Say ‘Hello, How Are You?’ in the name of mental health

by Stuart Holly editor@clareecho.ie

PEOPLE of County Clare are being urged to say ‘Hello, how are you’ at a series of events, in a bid to promote mental health in the region.

Mental Health Ireland are coordinating a national campaign to help people connect and chat about mental health, with a number of events happening in Clare next week.

Established in 1966, Mental Health Ireland aims to promote mental health and wellbeing, and create a culture where we are all respected and supported, especially when mental health is challenged. In doing so, they work with policy makers to inform decisions around mental health and work in a more hands-on capacity amongst our communities.

Claire Flynn, Development Officer for Mental Health Ireland covers the area of Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary, tells The Clare Echo that the campaign was inspired by a similar campaign in Australia called ‘R U OK?’ which outlines how a conversation could save a life. “Our Mental Health Ireland Association colleagues in Car- low started the Hello, How Are You campaign in 2015 and it went really well,” Claire explains. It was introduced to Mayo, Meath and Westmeath before last year, a national campaign was rolled out. “We’re inviting communities all over Ireland on March 30 to say ‘hello’ and ask the question, ‘how are you’. Claire notes that in Ireland, ‘how are you’ has become a stock greeting however on March 30 she is urging people to “actually ask the question with meaning and hold onto for the answer from the person, try and encourage those positive conversations and encourage the person to be more open about what is going on for them.”

Among the free events happening in Clare on March 30 is a social sunset hike for mental health in the Burren at 6:15pm, while West Clare Mental Health association will be in the Farmer’s Market and will also support a coffee morning on March 31 in the TUS Ennis campus. For more information on events visit hellohowareyou.info.

Claire is encouraging everyone to get involved and join an event in their area. “It really is open to anybody because mental health is everybody’s business. When we think about mental health we can sometimes think of the darker aspects of it and that is part of it but everybody has mental health and we’ve all had a day that hasn’t been the best and being able to chat to somebody about it has helped to lift us. It’s all about connection, having that positive social interaction which can be really mood boosting.”

Outside of the ‘Hello, How Are you’ campaign, Mental Health Ireland also provides workshops to the community in County Clare free of charge, which offer support on mental health, information on the resources which are available and what people can do to support themselves and others around them. They collaborate with local support groups including North Clare Mental Health Association, and the Lighthouse which is run by the West Clare Mental Health Association.

“We work with people aged over 18. We’ll work with any community group, it could be a men’s shed or a residents association in an estate who want to learn about mental health and wellbeing. I’ve presented to women’s organisations, GAA clubs. What they generally want to learn is ‘how can I support my community’ and along the way we hope they learn how to support themselves as well.” clairef@mentalhealthireland.ie 0858768522

Mental Health Ireland also run workshops which support carers in conjunction with Family Carers Ireland to support carers, and this year they have piloted workshops supporting the mental health of Special Olympics Ireland athletes taking part in the world games this summer in Berlin.

For more information on Mental Health Ireland, visit mentalhealthireland.ie. A dedicated website hellohowareyou.info carries information on where ‘Hello, How Are you’ events are taking place and how to host an event. To speak to Claire, phone or email.