Our Muswell Hill Mental Health Series

This Sunday morning, I and 11 others attended the first part of this year’s Mental Health series organised by Beth our Community Events Coordinator. We spent a very valuable few hours together doing Mental Health First Aid training organised by Mind in Haringey. The aim of the course was to help us think more about our own mental health and our triggers for stress and how to avoid them. We all face challenges in life, but good mental health can be helped by finding methods and tools for dealing with those challenges, whether that’s through sharing them with a friend, getting out in the open air, or doing something you love like gardening, walking or cooking.

Those who felt comfortable, shared their own experiences in a very honest and open way. For me it was a good chance to think about the times when I feel overwhelmed, which can lead to anxiety, and what I can do to make sure that doesn’t happen or how to cope with it when it does.

We also thought about how to be more aware of other people’s mental health challenges. A short quiz helped us gain awareness of different types of mental health conditions and how they can manifest themselves. In our final session we considered case studies of people we may come across at work or in our voluntary roles and how to be mindful and accommodating to their mental health challenges and avoiding stigmatising them. We were given practical tips and resources such as how to start a meaningful conversation with someone else about their mental health. A lot of the great resources are here on the Mental Health First Aid England website

I came in not sure what to expect, but definitely left feeling more aware of my own mental health and that of those around me and with new tools to help both myself and others.

A huge thanks to Beth for organising and for a lovely lunch. Look out for the next event in the Mental Health series coming up in December.