Conversations In The Community Review + Key Takeaways (A MIND accredited online course)

Hello all! As the above title states, I will be distributing what I have learned, as well as include some key takeaways/points from an online course that I have managed to complete recently.

A little backstory for you here, I was working at my MIND store one day back in July, and I happen to glace up at a poster which was advertising an online course associated with MIND. Me, being the curious-minded person I am, only decided to scan the QR code on the poster to see what the said course (in the above title) was all about. Then me, also being the scatter-brained (sometimes) person that I am, only managed to get through 1/5 modules the next day, before ending up not getting around to doing it again until a week ago.  

*This was the only convenient picture I could find on the internet*

What was the online course about? Conversations In The Community is purely about educating people about the best ways of beginning, flowing & ending conversations with other people. And this can be having a conversation with anybody at all, regardless if they are struggling with their mental health or not. Moreover, this course goes into fish tank depth about the pros & cons of forming a conversation with somebody in the community. (I'll bullet point them later in this post)

How did the online course provide me with useful information? The online course provided me with a lot of tips of how to make a good & effective conversation. The information had also stated that it is important to bare in mind no conversation ever HAS to be perfect, as there isn't such thing as a 'perfect conversation'. The useful tips had included respecting the person's or your own boundaries, never ask leading questions, always remind the person that your there for them & try to show interest.

Would I feel more confident about starting my own conversations In the community? In a word, definitely! To further extend my reasoning, I will now remind myself to always begin a conversation to anyone by using open questions, like: "Hiya, how has your day been today?" or "Hey, how has life been for you lately?"

What are the pros & cons of forming conversations?

Pros:

• Finding a suitable environment
• Allowing the person to take their time
• Asking open questions
• Reminding the person you'll be always be there for them
• Respecting your person's privacy 
• Giving yourself an appropriate time

Cons:

• Being insulting
• Comparing your person's struggles to everyone else's
• Asking leading questions that will make your person feel uncomfortable 
• Not showing interest
• Violating your person's privacy
• Not going through the flowing & ending process in the conversation

What have I learned? As I have mentioned earlier, I have learned that any form of conversation doesn't NEED to be perfect, as long as I make the effort to actually make any form of conversation at all. And as long as the person I am having a conversation with is satisfied with everything, then I will be more than happy.

I have also learned that conversations are more effective when you allow your person to have their preferences. This is to provide them with empowerment that will make them feel comfortable & secure prior to a conversation. An example of this could be allowing your person to convey the conversation in a wide open green space, where they feel more comfortable by knowing that nobody else is going to invade the private conversation.

Finally, I have learned that you are entitled to setting your own boundaries when it comes to finding the most convenient time to form a conversation with somebody. This is important because you must consider you self-care before thinking about beginning a conversation with somebody. Especially when you know in advance that you are going to be having an emotionally draining conversation with somebody who is fighting depression.

Conclusion: Even though I was inattentive towards the online course when I have first started it back in July, I have found it really interesting & enjoyable throughout when I had eventually got my inattentive self round to getting through the rest of it, and managed to complete it on Wednesday. (The day before my birthday!) After doing the course, I feel more confident about forming conversations with people whenever I go out & about into the community. Although I know in the back of my mind that is easier said than done, as I still consider myself to be a shy person when having a random conversation with anyone out in the community. That being said, I can easily just shrug it off, and just focus on making conversation.

If anybody would like to develop better conversation forming skills when out & about in the community, I definitely recommend doing this course! Direct access link: https://www.conversationsinthecommunity.org.uk/

An introduction to MIND Side By Side

Evening all, and happy Friday! I hope you're all looking forward to celebrating Christmas this year, however you may choose to celebrate it. 

In contrast, it is important to bare in mind that some people out there may not choose to celebrate Christmas due to certain issues they could be dealing with. An example of this could be their mental health. I, for one, can totally relate to this, so I know how it feels to be overwhelmed during the run up to Christmas. Let alone on Christmas Day.

Whilst still on this subject, I have just recently signed myself up to the MIND Side By Side community scheme. Although I have only discovered this community scheme within a short amount of time, I can already provide a useful introduction about it to anyone who is also considering to join up as well.

