Unequal world, unequal mental health: World Mental Health Day 2021
By Lulu It’s that day again, World Mental Health Day. I’ve mentioned in a previous blog how awareness days and the like can sometimes feel hollow, like a box-ticking exercise. This blog post isn’t going to just repeat that debate over the merits of these days. It may not be a solution in any sense... Read More
Culturally sensitive support – the value of Dial House @Touchstone
Dial House @ Touchstone opened its doors 1st October 2013. The service is a partnership between Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Service and Touchstone, and was opened to address the fact that people from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME – we know this term isn’t ideal and are exploring alternatives) backgrounds do not generally access community mental health... Read More
Olympic Medals For Mental Health
Mental health has been in the sporting spotlight recently, with the headlines centred on Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka pulling out from events and press duties in order to better look after their mental health. Lulu writes about some of the reactions to this news and the mental health discussion that’s all over the internet... Read More
MS: Many Strengths and Magnificently Strong
Becky talks about the impact a recent diagnosis has had on her life, how it will affect her physical and mental health, and what she’s planning on doing to look after herself. The sentence, “I can confirm we are working with a diagnosis of MS,” feels like a life sentence. Being diagnosed with... Read More
A statement on recent racist abuse
From Operations director Richard Barber. At LSLCS we are becoming aware of what feels like an increase in racism towards our staff team. Over the years, it’s felt that some visitors and callers to our services deliberately avoid having support with workers from minority ethnic groups; however, this issue now feels even more problematic as... Read More
PD or Not PD? Notes on our partnership
Ops director Richard talks about our partnership with the Leeds PD Network, providing some clarity and addressing the conflict between our anti-PD and survivor-led ethos, and a service that has a label we disagree with in its very name. It’s a topic that can bring up a lot of difficult feelings and we want to... Read More
Connecting and not connecting with nature: Mental Health Awareness Week 2021
It’s Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme this year is Nature. Communications and Connect Helpline Worker Lulu writes about some of the trials of trying to connect with nature. The Mental Health Foundation’s website is a good place to read about nature and mental health and why it’s been chosen as the theme... Read More
From Silence to Singing
Elizabeth Shane writes about her journey, as a survivor of abuse, to being able to express herself through creative outlets, through to getting a book of poetry published so she can hopefully help others to feel less alone with their struggles and their pain. CW: discussions/mentions of childhood sexual abuse For so long I... Read More