City Council is supporting Open Minds, a free event at the University of Sussex on Monday May 12.
The event, part of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week runs nationally from May 12-18 and has been organised by Albion in the Community, will be hosted by the University of Sussex Students’ Union, and will reflect this year’s theme of anxiety which is one of the leading causes of mental ill-health in the world. Evidence shows that the number of cases of anxiety is growing in the UK, with 8.2 million people diagnosed in 2010.
It is the aim of Mental Health Awareness Week to raise awareness of anxiety as a public health issue and to promote ways to reduce the effects of anxiety in everyday life.
The event is open to everyone with a wide range of activities including workshops, cinema, art, and music.
Programme of events to be held at Sussex University include:
12-4pm: Wellbeing Fair information market at the Quad
12-4pm: Are You Experienced? Art Exhibition at Falmer House
12-4pm: Anti-stigma cinema: screenings by the Game Changers project at Falmer House
12-2pm: Workshops in Mindfulness, Yoga, Ultimate Frisbee and Rounders with Albion in the Community’s Wellbeing Coaches
2-4pm: Human Library – where people share their personal stories of resilience and survival in one-to-one conversations with members of the public who ‘borrow’ them. To be held in the Debating Chamber, Falmer House
4pm: Tragic Roundabout playing in the Falmer Bar
The Mental Health Foundation, is a national charity and has been running Mental Health Week for the past 14 years. The Foundation leads on mental health and learning disability providing information, carrying out research, campaigning and working to improve services for anyone affected by mental health problems, whatever their age and wherever they live.
Clare Mitchison, Public Health Specialist at Brighton & Hove City Council, said: “Everyone knows what it’s like to feel anxious, but sometimes anxiety can develop into a longer term problem; panic attacks, phobias or obsessional disorders may make normal life difficult. It is now estimated that 1 in 4 people in the UK will, at some time in their lives, struggle with mental health issues, and at any one time 1 in 6 of us will experience a mental health problem such as anxiety or depression. Events like Mental Health Week all play a vital part in raising awareness and breaking down stigma for those who need help now and in the future.”
To round off the week the Festival Fringe one day Conference for reading and wellbeing, Read for your Life will be held at the Jubilee Library on Friday, May 16. Those attending will be able to hear award winning guest speakers from literary and therapeutic backgrounds, including Clinical Psychologist Dr Warren Matofsky, and take part in a variety of workshops including an Introduction to Whole Person Recovery.
Brighton & Hove Library Services will also be promoting their popular health and wellbeing collections, Mood-boosting Books and Books on Prescription plus library based activities including Reading Groups, and Read Aloud Groups, all of which have helped to provide a sense of wellbeing to many local individuals and groups.
For more information about Brighton & Hove Library Services, CLICK HERE:
For tickets to Read for your Life on May 16 at Jubilee Library, CLICK HERE:
Or telephone the Fringe Festival Box Office: 01273 917272
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