World Mental Health Day 2018

‘Mental health’ is a term that’s used so frequently these days that sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it means, but I think that’s ok. It’s something massively personal, and you don’t need to abide by anyone else’s definition (least of all mine, I walked through wet tarmac while writing this so what do I know.)

Today, World Mental Health Day, is a good opportunity to pause, take some time for yourself, and take stock of your own mental wellbeing. But do not confuse that with inactivity. So much of mental health rhetoric is around ‘just managing,’ and while we all must do what we need to to get by, we cannot settle for this.

‘Just managing’ is not good enough! 1 in 4 students say they have mental health problems. Students are driving themselves to sickness just to complete assignments. More and more are dropping out because of mental illness. We cannot accept this as the norm.

So today, stop, breathe, reach out to your friends and family, and ready yourself to keep fighting. Let’s end the rhetoric, and demand action.