Mental Health Is ‘Everyone’s Business’

We all have mental health.

Talk around mental health should be a high priority in schools and we have to start with ourselves, realising that mental health is a continuum; it is not static. Positive mental health is a gift, one that should not be taken for granted, and wellbeing is something that needs to be worked at, just like physical health.

This article originally appeared in Issue 53 of the UKEdMagazine. You can freely read the magazine by clicking here

Children need to be talking about how to nurture positive mental health and what to do if they or others suffer from poor mental health, mental ill-health or even mental illness. The topic of mental health is not ‘for the few’ nor is it all doom and gloom. Quite the opposite: embrace what makes you smile; treat yourself like your own best friend. If you look at the people who you think are ‘together’, mentally – it hasn’t happened by accident! Their lives probably embrace self-care, their esteem is probably higher, their resilience embedded and their support network secure.

Any individual who seems to think mental health awareness is not appropriate, remember – you are not going to give someone a mental health problem just by talking about it!

And finally, it is easier to build healthy children than mend broken adults.

@MrsRuthStacey1 Somerset – Mental Health & Wellbeing specialist