This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme for 2018 is ?stress'. A recent survey carried out by YouGov on behalf of the Mental Health Foundation, found that almost three quarters (74%) of people have at some point felt so stressed that they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope.
Jon Cruddas MP for Dagenham and Rainham has thrown his support behind a number of mental health awareness campaigns over the last few years including; Time to Talk, Movember and many more.
Jon Cruddas MP said: "mental ill health is something that will effect one in four people over the course of their lifetime in the UK and quite frankly more needs to be done. We need to start looking at the underlying issues that lead to mental ill health and how we can tackle them.
"This year the focus is on stress, which is a key cause of problems such as depression and anxiety. There are some fantastic resources available as part of Mental Health Awareness Week to help people that may be feeling overwhelmed. Organisations such as Mind, and Rethink, as well as the Mental Health Foundation all provide support via their websites."
Stress is often the starting point of many severe mental health problems, and in worst cases can lead to self-harm and suicide if left unchecked. There are many factors to consider when we think about stress and its causes which can range from long-term health conditions, work, financial issues, social media etc. To help identify stress levels the Mental Health Foundation have created a short test which uses the evidence-based perceived stress scale (PSS).
Click HERE to take the test.
The Mental Health Foundation have also published a report which can be downloaded by clicking HERE.
If you are a resident of Barking and Dagenham you can find out about all the services the borough provides HERE.
If you are a resident of Havering you can find out about all the services the borough provides through NELFT HERE.