Thursday, May 19, 2016

Mental Health Awareness Week 2016

This week in the UK is National Mental Health Awareness Week, so we're doing our part now to raise awareness.  This year the theme and focus of the week is "Relationships".



We wanted to highlight the fact that its Mental Health Awareness week as its a fantastic initiative to get those of us who are fortunate enough not to suffer mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, to better understand the everyday problems and challenges faced by those who do.  And that's a whopping 1 in 4 of us currently in the UK, experiencing mental health problems every year.  

 



 (*stats and more info from: MIND)


There are examples everywhere of even famous faces that live with mental illness, yet it still seems a taboo subject that not many are willing to discuss or even admit to.  A study out today also highlights  that for those over 60years -especially men - the numbers of cases of depression are ever increasing and help from the NHS is flagging.  Mental health is simply still not tackled with the resources it should be in the mainstream.  Little to no help is offered in far too many cases.

If someone has a physical disability, we can instantly sympathise (or treat), but for those suffering from something we cant see, its more complicated and therefore responses are slower and more varied.  We believe in the community - our friends, family and colleagues etc, we simply still don't know how to approach the issues. 

We hope by raising awareness of mental health this week, we can make inroads to how we view and can treat mental illness in all forms.  Just getting people used to talking about it - admitting it - is half the problem solved already.  The more we are aware, the more we discuss, the more we learn and can sympathise, can treat, and can support mental health in our communities - showing support and understanding to your friend, family, colleagues that have mental health issues is the best we can do, so lets open this up and not be afraid to talk about something a huge 1 in 4 of us will experience this year alone. 

Focus on Relationships:



The mental health foundation are focusing this years Mental Health Awareness Week on RELATIONSHIPS. Relationships are the forgotten foundation of mental health and overall personal wellbeing.  You can get involved and learn more about improving your own relationships or supporting others here: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/relationships

With no nonsense nutrition we talk a lot about food/drink and what we consume on a daily basis to keep our bodies healthy.  What we don’t mention as much, although think about and practice all the time, is feeding our minds (as well as our bodies and bellies!) - which obviously includes feeding our relationships. 

Relationships can span anything and everything from that with with your partner, family and friends, to for example your relationship and how you interact with work, finance, education, spirituality and learning. (Plus of course our relationships and how we think about food).  Therefore relationships and how we think about them have the potential to impact on just about everything in our daily lives. 

Keeping your mind on your relationships and how you interact and react to aspects of them, is a very big task we face every day. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/relationships/our-daily-relationships-challenge

What is your relationship resolution?

This week we (alongside the mental health foundation) are asking you to make a Relationship Resolution. You can share your resolution via the website here:  
OR by using the hashtag #RelationshipsResolution on social media posts. 

Final note:

Mind are a mental health charity, there to help us if we find relationships are sometimes not as healthy as they could be.  Mind is a charity and resource for better mental health. We support Mind in Croydon (as our local charity) and will be doing so by taking part this year in their Positive Steps charity walk in June.  For more details please see our events page to come along and get involved: EVENTS

Lets keep the ball rolling - keep focused on mental health - our own and that of others.  Raise the bar, raise awareness and get on board this week and into June with the walk.

For more info regards the Mental Health Foundation, Mental Health Awareness Week, Mind (in Croydon) and the Positive Steps walk just ask!  You can email me here - info@nitakothari.com or get in contact via any of our social media channels below:

Remember this week to tag your #RelationshipsResolution

Our next blog will focus more on mental health and feeding our minds - with the concept of PRIMARY FOODS - so sign up for our newsletter (via any page of our website www.nitakothari.com) not to miss that, which will include a simple exercise we can all do to find and focus on what challenges need more focus to improve our own mental health and wellbeing. 

www.nitakothari.com

  **Please remember this is advice ONLY (as is all other information contained in this blog, the website and social media related to it) None of the info or advice is intended to override any recommendation from your GP or health professional**

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