This is part of our blog series written in conjunction with our lovely corporate partner, InterQuest Group, across Mental Health Awareness Week 2018.

It sounds such an easy thing to do, doesn’t it? But sitting down and talking about your own mental health can be a really difficult thing to do. The stigma attached to any psychiatric problems are still very much here – it’s said that nine out of ten people experience stigma as a direct result of their mental health!

We all need to start talking about mental health. We need to be honest and open, but also ready to listen. Breaking down those walls makes such a difference to everyone – you may well find out that there’s more people than you think who suffer from a mental health problem!

Talking about problems is well known to help people who are suffering – peer support and talking therapies are extremely well known and well in demand! A very similar thing can happen with someone who’s just willing to listen to someone speak openly about their mental illness – just offloading the thoughts that are bombarding you in your own mind is extremely cathartic.

We freely talk about a broken arm, a sprained ankle – even a hangover. Let’s make it okay to talk about anxiety, depression, bipolar, BPD etc – exactly the same way.