Community Music's Mind The Music Blog Takeover #1 - Mental Health Awareness Week
This week is Mental Health Awareness week, and so for the next 5 days, we at Community Music are taking time to focus on mental health, and the relationship between music and mental health.
What is (good or bad) mental health? There is no health without mental health. When we have good mental wellbeing we are able to live in an overall positive way, feeling confident in looking after ourselves, building relationships with others, and coping with problems.
The Statistics It’s clear that mental health issues affect a huge amount of people, with at least 1 in 4 people experiencing a mental health issue each year in the UK. 3 in 4 mental health conditions start in childhood and 75% of young people with a mental health problem are not receiving treatment. There are many different diagnosable conditions, including anxiety disorders such as panic disorder and social phobia, mood disorders such as bipolar and depression.
The Mental Health Continuum The Mental Health Continuum diagram from Mental Health First Aid England (at the foot of this page), shows that there are no absolutes in mental health, and that our position on the continuum changes through life. People without a diagnosis can have low mental wellbeing, while people with a diagnosis of a mental health condition can live a healthy life.
Stigma Public perception of mental health problems can be inaccurate and judgmental, with many misconceptions fuelled by lack of information or inaccurate portrayal by the media. The more that friends, family, schools, colleges and workplaces open up conversations on mental health, the more we can tackle stigma, and understand our own and others’ mental health journeys, to support good mental wellbeing. Time To Change are one of the organisations suggesting ways to support friends, with their #inyourcorner campaign.
Mental Health Awareness Week is hosted by the Mental Health Foundation. This year they are focusing on stress, looking at how this has an impact on our mental wellbeing, and can lead to anxiety and depression if not managed well.
For the rest of the week on this Mind the Music Mental Health Awareness Week Blog we’ll be looking at the relationship between mental health and music, hearing current and past students’ stories, sharing some techniques for better mental wellbeing, and showing how we are bringing music into mental health settings.
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Mind the Music is Community Music’s new 3 year programme working with music and mental health, offering support to students on our current courses, and working in partnership with East London CAMHS (Child Adolescent and Mental Health Services).
If you’d like to know more, click here.
Mind the Music is funded by the JA Clarke Trust and Children in Need.
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Mental Health Support For further information on mental health support services, visit the Mind website.
