A few weeks ago I was contacted outside the Union by a group of students involved in a mental health charity (possibly Mind?). They’re taking a presentation round various local scout groups and such and asked me to join in (and, I’d imagine, every other passer by that day…!). Anyway, I may have the opportunity to help them with this presentation and give a short talk.
I thought I’d talk about some of the stuff I’ve put into this blog over the last few months to try and get the message across that depression is more than just feeling a bit sad, that you can’t just ’snap out of it’, and that it can have serious consequences. And all those other assumptions people make.
So, avid readers, what, in your opinion, should I mention? Any of my stories and thoughts particularly stand out for you? Anything you think an audience of average age about twelve to fifteen (is that how old Scouts tend to be?) would particularly ‘get’? Are there any other messages you’d like me to pass on, and stories of your experiences etc which I could share as well?
And watch this space – at some point my draft presentation will appear up here and so any suggestions at that point too would be bloomin’ lovely!!
2 Comments
March 20, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Wow, good for you!
I don’t know how appropriate it would be in this context, but the entry that has really stood out for me in the whole of this blog is ‘This Is How To Deal With Me’. Scanning your ‘Bad Day’ category, I’ve also listed down ‘Stars and Things’, ‘Cause’, ‘This Has Been Going On For A Long Time’, ‘Frankly This Is Old-Style’, and ‘Damaged’. But really any of it.
I guess that the one message that I’d really hammer out is that depression isn’t necessarily a reaction to anything and that it doesn’t stop you having a ‘good day’ at least on a surface level. Because once people have got that, the rest becomes a lot easier to explain (and in my experience is the biggest misconception about).
You are welcome to quote my spoutings as well, if they might be useful at all, though you’ve probably got ample here
March 21, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Thank you for all your advice. A lot of it I’ve replied to you in a massive long email which should have landed in your inbox about now…
And that message is hopefully goign to make up the core of my talk. If I get the chance to give it…
xxx