A group aiming to help young people deal with mental health problems is setting up committees in Northern Ireland schools to ‘change the culture’ around mental health. Pure Mental NI wants to create a safe space for people to openly discuss this issue.
Jay, co-founder of Pure Mental NI, says: "The main driving force was the startling high levels of poor mental health, particularly among young men our age, and we could see this first-hand with our school peers, but schools weren’t comfortable or equipped to address it, or even have healthy conversations about mental health. We were keen to see that change, with young people leading that change so that schools became an environment where stigma was tackled, conversations were had, and support was available."
The charity believes the expectations and traditional gender roles of society play a role in why men are less likely to discuss or seek help for their mental health problems.
