What does mental health awareness actually mean?

John Robins, a comedian and broadcaster, spoke to us about mental health awareness, checking in on yourself, and looking out for your friends.

What does mental health awareness actually mean? Does it mean a presentation at work that makes everyone feel tense and stare at the floor? Does it mean acting very seriously while the word ‘taboo’ gets thrown around? Does it mean watching videos of people being ‘open’ about ‘struggles’. Well, I hope so, however ham-fisted these discussions might be, it’s better than nothing. But perhaps of most benefit is awareness of your own mental health, and how you can impact the mental health of those around you. More good will come from reaching out to someone, or checking in with a friend, than you can possibly imagine.

Yesterday I felt sad. As I was pushing my trolley around Tesco I was acutely aware that at any moment I may start to cry. But people tend not to cry in Tesco, not people over twelve anyway. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone cry in a supermarket. I’ve seen people on crutches, in wheelchairs and mobility scooters. I’ve seen people with dressings on their eyes, orthopaedic shoes, plaster casts and slings. And thought nothing of it, but never a man blubbing next to ready meals. Ask yourself, if you saw me crying in Tesco, what would you do? How would you feel? Would you feel tense until you turned the corner to the cheese aisle? Would you think ‘pull yourself together man’ and hurry past? Would you ask if I was OK? Would you think ‘poor man’, ‘weirdo’ or try to imagine what might have gone wrong, what news I’d just received or what my day was like?

The point is, that we view mental health very differently to physical health. I think we would all accept that broken arms, flu, sprained ankles, bad backs and heart disease are inevitable consequences of living. They range from the annoying, to the troubling, to the tragic. And yet, when we see, or experience mental health problems, how often do we feel acute unease, that somehow the fourth wall of society has been breached. Does the man ranting on the street corner, the woman with scars on her forearm, the anorexic teenager, give us some terrifying reminder that there are things we cannot rationalise, scary potentials for losing control, or how close we are to very different lives.

Problems with our mental health are not failures of some divine order of the mind, they too are symptoms of living. If you can feel joy you can feel pain, if you can feel euphoria you can feel mania, if you have experienced success you have known anxiety. As Kahil Gibran wrote “The self same well from which your laughter arises was oftentimes filled with your tears”.

I didn’t cry in Tesco in the end. I called my friend Damion. In fact, I replied to a text he’d sent a week ago, I got over the embarrassment of how long had passed, and typed “I’m quite down actually!”. A call followed and after half an hour, he had listened to how I felt, given me some perspective, reassurance, and made me laugh. Damion and I see each other maybe once a year, speak maybe three times a year, but every time I have spoken to him one of us has been in real need, and I have no doubt that this connection has kept me from the brink. The terrifying reality is that people without these connections, men especially, kill themselves.

So on mental health awareness day, why not make a connection? Find some support or offer it. So often we put off what we most need to talk about for lack of the right words, or the right person to approach. But I’m a firm believer in two things: firstly that the biggest decisions are easier than we think to make, how might your life drastically improve with the words “I’m leaving”, “I’m coming back”, “this isn’t right for me”. And, secondly, that the smallest actions can have the biggest positive outcome, what brighter future might await with the words “I’m having a bit of a tough time, fancy a coffee?”, “I’m not drinking tonight”, “how are you?”. Do it now.

You may think of speaking to your pharmacist if you want to look after your physical health, but what about your mental health? Your local pharmacist can offer you advice on taking care of both.

Samaritans are available 24/7 if you need someone to talk to on 116 123. You can also email them on jo@samaritans.org or visit their website.

The charity Mind also offer support around mental health problems.