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Youth Mental Health First Aid instructor and author, Natasha Devon MBE explains the reasoning behind why she felt the need to write her first solo book: A Beginner’s Guide to Being Mental, An A-Z.
Over the past few years there has been a dramatic surge in mental health awareness. This has been magnified in no small measure by the Royals’ Heads Together campaign. A global conversation has been started and that is something to be unreservedly celebrated.
However, many of us don’t have the knowledge or expertise to have the discussions this sudden rise in awareness has provoked. My work takes me to schools, universities and events all over the UK and beyond and I have observed that, whilst most people are singing from the same metaphorical hymn sheet, it is often difficult for people from different generations, with different backgrounds and experiences to understand each other.
This isn’t helped by the fact that, whilst the English language has more words than any other dialect, we have amongst the least spoken in the developed world to describe emotional and mental health. In turn, we misuse clinical terms (‘I’m a bit OCD’, ‘I just had a total panic attack’, ‘I feel really depressed today’) and misunderstanding and stigma abound.
That’s why I wrote A Beginner’s Guide to Being Mental: An A-Z. I wanted, quite literally, everyone to be on the same page. I took the formula I use in my spoken presentations, i.e. a sprinkling of my own experience of having an anxiety disorder and recovering from bulimia nervosa, scientific research from some of the world’s foremost experts and practical tips to help people struggling with their mental wellbeing, as well as the people around them.
I also wanted to debunk once and for all this ‘1 in 4’ statistic that we hear quoted constantly. ‘1 in 4 people will experience a mental health issue’ is a statistic from a census almost fifteen years ago, in 2004, when the understanding of what a ‘mental health issue’ is was radically different. Mental health issues are distinct from mental illnesses (although the two are often linked) and can include things like stress, bullying, bereavement or body image insecurity. Technically, everyone has had a mental health issue at some point in their life, in just the same way as everyone has had a cold or a grazed knee.
In perpetuating the ‘1 in 4’ myth, we make people think they’re not entitled to speak about their mental health until they begin exhibiting symptoms of mental illness. This not only perpetuates stigma, all the evidence shows that the earlier a mental health difficulty is caught the more treatable and manageable it is.
Mental Health First Aid England speak about a ‘mental health continuum’ in their training, within which everyone dwells. This is a much better way of looking at it - In just the same way as we have a relationship with our bodies and physical health, so we should with our brains. After all, 4 in 4 of us have a mind.
This also stops the ‘othering’ that tends to happen with those of us who have experience of mental illness. In A Beginner’s Guide to Being Mental I’ve explored the possibility that mental illness is less of an individual problem than we might believe and rather a social issue, which requires a community response.
My aim was that the book was pleasurable to read. I speak and write about mental health every day and find that humour is essential, not only in keeping me sane but in establishing connection with my audiences and being able to tackle really difficult topics. For the same reason, I asked Ruby Elliot, better known as Rubyetc, an artist whose unique brand of humour and swearing has won her legions of fans across the world, to illustrate the book.
It is my sincerest hope that anyone who reads A Beginner’s Guide to Being Mental will feel galvanised, uplifted, inspired and perhaps most importantly, less alone.