Monday, October 10th was World Mental Health Day, and this years theme was “Make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority”. A theme fuelled and energised by the impact, and continued impact, the covid-19 pandemic had on peoples mental health. The toll those two years had on peoples mental health cannot be underestimated— ‘Estimates put the rise in both anxiety and depressive disorders at more than 25% during the first year of the pandemic’, and is an crisis that’s only going to increase as we see more and more cuts to the healthcare and mental health services. So making mental health a priority, in the same way physical health is, seems like an incredibly timely theme for this year.
I’m relevantly active on my personal social medias posting about mental health, and talk both personally and professionally about the importance of mental health advocacy and the need to prioritise mental health support. But, this year I wanted to write a slightly different post. Sharing my thoughts, and reflections on the experience I’ve had this year in the mental health space, and what I’ve learnt.
Volunteering as a Samaritan
Probably most significantly, this year I started my volunteering as a Samaritan. Almost a year ago, back at the end of November 2021, I started my 10 weeks training to become a Samaritans Listening Volunteer.
In March 2022 I started weekly shifts in our Norwich branch as a volunteer. Since then I have done 34 shifts/136 hours of listening to callers, across various times of day and also during night shifts. I’ve listened to over 50 phone calls, talked to over 20 people on online chats, and answered over 30 emails to callers world wide.
One of the 5 missions and values for Samaritans is to “Make sure anyone who needs us can access our support”. Samaritans is a 24 hour service, open 7 days a week and open to anyone who needs to be heard. Though, there are peaks when our service is needed the most, and by different callers. As someone whose day job is to design services, I’ve found it really interesting to understand more about how the Samaritans service can increase it’s reach and have been talking to other volunteers and directors recently about how we can do that. For example, our Online Chat service is a particularly used form of contact for young people, so how can this service optimise it’s reach by being there for when young people are most likely to be online and want to talk?
What have I learnt in my first year?
My first year as a Samaritan has really opened my eyes to just how under prioritised and unfunded this sector is for people. I wrote my dissertation on the child mental health crisis, and did lots of research into the current state of the provisions available to young people, but since becoming a Sam, I’ve become increasingly aware of how over stretched this space is, and how that leaks into other areas — the adult care sector, health care services, employment, education, prisons, and much more. Many of which are public sectors I find myself working in with my role at dxw. For example, right now I’m working on a project with Department of Education, we also have some ongoing work with the Ministry of Justice and the NHS, spaces where it’s users could be feeling the affects of stretched mental health provision. And this has given my a new lens to have in mind when thinking about these services and how to design for it’s users.
My role as a Samaritans listening volunteer isn’t always easy. In fact some days, it’s really, really hard. And this is where it’s proven so important to be in tune with my own mental health and wellbeing, and be able to ask for help when I need it. With that in mind, I write this post knowing this isn’t a role for everyone, but, it has shown me how valuable the ‘smallest’ of gestures can be — just listening to people. It may sound simple and basic, but being able to real listen, to actively listen can be so valuable to people. A space to be heard without fear of judgement, without being told what someone else thinks is best for you, just a safe space.
One of the things that has resonated with my most in my first year here, is the volume of calls or contacts that come from men — who openly admit they need help but won’t ever ask, wont speak to their friends or their GP because that’s not the manly thing to do. It makes them look weak. Their friends will laugh at them. We still have a long way to go to normalise mental health for all. But, being open to listening to people is a great first step. Take note of those people around you who might be less likely to speak up, or might be at risk of feeling the pressures and exceptions of social structures — asking how they’re doing might be what they need right now.
I do, however, recognise my own privilege here
I talk lots about my own mental health. If you’ve seen my weeknotes, you may notice I often have a section reflecting on how I’m feeling or things I’m struggling with. I work hard to prioritise my mental health — I don’t always get that right, and I don’t always take care of myself in the way I’d promised myself. But, after some tough struggles with mental illness a few years ago, I made it a priority to myself. But, I have a supportive network of friends and family, I work for a company that offer safe spaces to be open with feelings and offer support where necessary, and I have a platform like this one where I have autonomy to write about anything I’d like without judgement or persecution. I am also privileged to be in a position where I can give up 4–6 hours of my week for unpaid, volunteer work.
Not everyone has that opportunity, nor work or live in a space where this is a possibility for them.
Which is why, I make a point of being as transparent as possible about my own mental health, and the importance of mental health in general. My role at work offers even further opportunities to be transparent and normalise talking about mental health. Two weeks ago, I took the stage at Service Design in Gov and gave a talk to over 70 designers, civil servants and government figures about why it’s important to think about mental health when building new services. Earlier this year I also gave a talk on how mental health awareness should be an important factor in our role as as Service Designers.
I think talking about mental health is a super important step to making it a global priority. Although it does still happen, and it’s important to recognise, there is far less judgement or impact associated to saying you have a cold, or you’ve broken a leg, than when someone says they’re struggling, or depressed or even suicidal. Physical health is normalised in a way incomparable to mental health. But, by talking about it, we start normalise it, we encourage those in power to listen, and ultimately we open the floor to others to be heard. Share how you’re feeling, ask people how they are and be open to listening to their response — no matter what it might be.
Being a Samaritan has really made me realise how important it is to listen. Not only does it give space to talk about how their feeling, it actually saves lives. Bold statement I know, but to give context to this. In a recent Samaritans training session I had, some stats were shared with us that really cemented the impacts of just listening to people.
Norwich Samaritans do outreach work in two local Prisons. And since Samaritans have been offering a listening services in HMP Norwich, not a single prisoner who came to speak to a Samaritans about their mental health, their suicidal thoughts or just generally how things were going, went on to later attempt suicide. Not a single person, in the entire time we’ve been in Norwich Prison. The only difference, they’ve been given a judgement free place to talk and be listened to.
So, what does this mean? What next?
I didn’t really have an agenda when setting out writing this blog post, more than I just wanted to share some recent reflections, learnings and thoughts. This year, I feel I’ve learn alot about my mental health, other peoples mental health and how to support others. And I wanted to share.
I will continue my role as a Samaritans volunteer and continue to use my platforms, my role at work, my opportunities as a Sam to talk about mental health. And for those who feel that can do, or would like to, do the same. Or even just start small — ask someone how they’re doing, how are they feeling, are they okay? Make space for them to be heard. It goes a long way.
Happy reading. Look after yourselves, and others✨
