There are so many reasons why having conversations about mental health is important.
Last weekend, Stacie from New Day Knitwear invited myself and a group of other local bloggers to come and chat about what her new award-winning social enterprise is all about, and to also have a go at crocheting!
New Day Knitwear provides mental health support and awareness through promoting creativity as a means of relaxation therapy. Stacie sells her DIY crochet kits in her online shop, and profits go towards funding the New Day club (an online member’s support community), as well as her group & 1-to-1 support sessions.
After getting to know each-other and chowing down on some lunch, we got started on our crochet kits; the challenge to create a simple choker had begun, and BOY was it harder than I expected! We were all struggling with the co-ordination skills but Stacie was super helpful and patient with us.
During our craft sesh, we talked about some of our experiences with mental health and what we’ve found to be most helpful, and Stacie shared her plans for helping others through their struggles too. I’ve talked before on this blog about dealing with Anxiety and Panic Attacks, and I think it’s so important to have conversations about this stuff with friends. Why?
To know that we’re not the only ones
Sometimes when you’re suffering with mental health problems it can feel very isolating and as though others may not understand you or might look at you in a different way, but I’m always surprised at how many people I meet have their own journeys and struggles that they’ve been, or are going, through, and more often than not, opening up can create a connection with people and lead to the best friendships!
To learn coping techniques and ways to help
When you start a conversation about mental health with others, often people will share the techniques and things that helped them to cope with their conditions, or that may have helped them find a way out of them. Learning from others’ experiences with mental health disorders and finding new things to help in your own life is invaluable, and one of the most important reasons why we should be talking about it more!
To reduce the stigma & make others aware
The more we talk about mental health and make it an open discussion, the less ‘taboo’ it becomes. If we talk about openly in conversation and share our experiences we can educate others so that they too can understand about what may be happening to people around them, or even themselves!
When was the last time you had a conversation about mental health with someone?
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I find that knitting in itself is great for helping to stave off depression or anxiety issues for me actually.
That’s great! And that’s totally what Stacie is promoting; getting creative and finding a hobby like knitting/crocheting can be really therapeutic in itself :) x