Helen's story

Local event organiser Helen Roberts explains why she wanted to take
action, and how running a Get Moving event at her workplace encouraged
others to open up.

"I have had anxiety and depression since I was
about 13 years old. I have always felt very alone in this, and it
wasn't until recently that I found organizations like Mind. I noticed
the Time to Change campaign on the website, and thought this was a
great opportunity for me to do something worthwhile, especially as I
was experiencing a minor level of discrimination at work.

It was very difficult to organise something for Get Moving as I work in
a call centre, so getting people moving was going to be a problem. But
I put up campaign posters, left leaflets in the canteen area, and did a
question trail around the grounds so people could go for a walk on
their break and answer questions about mental health.

I did get a couple of negative comments from colleagues, such as
"Mental health, how depressing", but more positively, a few people did
come and talk to me about their own experiences of anxiety and
depression, which made me realise I am not alone. We now talk regularly
to see how each other is doing and give support if needed. It certainly
gave me a small boost of self-confidence that people felt comfortable
enough to talk to me about their experiences, and it has brought me to
believe that giving people the opportunity to talk and share their
feelings and experiences at events such as Get Moving  is a valuable
tool in the fight against mental health discrimination."