Thursday 10th October marks World Mental Health Day, a global initiative created to raise awareness and support for mental health issues.
To mark the day, Healthwatch Essex has partnered with the Essex Faith Covenant to release a series of videos about the challenges and stigma around discussing mental health, the ways that they support their communities, and the advice they would give to their faith groups.
When asked about why it may be difficult for people to openly discuss their mental health, Dr Shruti Rustgi, a member of the Sikh Community, said:
“People are just told to ‘man up’. And many times it’s considered a weakness to express… I think things are changing but there’s still a lot to change.”
In another video, we asked members of the Essex Faith Covenant how they support people within their communities with mental health. Phil Norton, a member of the Christian Community, explained that he will “offer time and space for people just to share”. He added that, as Community Pastors, they believe “the first part of counselling or the first part of healing is to be able to articulate how you’re feeling”.
To round out the week, we asked for the advice they would give to a member of their faith who would like to seek support. Hannah Kelly, a member of the Catholic community, struggles with OCD and shared her own experience, saying that “for a long time, I didn’t actually access help because I thought it would be admission that my faith isn’t strong”.
In the videos, we also spoke to Sidra Naeem, a member of the Muslim community, and John Featherman, a member of the Jewish community. You can watch all three videos, and hear from the other members by heading to our YouTube playlist here.