What is Side By Side? Side By Side is an online community group, where people all over the world can connect with one another. Going into more depth, Side By Side creates a sole purpose of supporting people who are battling mental health. (Myself included)

How does using Side By Side make me feel? Overall, I would say that using Side By Side helps me to feel relieved, by being allowed to express myself freely with other people without any judgement. That being said, I feel like I can relate to other people on the community site by developing an understanding of what they may be going through in terms of their own mental health. Every story is different & interesting to say the least. Whenever I use Side By Side, my mind breathes with relief, as it casually puts itself in timeout by knowing that it is going to get a well deserved break from reality. Making an effort to connect with other users helps my mind to unload all of the piling stress that cannot seem to disappear. This is purely because talking about how you feel to someone helps my mind to get rid of its load of excessive & repetitive thoughts. And in most cases, prevents them from reoccurring.

*I began this post on the 22/12/23, but didn't finish it until the 23/12/23*

A little something for #InternationalVolunteerDay

Good evening everyone! I hope you're all enjoying your week so far. I know that I am 2 days late, but I felt like doing a post based on International Volunteer Day. And since I have a voluntary job myself, I want to provide you with some useful & inspirational insight that will, hopefully, reduce the stereotypical stigma of not being a "proper" or "actual" job just because it doesn't pay you money.

Since the 18th of January, I have been working at a local MIND Charity shop as a shop volunteer, and have enjoyed every second of it to this day.

Not only am I enjoying working for a charity that I am hugely passionate about, but every job I do in the shop helps to go to a well worthy cause, as well as support the community.

Now, some of you might be reading this thinking to yourselves: "Why would you want to do a job that is not earning you money?" Here's my personal response: It's not about the money, it's about working with people in the community who truly benefit from a charitable cause, such as MIND.

Moreover from the above paragraph, having a voluntary job is a great way of getting into employment, as it looks good on your CV. Plus, you also get the chance to learn a lot of new skills & qualities to put on your CV as well! No wonder why paid job employers get impressed when they see it on your CV, as volunteering shows you are all about community & people.

To conclude this post with a personal insight, having a voluntary job, or just any type of voluntary works, helps me to feel good & positive about myself. And for what it's worth, volunteering can go a long way.

MIND, you are amazing at what you do, and never give up... Ever...

Happy Saturday all! Hope you're all enjoying it so far, as for the rest of this week. I know I haven't been paying much attention on here lately, as I have been too occupied with my coursework & my jobs. 

During this time, I was disappointed to see on MIND's social media that the UK government has let down people's mental health, again... Although I do not consider myself to be somebody who requires support from any mental health professional who may have a degree of some sort, but I do consider myself to be somebody who cares about mental health being taken into consideration. Especially when it comes to people suffering from their mental health by having no one to turn to, as well as to seek professional advice. Read about it here: https://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/uk-government-shelves-the-mental-health-bill/

Because I am a part of MIND'S workforce, I feel like it's only right if I speak up on behalf of the company/charity. Not just that, but also because I truly appreciate everything they do in a bid to fight for mental health.

MIND, if you're reading this, (or if you ever read this) I just want to say that I am a massive fan of what you do in your workforce. Whether these may consist of encouraging people to get a membership, volunteer or even create partnerships with work companies, you're doing a grand job with getting more people involved in fighting for mental health. That being said, you wouldn't be recognised for who you are, as well as what you do to this day if it hadn't been for any of those above things.

Let's also talk about your campaigning, as I can clearly see that you would happily go above & beyond to achieve. This also includes people happily going out of their way just so they can help you with the campaigning. This is obviously a inspirational success in a lot of people's eyes whenever they view these campaigning events on the media. Just a shame the government do not take this seriously...

On that note Charles, how come you didn't think to mention all of this in your speech last Tuesday? (7/11/23) I mean, it's not like this is a rocket science situation that will just fix on its own, this mental health crisis has to be dealt with by actually putting the mental health bill into action. Words cannot even begin to describe as to how shocked I am that this has been not been sorted out for the past 6 years now, and the UK government think it's okay for people's mental health to go unnoticed in this country?! 

All I can really say at this point, is that something HAS to be done in order for the UK government to put the mental health bill into action, and to ensure no one's mental health gets ignored. But until then...

Keep on fighting for mental health MIND.✊🏻💙