Crambed in with Mental health

I am back with another blog!

This week I will be talking about some personal experiences on this show and sharing some information, as I have done with my other blogs. Rather than discussing events happening at Creative Stirling and Made in Stirling this week, this will be a bit more of a serious blog this time round. I will talking about mental health charities, how I feel about them, and how personal they are to me, so let’s begin.

So mental health. I have had experience of situations where I’ve had challenges with my mental health in the past, as well as due to recent events. It hasn’t been situations that have happened with me personally, but to people I know, sadly. I’m going to talk about how this has affected me, and talk about stories relating to mental health, people around me and how it affected me.

Now, when I was still at school an incident happened with one of my fellow pupils. I’m not going to go into details about what happened, out of respect for his friends and family, but I was heartbroken for him, and everyone that knew him. His name was Murray Dewy, and I was in the same school as him. I attended Murrays Match, a fundraiser held in memory of Murray, which was held on his birthday (or near it) I think. You may have heard the adverts for the match on Stirling Community Radio.

Everyone at Dunblane High School, including me, were shocked and saddened by his passing. That’s when I heard out about the Scott Martin Foundation, which is a mental health charity helping people with poor mental health by providing counselling and therapy services. I think it is really good charity, as it helps people to seek help and have the opportunity speak to someone, other than a friend or family member, while honour the memory and life Scott Martin. To find out more go thescottmartinfoundation.org

Now, the next part a more recent story, and the main reason why I have promoted two mental health charities on my show. Recently, one of my old school friends passed away (who I am not going to name out of respect for his friends, family and girlfriend). I have known him since S1, and he could be quite the trouble maker, but was a really funny, genuine guy, with a great personality, and he was always very nice to me. I didn’t find out about his funeral until the day after, which I was really devastated about. I haven’t really seen him that much after he left school in S4, but that’s how much of an impact he had on my life as I still remember him well. That’s the thing about bad mental health, in my opinion, it can hit you out of nowhere, and can make you think there is no one you can talk to. It can make you feel trapped, and it’s not something that is visible. Someone can be struggling, and you might not even know it.

If you know someone in your life that is suffering with mental health, seems a bit down, or even people that appear to be fine, you should always let the people you surround yourself with know that you are always there to speak to, and the importance or

reaching out to someone. ‘Action in Mind’ is another charity you can go to, and they help people to go from bad to good mental health. They are local to Stirling and provide lots of great services, and you can also volunteer there with various roles across the charity. To find out more go to actioninmind.org.uk

Out of the two charity’s I have promoted for my show, I can’t really decide which one I think is the best. You have a look on their websites, and decide for yourself on which one is best one for you. They are both amazing charities you can go to for help. This was also an opportunity to talk about my own experience on mental health, because of the impact left from the people I knew from school that passed away, as they really meant a lot to the people they cared about, and the wider community. They are missed, and I hope they both rest in peace.

Finding an outlet, like blog writing, can be a great was to express your emotions, and get thoughts out of your head to take steps towards better wellbeing. I will be talking about more stuff on my radio show Cramb in Creative this week, so tune in on Stirling Community Radio, Thursday at 3pm, to find out more. Also, I might be a bit busy next week so there might not be a blog or show, but hopefully (fingers crossed), I will be back again soon.

Take care, and be kind to yourself everyone!

- Jamie.