Mental Health Week 2024 – Look after yourself
Dear all,
The theme for Children’s Mental Health Week 2024 is ‘My Voice Matters’, and this is most appropriate given the ongoing focus that we have on sharing feelings and the importance of having someone to talk to.
In many respects, it doesn’t matter who that person is but, in an ideal world, we would all have a friend, a teacher at school and the comfort of knowing that your family will always be there to listen (and act upon) any negative feelings before things escalate. Carrying an unwanted burden is something that no child should have to worry about, and it can have a huge impact on mental health and wellbeing, especially if that burden is not removed within a reasonable timescale.
Brian Dyson, former CEO of Coca-Cola, once said to imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them – work (school), family, health, friends and spirit – and you are keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work (school) is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.
But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.
Bryan Dyson suggests that we all ask ourselves the following questions, in the hope that we can answer ‘yes’ to each of them.
- Do you have two or three people who are your ‘A’ team, with whom you can be completely vulnerable?
- Have you got a switch off point on the way home, so that when you pass it you switch off from work (or school)? Maybe it’s a road junction, a street lamp, a particular rock or a tree.
- Do you have boundaries established which mean when you are with your partner or children, you are actually with them, not just physically in the room?
- Are you able to carry out the act of living slowly when you need to?
These questions are aimed at adults, but we will be looking at how our pupils can also benefit from this advice. It is our hope and aim that all of our pupils can answer ‘yes’ to all four questions when they are adults, and live long, happy and fulfilled lives.
Jason Whiskerd
