Will this help change direction?
Week 41 of 2018 I would say almost the week that the world sat up and took a step together in the right direction.
In the UK the Prime Minister announced the first ‘Suicide Prevention Minister’. The scary bit in England 4500 people take their lives each year. The other numbers I am not putting here because that number itself is unreal.
I am not sure what the introduction of this new minister will do to these figures, but the key is to deal with the cause. This is finally an acknowledgement from UK government that there is a need to address this subject.
This appointment was ready to mark World Mental Health Day. So naturally and obviously its accepted that poor mental health leads to suicide.
This leads me on to the Global Mental Health Summit 2018. This was the second summit arranged by the charities; Change Direction and Give an Hour. The focus of this was ‘Mental Health Culture Change’
Now you are reading this and haven’t heard of these charities that is no surprise both are based in the United States. So, what are they doing here? Well simply put they are working on changing direction and the conversation on mental health. To change the culture surrounding mental health.
This summit had some of the greatest minds in the world. Who were passionate about mental health. The subject areas were diverse, they ranged through Policy, Fashion, Veterans, LGBTQ and Faith. Speakers travelled from all over the world to pass their knowledge.
Three key points that I hope reading will make you think and start a conversation.
- There are no words for mental health in South Asia, therefore it makes a difficult starting point for the conversation.
- Until 2013 legislation in the UK still discriminated against Members of Parliament, Jurors and Company Directors.
- Everyone has Mental Health it should not be binary i.e. with or without, it is.
Thinking about the brain without the mind is brainless, thinking about the mind without the brain is mindless.
I will do more blogs from this but for now enjoy and share. I also urge you to comment on this post and read other blogs
R+Z
All Around Ziggy 
Absolutely love the last bullet point:
Everyone has Mental Health it should not be binary i.e. with or without, it is.
Many of us suffer in silence as we are too scared to speak out, too scared of isolating ourselves further, too scared of being judged.
My so called friends deserted me when I could no play sport and be apart of their team, and yet that was the time I needed them most.
We ALL have good days and bad days where we want to speak out. Mental health is as important as physical health and should be treated as such.
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