County Council lends support to Mental Health Awareness Week
To mark Mental Health Awareness Week, the County Council is sharing messages of advice and support to help people improve their mental wellbeing.
The theme of this year’s awareness week, which runs from 14 – 20 May, is stress and how we’re coping with it. We all know what it’s like to feel stressed – it’s part of everyday life. But when you’re overwhelmed by stress it may lead to mental health problems or make existing problems worse. Mental Health Awareness Week is a great time to think about how we can all address the causes of stress.
Noel Brown, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement and Public Health, said: “Modern lifestyles can be very busy, and for some people stress can build up until it interferes with everyday living. While stress isn’t a mental health problem in itself, it can lead to a range of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, and even self-harm and suicide. By tackling stress, we can go a long way to tackling mental health problems.
“It’s easy to forget that looking after our mental health is just as important as our physical health and it’s estimated that one in four people will experience mental health problems in the course of any year. We want to make sure people are aware of and have access to all the services and support available locally – look out for our supportive messages on our social media channels, at libraries and at doctors surgeries across the county.”
If you’d like further help or advice on coping with stress, contact Healthy Minds Bucks, an Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust service which offers help over the phone and in person. You can self-refer to Healthy Minds Bucks by calling 01865 901600, by texting “Talk” and your name to 07798 667169, or complete the online referral form at https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/healthyminds/contact/
Buckinghamshire MIND also has a variety of local information at https://www.bucksmind.org.uk/