World Mental Health Day

Each year on October 10th ‘World Mental Health Day’ is recognised far and wide to highlight the importance of mental health.

Mental health has often had a stigma attached to it for being an invisible illness but in recent years through campaigning and people raising awareness, we find ourselves recognising and understanding much more about mental health.

This year, the Mental Health Foundation’s theme is ‘Overwhelm: when global events and relentless bad news become too much.’

“The world is going through a tough time right now and even if you’re not directly affected by events, it can still feel like a lot to cope with”.(https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/public-engagement/world-mental-health-day)

Konflux have developed workshops over time to support children and pupils with their mental health through theatre in education.
As this is a growing issue across schools in today’s society, we use roleplay, discussion and mindfulness exercises to support teachers and parents where we can.

There are many other ways to support your pupils including websites, helplines and charities but we wanted to put together a quick guide of how we can improve our mental health in our day to day lives:

  • Go for a daily walk – Vitamin D, fresh air and moderate exercise are all proven ways to ease our minds!
  • Call and talk to a friend or family member
  • Colouring – there have been many studies that found colouring can help ease anxiety and give the mind something else to focus on
  • Treat yourself to some self-care – this could be a nice relaxing bath, a new video game, a tasty treat or simply watching your favourite TV show!
  • Write down any thoughts and feelings, sometimes pen to paper can help release some negative thoughts.
  • Drink lots of water, eat healthy and get lots of rest.