Today, Thursday 6 February, is the first ever Time to Talk Day: 24 hours in which to start conversations about mental health, raise awareness and share the message that mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, neither is talking about it.
One in four of us will be affected by mental illness in any year. That’s why starting a conversation about mental health is important. It helps people know they’re not alone, it can strengthen relationships between friends, family and colleagues and it starts to take the taboo out of something that affects us all.
Time to Change, England’s biggest mental health anti-stigma programme, run by the charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, aims to get more people talking about mental health than ever before. Sometimes it’s the little things we do that make a big difference – like having a chat over a cuppa, sending a text or inviting someone out. Time to Talk Day is about encouraging people to do just that.
I’m supporting Time to Talk Day, which aims to inspire a million conversations – to show that mental health problems are common and having those conversations needn’t be as hard as people sometimes fear.
Can you be part of it too?
Here are some conversations I’ve had about my own mental health issues:
Love Audrey xxx
Really brilliant to see you and so many others supporting this day. So many people I care about have had problems with their mental health and the more that people talk about this, the better everyone can understand and provide others with the support they so desperately need. Thank you xxx
Huzzah to this!…so many people struggle with mental health issues yet there’s still this stigma which, excuse the pun, is mental! Talk talk talk people!