Mental health support empowers the young
JAMI’S HEAD Room Education aims to raise awareness of mental health issues across the Jewish community. Increasingly its work is with young people in schools and youth groups, as well as with teachers and youth workers, to provide educational and interactive workshops and sessions. It holds sessions on a wide variety of topics, including including exploring mental health and how we can support our own wellbeing and that of others; stress management (looking at what stress is, the impact on our bodies and practical tools to manage stress better) and transition workshops to support the move from school to university.
It also delivers the accredited youth mental health first aid course, which has been designed specifically to help young people support each other at school and in further education or a work environment. Jami sees its education work as a twoway process. It is an opportunity for Jami to teach and educate, but also for them to learn from the young people with whom they are in contact. Today’s youth are growing up in a society some of us may no longer recognise. Advances in technology and social media mean their experiences of adolescence may be very different from our own. By hearing their thoughts and opinions, Jami can learn how to support them better, but also empower them to have their voices heard. Adolescence is an important stage of brain development, as well as a key time for developing independence, which is done in a multitude of ways. During adolescence, young people often engage in risktaking and rewardseeking behaviour, which impacts on their decision-making and their selfawareness.
It is crucial to ensure they are aware of their own mental health — and where to turn to if they need additional support. By engaging young people in the discussion on mental health, we can help them think about what they need to do to support their wellbeing and what, if any, barriers there are to their looking after themselves.
We also need to ensure there is no stigma in seeking help should they need it.
Jami has also learnt that their concerns are not necessarily what adults might expect.
During Jami’s sessions, young people have expressed anxiety about jobs, the housing market and UK politics, alongside more expected issues centred on school work, university, relationships and social media.
When we read from the same page as our young people, we are in a better position to help them develop practical tools for looking after their own mental health, identifying problems and knowing where to signpost their peers — or themselves — for further support and reassuring them there is no shame in this.
You can refer yourself or a loved one by calling 020 8458 2223, or see jamiuk.org
For more information on youth mental health first aid courses, Jami’s weekly Get Together or bi-monthly Mindfulness and Milkshake groups at Head Room Café, see jamiuk.org/head-room-courses
Registered charity 1003345
Emma Dorman is mental health awareness coordinator at Jami