1st February 2024
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Language Matters on Time to Talk Day
Time to Talk Day is the nation’s conversation on mental health, bringing together friends, family, communities and workplaces in order to talk, listen and change lives.
Press release
1st February 2024
Language Matters on Time to Talk Day
Today, is Time to Talk Day. It is the nation’s conversation on mental health, bringing together friends, family, communities and workplaces in order to talk, listen and change lives.
To help stimulate conversation and help people be best placed to know what to say and how to say it, FCC is developing a new mental health language guide. We believe there is a need to address the way we talk about mental health issues and related long-term conditions. We also believe that everybody should be spoken to or about with respect and not harmful, stigmatising or derogatory language.
The guide takes inspiration from other guides and toolkits that seek to demystify a number of health issues and long-term conditions, but specifically on the broad range of mental health conditions. It’s being formed by a coalition of organisations with knowledge of mental health and will be based on the lived experiences of people with a large scale survey across the UK to capture a range of perspectives from all walks of life. The guide will be based on research and supported by those with mental health issues and supporting organisations by setting out practical examples of language that will encourage positive interactions.
With waiting lists for treatment only increasing, and our increased knowledge and acceptance of different mental health issues, we are more likely to encounter someone with a condition or be an individual managing one ourselves. The guide aims to raise awareness of the importance of our interactions, making sure they are supportive and non-judgemental.
Talking about mental health isn’t always the easier thing to do, but days like these should help normalise these conversations and make them easier. There are different ways to start a conversation, be that hosting a coffee morning, running a lunch and learn or checking in with a friend.
Some tips for talking in a helpful way, include; asking questions but most importantly listening, think about the time and place you broach the subject, resist the urge to offer quick fixes, treat people as you did before as they are the same person, and be patient as people will open up when they are ready even if that is not today.
*ENDS*
