According to Keziban Salaheddin and Barbara Mason (2016), the main barriers amongst young adults to accessing mental health help are feelings of embarrassment and shame and a fear of how they will be perceived by family, friends and potential employers. A study by Anjum Memon et al (2016) also identified cultural identity and stigma as main barriers for people from BME backgrounds when accessing services or even acknowledging mental health issues. She claims that it is often considered a socially unacceptable topic for discussion and something that individuals are expected to deal with privately, as there exists a great deal of social stigma within the community.
To try to reduce the stigma and increase student understanding and willingness to engage in discussion, we have held an across college events and social media campaigns as well as structured tutorials addressing the main issues facing young people’s mental wellbeing. The second tutorial in our mental health and wellbeing series starts by challenging their preconceived ideas and existing prejudices around mental health by using the ‘stop stigma’ sort card resources from Cornwall Healthy Schools Project. We then focus on raising students’ knowledge and understanding of the types of mental illnesses most common amongst this age using the ‘black dog video’ as a talking point followed by a reading relay activity. Students then apply their knowledge from the previous sessions case studies along with their new understanding, on how to identify the signs (stress signatures) and what they can do to support the individuals (using Mental Health Foundation booklet ‘How to overcome fear and anxiety’.) Students are then invited to think deeply about how they can contribute to reducing the social stigma associated with these illnesses.
A positive outcome from running these tutorials is that a number of students have asked if they can run an across college event next term and create a video on how the college supports students’ mental wellbeing. Work has already begun on planning this event.
A1 Challenging stigmaHow to…fear and anxiety (2)A1 Reading relay source materialA1 Relay questionsA1 STOP Stigma resource _Cornwall Healthy Schools 61A1 STOP Stigma resource2 _Cornwall Healthy Schools 63
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