This week is Mental Health awareness week. The Green Ribbon campaign encourages people to wear a green ribbon to both raise awareness of the help available to those who are suffering from mental illness, while removing the stigma associated with poor mental health. The Green Ribbon campaign also encourages us to make the effort to experience nature during these difficult times. It is well known that getting back to nature helps to boost our mental health.
Yet for many, the poor mental health they endure is simply too much to bear by themselves. The Canary Wharf chaplains are on hand to help anyone who would like to have a confidential chat about the issues they are experiencing. We may not have all the answers, but we certainly provide the opportunity to start a conversation and the act of speaking about one’s problems is often therapeutic in and of itself.
It is especially difficult for someone to endure poor mental health and emotional difficulties while suffering silently without receiving the help they need. The act of confronting one’s innermost thoughts and articulating them through speech in a safe environment, to someone who can be truly sensitive and empathetic, can be the most potent remedy. Words give definition to our thoughts and emotions, preventing them from being too great for us to bear. While it may be necessary to utilise further professional assistance to help someone through a mental health crisis, the very act of speaking out the problem could be the necessary first step on the journey to positive mental health and emotional wellbein
