Aspire’s World Mental Health Day Brunch!
On 10th October, it was World Mental Health Day. The focus was to all come together to talk about mental health and show that mental health matters. The aim was to talk about our mental health to help us better cope with life’s ups and downs.
At Aspire, we hosted a World Mental Health Day Brunch as a chance for our women to come together, have a chat, and create a safe space for open conversations about our mental health (we also had some great food as well!)
We shared tips from The Mental Health Foundation with our women to help talk about your own mental health:
Choose Someone You Trust To Talk To - This might be a friend, family member or colleague. Or you might be more comfortable talking to someone you don’t know, for example, through a support helpline. It can help to do a pros and cons list about talking to someone.
Think About The Best Place To Talk - It’s important to choose a place where you feel comfortable enough to open-up. You might want to choose somewhere private where you’re less likely to be disturbed. You also might want to talk while you do an activity, like walking together.
Prepare Yourself For Their Reaction - Hopefully, you will have a good experience when you open-up to someone. But there’s a chance they might not react in the way you hope. This may be for different reasons like they might be worried or not fully understand at first. If that’s the case, try to give them time to process what you’ve told them. It might help to give them time to process what you’ve told them. it might help to give them information to read to help them understand. And don’t forget to be kind to yourself and practise self-care.
We also shared tips from The Mental Health Foundation of how to talk to someone else about their mental health:
Find A Good Space To Talk Without Distractions - If you’re worried about someone, try to find a place where you know you can have a conversation without being distracted. Make sure to give them your full attention. it might help to switch off your phone.
Listen And Ask Questions - Listening can be one of the most valuable ways to be there for someone. Show them that you’re actually listening by facing them, making eye contact, and not interrupting. Questions can help you clarify what they mean and also show that you’re actively listening. But make sure the questions are relevant to what they’re saying, and not changing the subject.
Ask How You Can Help - Ask how you can help or make suggestions, rather than telling them what to do next. They might want support with making a GP appointment, help around the house, or just for you to keep things normal and chat about what’s going on in your life.
The brunch was very positively received by our women and a brilliant time was had by all!
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