World Mental Health Day 2017 is Coming - Show Your Support

The Rat cares

I never forget when World Mental Health day is because, ironically*, fittingly, or however you want to put it, it's my birthday. This year you can show your support for people all around the world who struggle, battle, manage, cope, or otherwise deal with mental health problems on a daily basis by wearing this free badge from Mind. They'll also send along some wellbeing tips.

Of course, caring for someone with mental health issues (whether that's someone else or yourself) isn't about freebies, and it's not just for one day per year (which is partly why I haven't put the actual date anywhere in this post). Those of us who suffer do so all year round and, in many cases, silently.

So how can you help?

The easiest thing to do is to show you care. For me, some unsolicited contact works wonders, even if the bits of me that are struggling stop me from showing it much of the time. When the rat in the picture arrived, completely unannounced, it made my day, and he sits on my desk at work overlooking the keyboard as a regular reminder of that.

You don't have to send people cuddly toys**, though: a seemingly pointless post-it note attached to my monitor when I wander into the office in the morning can turn the tide; sometimes just being noticed gives something to latch onto - a smile and a "hello" from a stranger might just make the difference.

If you're worried about someone else, Mind's website has a few things that might help.

If you're worried about yourself, try this tool.

If you need someone to talk to... hi! I'm Tom. Please drop me a line.

Are there any tips, tools, tricks, websites, activities or organisations that you've used to help someone else or yourself? Please post them in the comments.






* I know, I know, it's just like ten thousand spoons...
** The Rat is anything but a cuddly toy, and he's mildly miffed that you even thought that's who I was referring to just then.