Raising Awareness Through Walking & Talking
Thursday the 10th September marked World Suicide Awareness Day, so Anna chose this significant date to host a new Mental Health Mile circuit in Doncaster.
Starting at Doncaster Squash Club on Bennetthorpe, a new mile walk around the Town Fields has been added to the events calendar.
The ME Project team went along to support the walk and to gather some feedback from Men at the walk & in the Squash club. We wanted to find out about their experiences of mental health through a short online survey. (click here to complete the survey)
Through walking, talking and sharing our thoughts we were able to learn so much about each other and our individual experiences of mental health.
Lots of Men were willing to share their thoughts on mental health and some openly chatted with the team about personal factors which became challenges such as:
- Cultural stereotypes and pressures
- Practical & financial restrictions impacting emotions
- Problems finding the right support
- Long waiting lists
- Poor experiences of family support
- Being mocked or ridiculed for opening up
In their words…..
Do we need training?
Speaking to men about their experiences, it evidenced our theory that, at times, people do not know the best way to respond when someone opens up. Our words can cause more harm than good.
The ME Project Lead, Paige, will be presenting a FREE webinar in October, using some of the research taken from our Men’s campaign and this Mental Health Mile walk.
Sign up to learn how you can support your friends and family more effectively.
Come along to future mental health mile walks, meet new friends and enjoy some physical exercise. It’s not necessary to MAN UP! It’s perfectly Ok to talk about your feelings.