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What is Time to Talk Day – quotes and resources to encourage mental health awareness


Today aims to change the way people think about mental health problems (Picture: Getty)

Today is Time to Talk Day 2020, a day which aims to get people to speak openly about mental health in their workplaces and beyond.

The organisers, Time to Change, hope to remove the stigma currently associated with these types of conversations, thus changing the way people think about mental ill health more generally.

According to their website: ‘On Time to Talk Day we want everyone to have a conversation about mental health – whether that’s texting a friend, chatting to a colleague or organising a stigma-busting event.

‘We know that talking about mental health can feel awkward, but it doesn’t have to.’

Here are resources and quotes which can help inform the way you might broach these (sometimes difficult) conversations.

Resources to encourage mental health awareness

Time to Change has a range of resources on their website which give pointers on how to start conversations around mental health in specific situations.

Their community pack suggests running coffee mornings, saying they can be ‘an ideal place to help people feel relaxed and comfortable.’ They also suggest using their bespoke mental health pub quiz to get people chatting.

The quiz gets people to guess some of the statistics and myths which surround mental ill health.

For workplaces hoping to participate in the day (and beyond), they suggest ‘lunch and learn’ clubs and lunchtime walks, where colleagues can get to know one another better and learn how to support each other. They provide organiser cards and step by step instructions on how these could play out.

They also have a range of short quizzes you can conduct with your team, which all show just how common and widespread mental health issues are.

It’s also important to note, however, that you should not pressure people into talking about their mental health if they are not comfortable doing so.

Mental health charity Mind also has useful resources on its website which give guidance on what to do if someone you know is struggling with a mental health problem.

They also provide a free helpline which signposts to where people can find help, or get treatment.

Inspiring quotes about mental health

Sometimes powerful words from someone who has been through something similar can help provide perspective.

There are many 15-minute workplace exercises you can try out (Picture: Ezra Bailey/Getty)

‘Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.’ – Saint Francis of Assisi

‘Your illness is not your identity. Your chemistry is not your character.’ – Pastor Rick Warren

‘You are beautiful because you let yourself feel, and that is a brave thing indeed.’ – Shinji Moon

‘I cannot stand the words “Get over it”. All of us are under such pressure to put our problems in the past tense. Slow down. Don’t allow others to hurry your healing. It is a process, one that may take years, occasionally, even a lifetime – and that’s OK.’ – Beau Taplin

‘You can’t control everything. Sometimes you just need to relax and have faith that things will work out. Let go a little and just let life happen.’ – Kody Keplinger

If you don’t know what to say, just listen (Picture: Getty)

‘If you know someone who’s depressed, please resolve never to ask them why. Depression isn’t a straightforward response to a bad situation: depression just is, like the weather. Try to understand the blackness, lethargy, hopelessness, and loneliness they’re going through. Be there for them when they come through the other side.

‘It’s hard to be a friend to someone who’s depressed, but it is one of the kindest, noblest, and best things you will ever do.’ – Stephen Fry

‘What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation.’– Glenn Close

‘Wherever you are, at any moment, try and find something beautiful. A face, a line out of a poem, the clouds out of a window, some graffiti, a wind farm. Beauty cleans the mind.’ – Matt Haig



Mental health statistics

The following statistics, taken from Mental Health First Aid England, show why it’s so important to have conversations about mental ill health.

  • Approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year
  • 676 million people are affected by mental health issues worldwide
  • At any given time, 1 in 6 working-age adults have symptoms associated with mental ill health
  • Mental ill health is responsible for 72 million working days lost and costs £34.9 billion each year
  • 70-75% of people with diagnosable mental illness receive no treatment at all
  • 1 in 5 people take a day off due to stress. Yet, 90% of these people cited a different reason for their absence
  • 24% of women and 13% of men in England are diagnosed with depression in their lifetime

MORE: More than 25% of young people who need mental health treatment are turned away

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