‘How can we support those Friends working on individual leadings in mental health?’ Photo: Finn / Unsplash.
‘Concerns about this go beyond our immediate situation, and beyond our Quaker community.’
On our minds: Alison Mitchell says mental health affects us all
Mental health is a pressing issue in our communities and in our Quaker Meetings. Many Friends have long-held concerns around this but the pandemic has caused some distress for us all; for some it has been overwhelming.
Individual Friends and Meetings are reaching out, connecting and supporting. At the Retreat York Benevolent Fund we offer grants to individual Friends, support Quaker-led mental health projects, and have been offering short-term therapy. Later this year the Quaker Mental Health Forum will be held online, in November, with the title: ‘The Covid Yoyo: Reflecting on mental health, wellbeing and spirituality through our pandemic stories.’
But concerns about mental health go beyond a response to our immediate situation, and beyond our Quaker community. A new group is forming – Quaker Voices on Mental Health – with a wider focus: What is ‘mental health’? How do we understand, describe and name our emotional experiences? What is the relationship between spirituality and mental health? What are the social, economic, environmental and political factors influencing mental wellbeing? How should Quakers comment on mental health services? How can we support those Friends working on individual leadings in mental health? What is our Quaker ministry? This comment is from one of the Friends interviewed as part of the Mental Health Conversations project: ‘The questions of who we are, of how we are influenced and how we become what we are… the relationship between spiritual crisis and emotional crisis… There needs to be discussion of the causes of mental health – societal problems, developmental, pressures – “driving people mad” – these need to be explored and Quakers are the best people to do this.’
We have a rich heritage in mental health. The work of The Retreat was revolutionary in its humane, loving care of people in distress. The heritage of our work in prisons, in chaplaincy, in justice and in building community connects to thinking about mental health. Issues around this intersect with other Quaker concerns such as equality, poverty and justice. This topic affects us all. Mental health has not been named as a Quaker ‘concern’ – but we hope Quaker Voices on Mental Health will give space for it to be explored.
Alison is mental health development officer for the Retreat York Benevolent Fund.
