Mental Health Awareness Week

May 19, 2020

This week (18-24 May) marks Mental Health Awareness Week. This year’s theme is kindness which aptly ties in with our COVID-19 response.

As a Trust, we wholeheartedly support colleagues with all aspects of their mental health and wellbeing. We all need time to stop, think and process what’s going on and, that’s understandable as we find ourselves in unchartered territory.

Whether you need someone to talk to, someone to listen, or simply a way to relax, recharge and unwind – we have something to help you. On Connect you will find a health and wellbeing page packed with information to help you manage your psychological health.

Today we hear from Richard Burnell one of our Trainers in Organisational development about his experiences with mental health and the importance of speaking out.

“I have a bipolar disorder which means that I can move between depressive illness and something called mania which is a bit like having my brain stuck in fast forward. The best way to explain this is to  imagine you are trying to watch a TV show at six times the normal speed and keep up with what is going on. I take medication and use cognitive behavioural techniques to keep myself as healthy as possible. I don’t see this as being any different to someone who has a long term physical health condition that requires medication and self-awareness. I have a friend I play hockey with who has asthma, he has to ensure he takes his inhalers each day and is aware of when his asthma may be more likely to cause him a difficulty. My friend isn’t embarrassed about his inability to play some weeks because of his condition, neither am I. The more of us who are able to speak up the more normal it becomes to do so and I am lucky that I have got to a place where I am comfortable enough to do that.”

If you want to hear more stories about speaking up about mental health you can click here

https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/blog/speak-and-speak-out-about-mental-health