9th - 15th May: Mental Health Awareness Week

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK

9TH – 15TH MAY 2022

As we all start to get back to “Normal” from a more or less 2 year absence from the lives we had before Covid 19, one of the hardest things we have had to deal with is “Loneliness”

Loneliness affects so many of us at one time or another, and can affect our mental health greatly, and the pandemic has given rise to a sense of loneliness and isolation, undermining confidence in daily routines.

And also our society has changed so much with more and more people now working from home also has only made things harder for us.

1.49 million adults (women and men) were in contact with mental health services at the end of December 2021. 355, 807 enquiries were made to children and young people’s mental health services at the end of December 2021,

It’s a good thing that mental health is being discussed more and more, everyone has mental health and everyone at some point in their life, experience mental health issues.

It has been widely reported that a way to further reduce the mental health stigma is to openly talk about how we can make changes to the our lives in order to live a life where we feel our wellbeing is supported and how we deal with the stresses of everyday life.

You might think whether one person’s efforts can really make a difference and the answer is Yes, Absolutely! Every conversation you have about the importance of recognising mental illness and taking that first step to ask for help or where to get the help you need can also cause and create a ripple effect that could help more people than you know.

It’s going to be harder for some more than others to slowly get back to the social aspect of life, that we had before, so let’s try to CONNECT!

TALK & LISTEN – Asking friends, family, colleagues how they are doing.
SHARE – Talk openly about your own struggles with mental health, could be just the encouragement that someone else needs to open up about theirs.
SOCIAL MEDIA – There is a lot of important and quality content out there for everyone to share and spread the word.
LANGUAGE & EDUCATE – Think about your language in talking about mental health, any negative talk about it reinforces the stigma and might stop someone getting help, also educate yourself about mental health, you can then pass on knowledge to those that need it.
PHYSICAL & MENTAL HEALTH – Encourage people to see that eating healthy, plenty of exercise and sleep all play a part in a person’s mental and emotional state.

SUPPORT AT ANNAN RUGBY

Here at Annan Rugby our mental health and wellbeing coordinator is Laura Mackay, if you need any more information or just a chat, you can contact Laura on:

Mobile: 07808660753 / Email: LauraMac@AnnanRFC.com

There are also some local groups that do great work and support young people in the region and also have a free text messaging service available if you need it.

MENTAL HEALTH WORKSHOPS

Also here at Annan Rugby we are looking at some Mental Health Workshops for our younger players (Boys & Girls).

So before the new season starts, we will be looking to be holding sessions for each age group. Dates, times and format still to be finalised, and will be sending out all the information about this nearer the time.

Once this is done, we hope this will be a regular feature at Annan Rugby for everyone and we hope you will support this wholeheartedly. Thanks.

FURTHER HELP AND SUPPORT

If you are experiencing a Mental Health problem, further help and support is always available.

There are different helplines and listening services available that can provide emotional support.

The Samaritans (24 hours a day) – 116 123
CALM (5pm – midnight) – 0800 58 58 58
Shout (24 hours a day) – text ‘SHOUT’ to 85258
Childline (24 hours) 0800 1111
Papyrus (9am – 10pm weekdays and 2pm – 10pm weekend & bank holidays) – 0800 068 4141

If you are looking for support and advice;