Hi, how are you? What is your name? What college are you from and what do you study?
Hi, my name is Harriet Welch, I am a third year from St Chad’s studying psychology.
Tell us a little about Durham Minds
Durham minds is one of the SCA’s largest community projects. We are in connection with two charity centres in Durham which provide a safe place for individuals in the community suffering from mental illness to be successful, engage with others and learn new skills. We also run termly campaigns to raise awareness and money for mental health organisations. And we have just set up “CREE” which will run weekly sessions (Saturdays) where people who are interested in mental health or have experienced it themselves can come along and share their ideas, knowledge and concerns to help promote positive mental wellbeing and reduce stigma about mental health.
What is your message?
Durham minds is all about positive mental wellbeing, this means being aware of your mental health, looking after it and trying to see the positive side of situations. We are also all about inclusiveness and aiding others which, incidentally, can be extremely beneficial to your own mental wellbeing.
Why is Mental Health so important?
Mental illness is like any other illness, it’s not the person’s fault, it’s not due to being weak or lazy. And as such it’s essential to help people with these problems to overcome them or to manage them as best they can. Critically mental health affects EVRYONE, it’s not as simple as having an anxiety disorder or not; everyone has good days and bad days and just like our physical health we have to look after our minds, while our bodies need exercise and good food our minds need to be treated well and allowed to relax every now and then!
Why do you think Mental illness has been stigmatized?
The history treatment of people with mental health problems and remedies for them can be quite shocking and I think this still leads to a lot of the stigmas today. I think often it’s something people know very little about and it scares them. If someone told you that they had schizophrenia it often conjures images of horror films and split personalities, but this is hardly the reality of such disorders. Hopefully, we are advanced enough as a society that no one should think Victorian style asylums or electric shock therapies are appropriate methods of treatment anymore.
What kind of Mental Health issues can students encounter during their time at university?
Students are one of the most vulnerable sections of society to experience mental health issues, commonly these include depression, anxiety and eating disorders, but not exclusively and often in milder forms, but it’s important not to overlook these as your mental health is just as important as the rest of your health.
How can we get help at University if we’re suffering from a mental illness?
The university has many measures in place to help students with mental illness, diagnosed or not. Within college students can talk to college welfare officers and welfare staff, for anonymous on-the-phone advice there is always the nightline which runs continuously throughout term time, the Durham University counselling service in the Palatine centre and Claypath University Medical Centre. These are extremely valuable tools and no one should ever feel ashamed to use them. Often students may feel that depressed but that this hardly counts as a serious enough problem to seek out help and bother someone else; this is exactly the type of thinking we need to stop. It is always a good idea to tell someone what you are feeling and to ask for help. If individuals want further support or just a safe place to discuss mental health then our CREE group would be a great place to come too, critically this is not a counselling or therapy group but an inclusive place where ideas can be raised and mental health and wellbeing discussed.
We realise there’s a stigma surrounding Mental Illnesses – are you trying to change this? And if so, how?
It’s paramount to separate the individual from their mental disorder; people should not be thought of as depressed or schizophrenic, instead they are someone with depression, the difference may seem subtle but it can make a large difference in how they are treated. We hope to also reduce this stigma with campaigning and emphasizing the link between mental wellbeing or feeling happy with the continuum of mental illness.
Do you have any go to tips for us on those days when we feel like we can’t cope with our workload anymore?
I like to take a step back, think about how much I have achieved and how much I need to achieve, then rank things by how soon they need to be done and how important they are, so it breaks it down into little goals. Also I reward myself after each goal, even if it’s simple things like a cup of tea or a chocolate digestive. Often people find different things work for them so discuss it with your friends as they might have some good ideas you hadn’t thought of before.
What kind of events do you host as a society?
We have termly campaigns and weekly CREE sessions that anyone is welcome to come along to. We also host a number of inductions for prospective volunteers at RT Projects and St Margaret’s Centre in Durham and after that the volunteers go along to help out when they want.
Do you have any top tips to stay positive?
Cheesy as it may seem remembering all the things you are thankful for is a really important thing and also to think about what you are proud of, some people might consider this vain but actually it’s a very healthy thing to know what you like about yourself and what you feel good at, focus on this. Socialising is always important to stay positive and especially sharing how you are feeling with your friends and family. And remember to treat your body right so give it the right foods, enough sleep and exercise, this promotes endorphins and you can’t help but feel better.
What are your plans for this year?
We want to build an even larger volunteer base, we already have more volunteers than last year but we want to try and engage as many people as possible. We would really like to make CREE a big university-wide phenomenon and crash down stigma and raise awareness about mental health with our campaigns. We are also looking for more community charities in Durham where volunteers could help out, as we already are running out of slots for volunteers at the two centres we volunteer for.
What is your favourite thing about being involved with Durham Minds?
I have loved helping out as an individual volunteer in these centres and seeing the direct impact that these community centres and even my presence and talkative company can have on people suffering from mental illness, I love the ideology that no one should have to suffer alone and helping to do that always makes me feel positive.
How do we get involved?
If you are interested in mental health and want to know more or are passionate about it and want to raise your ideas and help out then come along to CREE on Saturdays at 10am at St Margaret’s centre (The Old School, Margery Lane, DH1 4QJ), help out with campaigns either suggesting ideas or helping organise and run them or volunteer for our community projects. If you are interested in volunteering with us then please email me at mentalhealth.sca@durham.ac.uk.