Check In for Mental Health in October
October saw World Mental Health Day and Mental Health Week in Western Australia.
World Mental Health Day aims to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilise efforts in support of mental health, while Mental Health Week’s theme for 2021 was “Mental health starts with our children”.
October is a time to bring mental health into the spotlight and Mental Health Week is really important to the team here at iyarn. Checking in regularly is a key part of staying on top of your mental health.
iyarn Activities in October
We upped our efforts throughout October to get the mental health message out and about.
Checking In with the Minister for Education
The Minister of Education for Western Australia was on hand to lead a student check in at Thornlie High School during Mental Health Week. The event was also to commemorate the school’s 50th year.
iyarn on ABC News
iyarn CEO Lockie Cooke appeared on ABC News during Mental Health Week. Check out the clip below or see the full transcript here.
iyarn Sessions at Schools
The team over at Santa Maria recently published their experience of using iyarn, including a session facilitated by Lockie.
As one of the students commented:
“I learned that taking some time out to reflect is really good for you and your wellbeing. iYarn helps us to do that. iYarn gives us a chance to reflect, something that many of us don’t get a chance to do. Lockie taught us the importance of this and gave us many more tips to help us in the future.”
Check out Santa Maria’s original article over here.
What are the most common check ins?
Mental health can be complex. There are many ways to experience mental health and most people have different ideas of what it means to be healthy and thriving.
We looked at subset of our anonymised data from the period around Mental Health Week. From 6,000 check ins, the most common segments included:
Sleep
Friends
Exercise
Mental Health
Family
Happiness
School
Health
Work
Slightly less common was the use of segments like:
Learning
Relationships
Energy
Mindfulness
Personal Development
Self Care
Growth
Nutrition
Spirituality
Contribution
Sport
Social
Finances
Of course, there are many many different segments. We recommend that people use what is most relevant to them, and this flexibility has been a key driving force in the development of iyarn.
Take Time out for Mental Health Week and Mental Health Day
Mental health is a challenge that most of us will experience in our lifetime, either directly or amongst our friends and family.
There are many ways to take care of your own mental health:
- Schedule time for physical activity
- Do mindfulness or self awareness activities
- Catch up with friends
- Check in with someone you haven’t heard from
- Learn something new
- Help an older person in your life
Checking in is one of the best ways to ensure you stay on track.
