A Night on the Tiles?

World Mental Health Day 2020

It’s now been 2 years since I was involved in coordinating the now-defunct Liverpool Mental Health Festival. I still haven’t really got over it...

And the world needs mental health support more than ever right now. Things were already bad pre-pandemic but they’re getting a whole lot worse.

The online survey we’ve been conducting over the past few months in my current job shows that people’s mental health has been really impacted by the pandemic - with anxiety, stress, depression and suicidal thoughts on the increase.

Meantime, I’m involved in the working group developing an updated Mental Health Strategy for Liverpool, which focuses on the impact of Covid. Of course, there is no additional money; the city council is on its knees financially; preventative, community and peer-led services (such as my old organisation) have been lost; and central government continues to flounder - and I’m putting that politely! To quote my friend Sarah...

“Awareness of 'mental health' has perhaps never been higher, but that doesn't always translate into a genuine understanding of mental distress, & certainly doesn't translate into adequate support & services. The big campaigns tell us about the labels & advise creativity, yoga, seeing friends, a hot bath... all quite useless if you don't have a home, are fleeing violence, have no friends or face discrimination on a daily basis. Mental health is political & I hope we move past awareness to fight for equality, inclusivity, social justice, & community. Most of all, let's be kind & look after each other.”

On this year’s World Mental Health Day, I wish you all good emotional wellbeing as well as good physical health. This thing ain’t over by a long chalk. The repercussions will last for generations in terms of our minds, our bodies, our relationships, our economy, educational attainment, and everything else. It’s crucial that we do all we can to be kind to ourselves and each other. Our personal health and wellbeing is intrinsically tied to everyone else’s and we need to look out for everyone.

Here’s the brilliant Arlo Parks with ‘Black Dog’ www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOu0Ht0-D4M

A big shout-out to Sarah and Nici today. I miss working with them so much!