Exploring mental health in Meetings
Growing concern expressed in special interest group
Many special interest groups at Yearly Meeting were full to overflowing. Those who met on Saturday to talk about mental health in Meetings filled the seats, sat on the floor and spilled out of the doorway to hear from the Quaker Life Mental Health Cluster. The room was just as packed with insightful contributions during the discussion, which ranged from an overview of existing Quaker work to Friends’ stories of what they and their Meetings have experienced.
The growing concern in this area was palpable: half of the postings on the Quaker Disability Equality Group’s email network relate to mental health problems, Euston Quaker Quest are planning a session on the topic, London Quakers are having another Dialogue event and one Friend highlighted that their Area Meeting now has a support group meeting every other month.
As cuts hit the support for many with mental health problems, community and spiritual sources become ever more significant.
Isobel Lane rounded off the session by saying: ‘We want to make it as normal to talk about mental health as any other illness’.
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