• Question: Have you come into contact with Metal Health in your personal life? How did it effect?

    Asked by anon-216141 to Robert, Olly, Nicola, Jasmin, Dennis, Caroline on 12 Jun 2019. This question was also asked by anon-216595.
    • Photo: Jasmin Moon

      Jasmin Moon answered on 12 Jun 2019:

      Yes, I have experienced anxiety and depression myself and some of my family and friends have too. Everyone has mental health, sometimes we feel good and other times we feel a bit rubbish, just like we do with our physical health.
      Having personal experience of mental health has made me better at my job as I understand how the people I support are feeling and allows me to build up a good relationship with them.

    • Photo: Dennis Relojo-Howell

      Dennis Relojo-Howell answered on 12 Jun 2019:

      No. I haven’t.

    • Photo: Oliver Clabburn

      Oliver Clabburn answered on 12 Jun 2019:

      Yes, I have had depression in the past and this sometimes comes back. Like Jasmin said, it’s sometimes quite useful (in weird way) as it helps to understand what other people are going through. If you, or someone you know has been affected by mental health issues, it can be really useful to think about triggers. For me, not wanting to socialise and do exercise is an indicator that something isn’t right.

    • Photo: Robert Dempsey

      Robert Dempsey answered on 12 Jun 2019:

      Personally, I’ve not experienced a significant mental health issue but like a lot of people I’ve had my ups and downs. My family and friends have experienced a range of mental and physical health issues – but honestly I didn’t set out to become a researcher in mental health to understand my friends/family members experiences, I was always interested in the general question of what influences our mental health and why some people have more severe mental health-related experiences than others.

    • Photo: Nicola Johnstone

      Nicola Johnstone answered on 13 Jun 2019:

      Yes, and its tough going. Sometimes things are OK, sometimes not. It makes me a very compassionate person, and an excellent researcher. But sometimes I need to check in with myself and I’m not always good at that. Work in progress!

    • Photo: Caroline Brett

      Caroline Brett answered on 15 Jun 2019:

      Yes. Like many others, I have experienced depression and anxiety myself and have many friends who have too. As with most people, it comes and goes. When things are difficult and I’m feeling stressed – or tired – it can really affect my mood. Personally, I worked with a therapist to figure out what was going on and how I might resolve my difficulties. It’s a work in progress! But I definitely think that going through that helps me to understand my students and to teach them about mental health and wellbeing much better.

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