Mental Health Ireland calling on us to connect on World Mental Health Day
It’s World Mental Health Day today and Ireland’s longest running mental health charity is calling on the country to connect with each other and ourselves to mark the day.
The theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day is Suicide Prevention.
Research shows there are simple things you can do as part of your daily life to protect and improve your mental health, and connecting is an important part of this.
CEO of Mental Health Ireland Martin Rogan said that making connections with others is important for our health and wellbeing.
M.r Rogan said, “World Mental Health Day is being marked in different ways internationally.
"Connecting is one of the Five Ways to Wellbeing – the simple actions you can do every day to feel good and function well.
“We’re asking people to pause for a moment, park the distractions that intrude in all our lives and connect with yourself.
"You can do this by simply asking the question ‘How am I?’ and ‘What can I do to feel better, to look after my mental health?’
“Also, look out for the opportunity to connect with someone else. That could be a random act of kindness, hold a door open for someone, or simply nod to a neighbour, stop and have a chat with a colleague or friend instead of texting or emailing them.”
Mental Health Ireland is asking people to take steps to open up conversations and strengthen connections in their workplace, school, club, community or home on October 10 by hosting their own Connect Café.
The charity has provided a simple step-by-step guide with ice-breakers and conversation starter questions, available to download from the Mental Health Ireland website here:
https://www.mentalhealthireland.ie/news-events/host_connect-cafe/
“The Connect Café aims to encourage us all to strengthen our existing connections and possibly make some new ones. We wanted to make this opportunity accessible to everyone with our downloadable guide.
"There has been a lot of interest in the Connect Café since we launched it last month, which shows us that we are increasingly understanding the important role that connecting plays for mental health and wellbeing,” said Mr Rogan.
Follow the link to download a ‘Host your Own’ Connect Café pack: https://www.mentalhealthireland.ie/news-events/host_connect-cafe/ or get in touch with Mental Health Ireland at 01 284 1166.