Generate Voices Forum World Mental Health Day

 

On the 10th of October 2024 Generate began the Voices Forum  session. 

We asked members do they know about World Mental Health Day? 

Sean Said “Celebrating mental health on the good side of it also just like clearing all the native what’s like good mental health and what makes bad mental health pretty much. Because I did something similar a few years ago” 

Michelle added “I also know that most people suffer with various mental health problems all around the world I presume” 

Joseph added “I think it’s just about how people should be treated during World Mental Health Day” 

 

We then moved on watching a video from Mind. 

 

 

After watching the video, we recapped the World Mental Health Day Festival by Access of All Areas. Tony recommended we check out Message of Hope on Instagram. 

We then proceeded to ask the members about their mental health experiences at a workplace or at school or both. 

 

Joseph shared his experience he said “A couple of times I have had bad feelings what I wanted to do to myself because people were disrespecting me didn’t want me in these places where they are it effected my mental health badly it made me want to self-harm because the way I was treated” 

He then went on to add about that he felt he didn’t want to be in the world anymore then he then said on what benefited him 

“What helped me benefited from that is getting some help by people from the learning disability team who helped me deal with these kinds of feelings and thinking back in time to what I gone through in situations I had from primary school, secondary school, college”  

 

Joseph added how it affected him and tormented him affecting his mental health making him want to do things to himself, then he said “I thought about there’s a future me who has gone to tell the past me what good experiences he had telling him he could experience it as well if he keeps doing what he is doing if he keeps feeling this way” 

 

Malachi then added his experience with his mental health 

“Sometimes I always felt like I didn’t see myself that I had Mental Health issues but some issues I dealt with more like suicidal thoughts because if I didn’t have that service, I wouldn’t be able to live” 

He was then asked what benefited his mental health 

Malachi said if he had the service, he would be able to live a better life. 

 

Sean was next to share his experience and said “All I can say is I started having anxiety issues round about 15 or 16 all because of me being accused of something I didn’t do it was on the person himself at school, so I was having symptoms of anxiety the only way I can get away from that is just run away from it. Especially now here’s the thing I’m more grown up now being 22 years old. I have to confront it in certain situations. That was not the old me, I just wanted to run away because you get people that are lying and I’m telling them the truth. The only way I benefit from that it might sound silly, but I just watch TV programs and listen to music that’s pretty much it” 

 

Well said Sean watching TV programs is a good thing and listening to music  

Sean added he was bullied in college, and he stood up for himself verbally not physically and reported the situation. 

Karen then added her experience in a workplace 

“I got accused of taking someone’s jewelry which I didn’t take the person got the police involved I was cleaning this old lady’s room and the woman thought I tool her jewelry and called me a thief; I was absolutely disgusted I felt angry and had to take a step back and let someone deal with it and sort it out” 

Karen was asked what benefited from that she added 

“When she came to her senses the lady apologized to me in public so that everyone can hear it, I was embarrassed in a day like that” 

 

Michelle shared what she experienced name calling in a mainstream school and she got picked on repeatedly then the tutor man handled her pinning Michelle to the wall telling her she was behaving in an inappropriate way and got suspended because she retaliated on different tutors. 

 Most of us shared our mental health experiences.  

 We then took a break.

After the break we then talked about what workplaces, employers and schools should provide for mental health. 

 

Joseph said “Schools is a specific one in a very low amount of cases that I have seen there’s only a little amount of things that schools would do to help people with mental health like taking people out for some session on how to work on their stress, sessions on to help them avoid self-harming themselves” well said Joseph 

Sean said “Very widespread information just for in schools but not for workplaces and for employers too” 

Luis added “Just provide support basically” 

 Nic jumped in and said “I would say Mental Health should be provided in Schools, workplaces and in colleges I think it’s important that it’s there for people it should be more available” 

Thank you Nic for telling us. 

Joseph added that Generate Voices could do a session at Wandsworth Town Hall. 

The next question was what progress has been made so far.  

Nic said “For us we have an employee assistance programme” 

Malachi “Sometimes you are talking about Mental Health they might forget, and you don’t know when it might happen” 

 Joseph said “I get called into an office called Endeavor Square to talk about my mental health and how when I go to work”  

 

Fitness was brought up during our forum and discounts for gyms because doing workouts in the gym does help with mental health.