On the Market Place in Abingdon today there were balloons, leaflets, and a well being tree to promote Mind‘s current initiative, Five Ways to Well being. The Mayor and Town Clerk were also there to show their support. The five ways are …
1. Connect with people around you
2. Be active (we did have a quick game of handball after this picture was taken).
3. Take notice. Be Curious.
4. Keep learning. Try something new.
5. Give. Do something nice for somebody. Thank somebody …
Today was also world mental health day, an annual chance to raise understanding, and reduce stigma around the 1 in 4 people who suffer some sort of mental health problem some time in life. For example Depression affects 10% of new mothers, and depression is treatable.
It’s interesting to see that staving off depression isn’t rocket science – perhaps in the past this was called ‘community’, maybe not. It reminds me of the lost pubs of Abingdon, communities in themselves and generally open to all, altho’ ‘be active’ might have been pushing it a bit. But it does seem to be a roundabout comment on how we all live these days.
1 in 4 – I’ve read somewhere that this statistic means we, as a society, more effectively send people ‘mad’ than we educate them.
Thank you as ever Backstreeter, hope the fair went well, please don’t relegate it to a field on the edge of town, it’ll (literally) sink after summers like this, as ours did in the happy New Forest.
I, too, was interested in the advice offered by the MIND project. You are perfectly correct ‘ld Ghost’…communities are the key, particularly for people living alone. That is why bit is so important to keep the town centre busy and vibrant. For some people, doing their shopping there and taking part in the activities, is one of the few opportunities they get of meeting and interacting with people. (In my humble opinion anyway!!).
Apologies…I meant to write OLD Ghost.
I agree wholeheartly Cassandra, about the town centre – certainly I wouldn’t want to suggest that pubs were/are the only place to forge a sense of community, indeed there are plenty of, overall, healthier options. Sentimentality on my part I’m afraid!
Mind helped me a lot, in 2001.
Mental Health is an Invisible Illness, which can so easily be hidden from view., It happened dramatically for me, when I was detained under Section 2 of the Mental Health act. {Sectioned}, and transferred from Abingdon Police cells to Littlemore Pheonix ward. Where diagnosed Clinical Depression.
Thankfully, I responded well to treatment and was released into Community Care at Marcham Road Mental Health Trust unit and my GP.
I agree with Community, I found out which neighbours supported me (and unfortunately which ones didn’t).
Col.