Although they are perfect to bring a smile to everyone´s face, Mood Bears are extra especially useful to assist and support adults and children who are struggling with mental health issues. They provide no solutions or answers, they just listen, understand and offer the best and biggest bear hugs. They can be the first step to finding out how to talk about mental health issues because it is so easy to talk to a Mood Bear. You can find the right words, make mistakes, cry, laugh, hesitate, scream, yell, swear, stutter, whisper, weep; Mood Bear will wait patiently, never hurry or correct you, never dismiss your worries, never ignore you or be too busy to listen.
Mood Bear is just there, whenever you are in need.
We all know that talking is one of the most important support systems surrounding mental health issues. Whether you talk about important things or trivial nonsense, whether you open your heart or just your mouth, verbal interaction is so desperately important to everyone´s mental stability and equilibrium.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), one in five young adults is dealing with mental illness, but as many as half are struggling in silence. Being able to talk with someone is the first step to feeling better, but for many, it can be hard to open up; hard to know how to start a conversation. Charlie Purdom from Project UROK says, “Just acknowledging that you need help is a really powerful thing,” During the pandemic schemes were set up just simply make a phone call to a lonely stranger and brighten their day because it was recognized by everyone, how important it is to talk.
Mental Health has certainly become the buzzword for the Twenty-twenties. Struggling with your mental health is no longer felt to be something to be ashamed of, and it is recognised that we should all talk about how we are feeling, and share our emotions. Celebrities, sportsmen and especially royalty have freely admitted that they have had mental health struggles.
Prince Harry said in a 2017 interview with the Telegraph “all of this grief that I have never processed started to come to the forefront….. He (Prince William) kept saying, ``This is not right, this is not normal, you need to talk to [someone] about stuff, it’s OK.” The Duchess of Cambridge, as part of the Time to Mind Campaign, quoted, "Just as with physical health, we need to act early to provide support when a child is faced with emotional difficulties." As part of their own Heads Together #OKtosay campaign, William teamed up with Lady Gaga to say "It's time that everyone speaks up. Just having a conversation with a friend or family member can really make such a difference. It’s OK to have this conversation… It’s really important to have this conversation." And on Time to Talk awareness day, Prince Harry summed it all up by saying, "People are scared to talk about it, but they should be scared about not talking about it.”
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According to Mentalhealth.org
Talking about your feelings can help you stay in good mental health and deal with times when you feel troubled.
Talking about your feelings isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s part of taking charge of your wellbeing and doing what you can to stay healthy.
Talking can be a way to cope with a problem you’ve been carrying around in your head for a while. Just being listened to can help you feel supported and less alone. And it works both ways. If you open up, it might encourage others to do the same.
It’s not always easy to describe how you’re feeling. If you can’t think of one word, use lots. What does it feel like inside your head? What does it make you feel like doing?
You don't need to sit your loved ones down for a big conversation about your wellbeing. Many people feel more comfortable when these conversations develop naturally - maybe when you're doing something together.
If it feels awkward at first, give it time. Make talking about your feelings something that you do.
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But what if there is no one to talk to?
Many people have no one, maybe they live alone and do not have a job; maybe they have a job but have not made any personal connections with anyone either professionally or socially; maybe they have a large family and many acquaintances, but no one who really understands or has time to listen.
This is where a Mood Bear comes into its own. Mood Bears are always available to listen, they feel the same emotion that you are feeling, but their only aim is to make you feel just a tiny bit better and take just a small part of the burden off your shoulders. If a Mood Bear puts a smile on your face; if just some of the clouds are lifted from your eyes then Mood Bear has succeeded; If a cuddle calms you down or helps you to sleep, Mood Bear is satisfied.
But what do we mean when we say Mental Health issues?
Are we talking about anger because your favourite trousers are ruined? Or heartbreak because the love of your life has rejected you? Are we talking about a deep depression because a loved one has passed away? Or nervousness to start a new school or job?
All of these can be helped by a mood bear who understands and reflects your feelings but, in most cases, these are fleeting feelings which will fade with time and are signs of a normal balanced mental health state, currently coping with a perfectly human circumstance.
Sometimes, however, these feelings don´t go away naturally. Sometimes thinking or emotions change for a good reason, or for no reason whatsoever, out of the blue, and you can´t see a way to get back to how you used to feel. Once feelings start to affect our normal daily routine and stop you from functioning in your social, work or family life then it's time to address the situation and question whether you are suffering from a mental illness.
What is a mental illness?
Mental illnesses are much more common than you might think. They are a normal part of life and nothing to be ashamed of. There is a huge raft of treatments for mental health conditions and improvement is perfectly possible.
Mental illness involves changes in your emotions, your thinking or your behaviour, or maybe a mix of these. It can affect your ability to function in social, work or family situations. Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, it is just like any other illness that we could suffer from such as kidney or stomach problems. It is also treatable, and the majority of people suffering from mental illness continue to function normally on a day-to-day basis.
Although many mental illnesses or conditions can improve drastically with self-help and coping strategies, it is always best to seek medical help in order to get an accurate diagnosis and access to advice on the best options for you personally, to assist your return to mental health.
What is mental health?
Our mental health is the basis for your emotions, your thinking, your communication, your learning, your resilience and your self-esteem. It is also the foundation for your relationships, your emotional well-being and your integration into community or society. Good mental health is a delicate balance, allowing you to feel the full gamut of emotions from despair to elation, from depression to joy, from anger to thankfulness, without any of these emotions affecting your ability to function.
We know when we feel these emotions, they are temporary, whether bad or good, and that we can cope with them, however hard it may feel at the time.
It is perfectly normal for your emotions to swing from bad to good, and back again, but when that swing goes out of control, and there is never a middle ground, or when that swing happens wildly and with no reason behind it, then there could be a problem. So, when it goes wrong and your normal equilibrium and balance fail, it could be due to mental illness with can affect aspects of our lives, just as it would if you broke a leg or had a heart attack
Mental illness can take many different forms, many of them can be mild and not greatly affect our lives such as phobias or obsessions. Others are more serious and might need medical advice and/or treatment.
It is vital, therefore, to seek medical advice if you find that your emotions, thinking or behaviour experiences major changes that do not go away with time and patience. Or if you repeatedly experience distress or problems functioning in social or work situations.
The most important thing to know is “what is normal for you?” If things change and you don’t feel that it’s a temporary change or has an obvious reason, then you should speak to a medical professional. A diagnosis of a mental disorder or illness does not mean treatment is necessary, however. Many people might benefit from a change of lifestyle, diet or job. Some may need counselling or therapy to identify the issues and learn coping strategies, some may learn that their condition is temporary due to bereavement, loss or any big life change, and that time will heal, and some may need a short course of medication to set them back on the right path, while others are may need long term medication.
It is often very difficult for the sufferer to talk about how they are feeling, or admit that they are experiencing problems. Family or friends will often be the first to notice changes but find it difficult to open up a discussion or know how to approach the subject.
This is where specially designed inanimate objects such as Mood Bears can assist. The sufferer may find they can open up to a Mood Bear much easier than to a human being, and sometimes it is just a matter of starting to talk. Once something has been said out loud, it is easier to repeat the second time. Just putting something into words for the first time can open up the floodgates. Or maybe just having something comforting to hug while you talk will assist the flow of words.
Talking has been proved again and again to prevent mental illness from spiralling out of control. Medical professionals agree it is the starting point for all understanding, diagnosis and treatment, and sometimes it is the only treatment needed
Prevention is better than cure; help people to look after their mental health. Talk today with a Mood Bear and start the process to balanced and robust mental health.
© Beverly Betts June 2022
