My life-long campaign to raise awareness

In 1979, clutching a battered suitcase, and with not an inclination of what I was facing, I left my childhood village of Staithes to move to the home counties to work in mental health care. I never looked back.

Mental health nursing and ‘anti-stigma' of mental health campaigning has been my life. It is in my DNA.

This is why I have been so vociferous in my approach to try to improve services, raise more awareness and challenge outdated attitudes towards mental health.

And now over 40 years later, and retired from nursing, I have the time to reflect on all of this.

I have seen much needed changes in mental health care.

There is now more respect and understanding of the condition. Societal attitudes towards mental health have improved greatly.

Essentially, we are all individuals, each one of us with unique life experiences to share.

These experiences all help us to grow, improve our humanity and develop our resilience to the different challenges we face every day. This has always been my maxim.

On my long walks on the hills above Staithes I meet many people, mostly visitors, who sometimes stop and comment about the area.

They mention the hospitality they have been shown, the beauty of the area and its unchanging character.

A city dweller would regard this area as their Shangri La.

Many would be forgiven for not appreciating the bitterly cold winters, the snow laden roads and the difficulties people face to buy a house in the village they were born in.

That said, each day we all strive to make our lives that little bit better. We only die once but we live every day.

Sadly, we walk around oblivious to those who may be struggling because often people ‘mask’ their symptoms. They adopt coping defence mechanisms.

The problem with recognising when someone is struggling is that person's ability to pretend not to be.

So, what can we do to support others and help ourselves? We can be honest with ourselves for a start.

Try to be kind to yourself.

Seek help if you feel anguished and support others you feel may be suffering also.

If someone says they are OK ask them again.

Often, we don’t really listen to the reply or read between the lines. We go through the ritual of saying hello and then switch off.

Being kind to yourself is not feeling guilty if you make a mistake, not metaphorically ‘beating yourself up’ over this. To err is human.

We may not always have the answers to our own concerns, or those of others, but recognising and dealing with them is a start.

From there we can consider if further professional help is required.

(Photo credit: Adobe Stock)