Leading Charity encourages us to ‘Do One Thing’ to improve our Mental Health | Latest Newry News, Newry Sport and Newry Business for Newry City

Leading Charity encourages us to ‘Do One Thing’ to improve our Mental Health

AWARE (formerly Aware Defeat Depression) has launched its new DOT campaign with Ulster and Ireland rugby star, Stephen Ferris.

aware4The aim of the campaign is to encourage members of the public to ‘Do One Thing’ they currently don’t do to improve their mental health ahead of World Mental Health Day on Saturday 10th October 2015.

These things can include being more active, eating healthier, talking about your feelings, keeping in touch with friends, family and loved ones, asking for help if you think you need it and practising mindfulness.

These are simple, yet effective approaches which can have a profound impact on mental health if followed correctly.

AWARE is asking people to write about what they are doing on its Facebook page and on Twitter using #AWAREDOT. It can be as simple as taking a walk to work rather than getting the bus, going for an evening stroll, and introducing healthy foods into your diet or rediscovering that hobby you previously enjoyed.

There is nothing too small and every DOT idea could be helpful to someone else.

Speaking to Newry Times about the campaign, Stephen Ferris says, “Mental health is just as important as physical health, which is why I am supporting this campaign from AWARE.

“Many sports stars suffer from depression when recovering from an injury. They can go from being on this massive high, training and playing the game they love with friends every week, to all of a sudden being injured and not able to participate.

“After my injury, I made sure that I took care of my mental health as I was very aware of quickly low mood could spiral into depression,” he added.

AWARE chief executive, Siobhan Doherty said, “Approximately 1 in 4 people will experience some form of mental illness in their lifetime. However, a lot of the time this can be prevented if the person is equipped with the correct information and knowledge to recognise the signs and symptoms of depression and to learn how to overcome it by putting in place evidence based measures to help them, help themselves.

“We hope the DOT campaign will encourage people to do something for themselves or reach out to someone they believe may be unwell. We are sending out an important message to people that Doing One Thing could have a huge impact on people across the country.

She added, “Head on over to our Facebook and Twitter to see other people’s ideas, they could very well help you.”

More information on the DOT campaign and other ways to improve your mental health can be found at www.aware-ni.org/DOT

Short URL: https://newrytimes.com/?p=53108

Posted by on Oct 8 2015. Filed under Advertising Feature, Community, Featured Story, What's On. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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