Time to Talk Day is designed to encourage everyone to talk about mental health. This year it is all about bringing together the right ingredients, to have a conversation about mental health. Whether that’s tea, biscuits and close friends or a room full of people challenging mental health stigma. They want you to get talking.
Mental health affects 1 in 4 of us and 3/4 of all mental health cases are established by the age of 24. Yet people are still concerned about talking about it. Around 6,000 people a year take their own lives due to mental health difficulties. It’s the biggest killer of men under 50.
Talking about mental health helps break down stereotypes, improve relationships, aid recovery and take the stigma out of something that affects us all. There are lots of different ways to have a conversation about mental health. You don’t have to be an expert to have a chat with a friend about how they feel.
Follow these simple 5 steps this Time To Talk Day advised by Time for Change:
- Take it seriously – however strange it might seem to you, it’s real to them.
- Listen and reflect – you don’t have to have the answers, just having someone to listen can make a big difference.
- Ask simple questions to keep the conversation going and to help them get things off their chest.
- Don’t try and fix it – it’s more helpful to the other person if you just listen, ask open ended questions and do things together that you would normally do.
- Build your knowledge – you might find it helpful to learn a bit more about what they’re going through – check out the Time for Change website to start with.
Read more: The Mental Health organisations you need to know about
