How do you think young people’s mental health has been affected by events this past year? I’d imagine, if you work with or parent young people, you’ve encountered different responses, but overall, a sense that the ongoing uncertainty and disruption has taken its toll on them in many ways.
On Thursday 4th of Feb, mental health charity Time to Change ran a campaign called Time to Talk. Their mission is to raise awareness of mental health and their aim for Thursday was:
We want to get everyone talking about mental health this Time to Talk Day
This year’s focus was on the power of small, because however you have a conversation about mental health – whether it’s a quick text to a friend, a virtual coffee morning with colleagues, or a socially distanced walk and talk with your family – it has the power to make a big difference.
Our students discussed Time to Talk day in one of their classes. Here is a report on the session from one of our tutors:
For Time to Talk we discussed the importance of talking generally in class. Students fed back that talking helps them not bottle things up, can reduce stress and anxiety and can help friends. Students said they feel comfortable talking to people in person but sometimes it is much easier over message.
We then applied the feedback to 2020 and now 2021, and why that has changed/influenced the importance of talking. Students agreed that last and this year talking was even more important because people felt alone.
Students pointed towards elderly relatives and friends as people they have felt particularly needed to talk at the moment. From this, the task was to create a poster with information or artwork that represented what Time to Talk means to them.
