Getting moving on World Mental Health Day - what a day!
What an honour it was to spend World Mental Health Day with Olympic gold medallist Philips Idowu on our walk through Camden to the fantastic Time to Get Moving event at the N1 shopping centre in Islington. We were met on arrival by some great Bollywood dancing, which got the crowds active and the message across.
And I learnt some fascinating triva from Philips en route too - did you know that he can jump the length of a bendy bus?! His amazing athletic skills aside, it's fantastic to have Philips on board supporting Time to Change.
So many of us with lived experience got out there in Islington, engaging the public in a very positive way, slap bang in the middle of a busy shopping centre - we couldn't be ignored! I could see the public taking a keen interest in an event that was entertaining as well as having a serious message. It was such a great way to spend World Mental Health Day - all united and out there in front of our audience. All the months of hard work paid off - a big well done to all the teams from Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, Camden and Islington councils and PCTs, Arsenal in the Community, Terry from our Lived Experience Advisory Panel and all the Time to Get Moving team.
Later that day I headed to Brighton, for a 'Stamp out Stigma' walk led by Time to Change's Mind Out project at Brighton and Hove Mind. There was such a good turnout with some great staff, volunteers and supporters all out in force engaging the public at another really positive event - with good profile walking along the seafront. The Mind Out project does some great work around LGBT mental health and it's great to have this community behind us.
My last stop was Kent, where we ended World Mental Health Day with three mayors from the county adding their support - that's a first! Thanks to Janet Lloyd and her team at Kent and Medway Trust for making this happen.
The growing confidence that all involved have in talking to the public about mental health is obvious to me - and this comes from uniting under one banner and supporting each other. It was such a positive day - well done to everyone involved with events the length and breadth of England. Your efforts are starting to deliver tangible change.
Events are continuing this week - check out what's going on near you.
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Individual and differential needs.,
Mental health is a serious matter but not all mental health is of a enduring form.Yet the mental health systems , its networks, organisational behaviors, health and social care network, socio - economic political drivers contribute to the capitalisation and exploitation of some for a lifetime. Undoubtably stigma or disability labels have helped people to secure funding. But it still should be about consultation , choice , and openness. Race , gender, token equal opportunities, poor access to services or legal address, multiple discrimination, cultural and religious ignorance ,multiple stresses, racism, indifference, power politics , lack of information, social networks or family, and poverty can make matters worse for a lone person who may have entered the MH system even once. It should not attract a life sentence at the work place or when challenged in court single handedly, with remarks like 'you have had your day in court'. Unfortunately I know from my own grounded experience within the health and social care interface, exploitation in mental health services keeps many in high flying jobs. This keeps the affected labelled individual professionally disempowered sometimes for a life time. Their dignity self respect is just sh...t There are many in the latter arena especially in the public sector who are only too ready to rise above on the back of another. Our individual experiences are of course all different, and our needs too will be different. Bullying at the work place is commonplace but are there the systems that will take you seriously, or do they refer you back for another dose of the mental health system and their network s? Sprinkle a little racism into that, and you get an even more perverse picture and even lesser rights. if you are well off you can escape with a trip to the pychotherapist, a holiday or leave your children in boarding school to protect them from the impact of mental health. People with mental health problems need help in early detection, treatment and aftercare at the point of need, that is appropriate . Mental health illness should not be a life sentence. Not all mental health is enduring or for life.