there are so few of us. Postcode lottery

I would recommend Mind as they offer 12 free therapy sessions and there are often local charities in various cities that also offer sessions and their counsellors will be fully trained (or trainees).

Asking for help is difficult, people need a good network of friends around them, and many people don't realise they even have that as a resource. Professional help is expensive (private) or maybe long time coming (NHS), but it is there.

My comment was in now way intended to be critical of the staff, but as you say the waiting times are sometimes very long. I think that the NHS is amazing and without getting too political the Tories are the root of a lot of the issues both at root and also with the strain they put on the awesome staff such as you.
I am lucky enough to live in a bigish city and have had some excellent treatment from the local staff.
I also echo the comment about mind, they are a charity I support a great deal and do an awesome job. The Samaritans are also excellent as are CALM.
When I went through my worst, I was lucky enough to be really well supported by friends who did a lot of the work with people like the local crisis team.

I see from uk tv ads that AXA Insurance/AXA PPP Healthcare have counsellors available.

Also, don't forget Mind, https://www.mind.org.uk/ , the mental health charity.

Wow, I don't see shit over here in the US. If it's not "orange man bad" than it's "sportsball", or the opinions and goings on of some "important" movie start or other some such figure.

I've always found having a dark sense of humor and a reasonably quick wit to be an excellent coping mechanism. It keeps those around me amused, and me out of the clocktowers. So there's that.

But what works for me may not work for someone else, so it is good to have a network of people who will keep an open ear and a soft shoulder around. Never hurts to have a few good friends.

I got that sense of humor too, and it's exactly why most of my family and friends don't talk to me anymore. They will complain about it any time I make a joke about death, pain, or something along those lines. "I really wish you wouldn't say things like that" or "I wish you knew how that makes ME feel" is all I ever hear.