Are you looking after your mental health?
The HSE and the Department of Health have launched a new mental health and wellbeing programme online, which is part of the new national ‘Keep Well’ resilience campaign launched by the Government.
The Minding Your Wellbeing programme is a free, public resource focusing on the promotion of mental wellbeing. It has been adapted from a face-to-face programme into a series of online videos.
What does the programme consist of?
It consists of five video sessions (20 minutes each) which will be available via yourmentalhealth.ie The content is focuses on:
1. Practicing Self-Care: Invites participants to develop and think about their own ‘self-care toolkit’ which includes all the healthy habits we can adopt for our mental health and wellbeing
2. Understanding Our Thoughts: Invites participants to reflect on their own thinking and how thinking patterns can impact wellbeing
3. Exploring Emotions: Invites participants to notice their emotions and increase their positive emotions to improve their wellbeing
4. Building Positive Relationships: Invites participants to nurture, value and foster positive relationships which are so important for mental wellbeing
5. Improving Our Resilience: Invites participants to build their resilience, learn about the building blocks of resilience including the importance of focussing on strengths.
Mindfulness
This programme provides a unique opportunity for people to learn more about key elements of mental wellbeing such as mindfulness, gratitude, self-care and resilience. As the public continue to adapt their lifestyles to deal with COVID-19 and are faced with different challenges in this context, this programme aims to provide simple tools and guidance for people to develop and maintain a positive outlook by looking after their mental health and wellbeing.
Speaking about the programme, Minister of State for Public Health and Well Being, Frank Feighan, said: “This new HSE resource is an excellent addition to the range of resources being made available to people as part of the Government’s Resilience campaign. I would encourage everybody to log into the yourmentalhealth.ie website and begin using these videos.”
Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, also wholeheartedly welcomed the programme. "Having online resources that are available 24 hours a day is a very valuable service, given the different circumstances people find themselves in. I would invite everyone to view the content online and commit to developing their own self-care toolkit.”
Dr Stephanie O’Keeffe, national director, HSE Strategic Planning & Transformation said: “As people look for more support in relation to their mental health and wellbeing, it is important that they have access to practical, evidenced-based information. The Minding Your Wellbeing series of videos provides this and this programme is part of our delivery on the Healthy Ireland Strategy and the Connecting for Life National Suicide Strategy.”
Anne Sheridan, HSE programme manager for Mental Health and Wellbeing said: “Never before have so many of us needed to reflect on and purposefully mind our mental wellbeing. These videos give steps we can all take and incorporate into our busy lives to protect our mental wellbeing. Self-care is not a word many of us grew up with in Ireland but is a priority for us all now as there is no health without mental health.”
While people are being encouraged to complete all the sessions, which are available to access 24/7, the message is to try one and progress from there.
Other supports are also available for people seeking support and are also detailed on the website: