Periods are a significant part of people’s lives. However, openly talking about them is still considered a taboo subject by many, creating period shame. This can easily impact on people’s mental wellbeing, leading to loss of self-confidence, anxiety, mood swings and depression.
This year’s World Mental Health Day is focusing on conditions at work, the management of stress, inclusion, and opportunity. The overall aim is to raise awareness of the importance of mental health at work, promote best working policies and practices, and create workplace cultures in which all employees can feel valued and appreciated.
Performing a kind act not only helps to promote a sympathetic and generous outlook, it also leaves you feeling positive. And that is transformative for mental health, because it can give a purposeful perspective to your day.
The Plot: Hadi Al-Amaery, a Syrian refugee in London has taken to the woods after being the victim of a corner shop robbery gone wrong. There, under a blanket of stars and in the shadow of a warming fire he faces his past self who experienced the war back in Syria and the persona of the refugee he consequently became after his arrival. The dying embers of Hadi Al-Amaery are newly stoked by the raging fire in his heart.
The global number of suicide deaths each year is approximately 700,000. That amounts to about one percent of all deaths. On average it means there is a suicide every 45 seconds. It is a jaw dropping statistic. In England and Wales, there are about 5,500 deaths from suicide each year.
Mental health is very similar to physical health. It’s just that a lot of the time it’s more difficult to recognize symptoms of anxiety, for example, because they’re not as obvious as a broken leg or a streaming cold.
Thursday 27th June is designated PTSD awareness day. It was first organised in the US in 2010, when the Senate nominated that day in memory of Joseph Biel, a former Staff Sergeant who had served in the North Dakota Air National Guard. A year after returning home from his second tour of Iraq, he took his own life aged just 37, having battled with PTSD.
This year, it begins on Monday 17th June. It is intended to be a celebration and an opportunity to increase awareness. More than anything else it is a chance for people to show what it is like to live with learning disabilities. For 2024 the theme is, ‘Do you see me?’. This means raising the profile of people with learning disabilities, encouraging and empowering them to be seen, heard and respected within society.
Naturally enough, one ongoing aim of Volunteers’ Week is to acknowledge the time and efforts generously given by millions of volunteers across the UK to thousands of good causes. A second goal is to encourage and inspire more people from all walks of life to consider offering a little of their time to make a difference within their communities and beyond.
By Chloe Hall Conventional definitions Descriptions of dementia usually begin with a definition: it’s the […]
