{"id":9377,"date":"2017-10-10T15:21:32","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T14:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.new-directions.co.uk\/socialcare\/?p=9377"},"modified":"2017-10-10T15:21:32","modified_gmt":"2017-10-10T14:21:32","slug":"making-mental-health-topical-topic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.new-directions.co.uk\/health-social-care\/2017\/10\/making-mental-health-topical-topic\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Mental Health a Topical Topic\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today is World Mental Health Day. The hashtags and related postings are flooding social media with messages of recognition, advances in support and an ever-campaigning change for attitudes towards those who may suffer with mental ill health.<\/p>\n<p>I wonder in my lifetime will we ever make sufficient advances to support everyone\u2026including those suffering the most, those suffering in silence. One of my aims for World Mental Health Day as Director to my team is to encourage discussion, dialogue and complete honesty.<\/p>\n<p>Our organisation has a fresh approach to dealing with mental health. In fact, this year over 60% of our management community have attended a First Aid Awareness session on the very topic. For an SME with a focus on sales, revenue and market share \u2013 I am proud to be a part of a community that has started discussion.<\/p>\n<p>So, here I am on this day of celebration, promotion and raising awareness and I am contemplating what is stopping people from being open about their own mental health issues?<\/p>\n<p>Our organisation is a diverse mix of alpha males (there I said it\u2026but I\u2019ll leave them to guess who is who), strong female leaders, creative types, fast-paced (and fast living) types, reflectors, projectors and those who enjoy peace and quiet. We really reflect a cross-section of personality types and our teams are an inclusive mixture of all the above.<\/p>\n<p>I walk around the building and I try to honour a statement a good friend and colleague posted during a time of a terrible and invisible illness \u2018Be kind to everyone you meet, for you know not what battles they are facing\u2019. But\u2026it\u2019s difficult, it really is. I can\u2019t force people to tell me when they don\u2019t feel at 100%, I can second guess and use my own experiences to empathise and extend some knowledge and understanding, but it\u2019s frustrating.<\/p>\n<p>Until we stop with the \u2018throw away\u2019 jokes and the perpetuation of stereotypes surrounding mental ill health, we will face the same struggles in the coming years as we have faced with the eradication of racism, sexism and homophobia.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not suggesting that we go to the extremes of completely vilifying a little humour around the matter\u2026after all, that\u2019s often the trigger in a conversation that opens discussion on the subject. We need to strike a fine balance and get folk talking, unashamedly discussing their worries, their annoyances and their wins. Make Mental Health a Topical Topic!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today is World Mental Health Day. The hashtags and related postings are flooding social media with messages of recognition, advances in support [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":5567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-events"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>Making Mental Health a Topical Topic\u2026 : New Directions Health and Social Care<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today is World Mental Health Day. 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