By Jack, Senior Youth Engagement Coordinator
Description: Monday 12th– Sunday 18th May marks Mental Health Awareness Week, a time to open conversations about mental health and wellbeing. This year’s theme is Community. Senior Youth Engagement Coordinator at Peer Power Youth, Jack, talks about his experience of how supportive communities improve his mental health.
The first time I had a mental health crisis I felt completely on my own. I lived alone and hardly ever saw or interacted with another human. My experiences with poor mental health have continued through the years, and I have learned a great deal in how to support myself and cope better through the more difficult times.
But the first lesson I learned is possibly still the most important; the need for community.
Connection is one of the most important needs we have as humans. We all crave understanding and shared experiences. We can send messages back and forth across the entire planet in seconds, yet so many of us feel so alone at times.
When things get bad, I tend to retreat into myself and pull-away from friends and family, worried that I’ll be a burden to them, or my depressive episodes will be a drain on their lives. It’s easy for me to sink further and further into this feeling, like being pulled under by endless waves. You’re desperately swimming back to land, but the shoreline never gets any closer. That’s why I know I need lifeboats to help. If no one knows I’m going under, no one can help lift me out again when I find it too difficult to do myself.
Those lifeboats for me, are communities. Whether it’s close friends, family, colleagues or online spaces, communities exist everywhere that can support.
For me, it’s going and catching up with friends in a pub or going to gigs and meeting like minded people who appreciate the art; going to a football game and finding those with a shared passion for my team or finding spaces online to play games with or talk about our favourite TV shows and movies. There are communities all around, for every interest you can think of. Sometimes you just need a helping hand finding them. Before I went looking for it, I would have never expected to find an online community with thousands of people who love to talk about seasons 1 – 10 of The Simpsons or be part of a group that celebrates campy 80s horror movies.
Throughout my career I have had the privilege of seeing the power of communities in action:
It makes us feel like we belong, that we are part of something bigger than ourselves individually. Communities support us, hold us while we learn and grow. They protect us while we make mistakes and help us understand what went wrong. They give us the courage to get back up and go again.
Sometimes you might not know you need a helping hand, a lifeboat to rescue you from the sea. That’s why the work we do at Peer Power Youth, and the work that lots of other fantastic organisations do, is so important. To provide that space, that outstretched hand, that beacon call that says, “you don’t have to do this alone”.
About Peer Power Youth
Peer Power Youth is a national charity supporting young people aged 13-25, who have dealt with childhood trauma. They have been affected by abuse, exclusion or violence impacting their communities, and have experience in health, youth justice and care services.
The young people that we work with have described themselves as being ‘abandoned by society’. Despite their circumstances, we see their power and potential. We do vital work to support these young people in their journey and improve the youth justice and care services they were once in for the benefit of other young peers. That’s why we focus on both individual change and system change.
Our Individual change work – We offer young people support in training, education, professional experience and promote positive wellbeing.
Our System change work – We work with young people to create real change for others in health, justice and social services.
Keep up with the latest on empathy, co-production and youth-led system change.
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