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.
The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) reported that Northern Ireland has the highest suicide rate in the UK. In 2021 there were a total of 237 registered suicide deaths in Northern Ireland. The report continued to explain that 74.35% of men died by suicide while 25.7% were women in 2021.
The report said: "Northern Ireland has the highest rates of poor mental health of any of the four UK jurisdictions. Mental health problems are the single largest cause of ill health and disability in Northern Ireland."
Suicide is the largest cause of death for men under 50 according to the Mental Health Foundation. Pure Mental NI is a leading force in changing how Northern Ireland approaches Mental Health education in schools, Jay said.
"We have established dozens of pupil-led committees in post-primary schools across Northern Ireland which have empowered hundreds of pupils within their schools to alongside school staff and address the issues impacting the well-being of their peers. The end goal of this programme is to see these young people equipped with new leadership and teamwork skills, but also to have changed the culture within the school, with staff and pupils willing to be more open about how they feel, with less stigma about reaching out for support or for having poor mental health."
Pure Mental NI regularly engages with MLAs about mental health issues. Jay adds: "MLAs have been very receptive to us, and we’ve enjoyed working with them. Mental health is an issue that everyone can get behind, regardless of their political or constitutional views.
"We’ve recently begun engaging beyond the Assembly and had a number of engagements with charities and MPs, including with Theresa May MP, in Westminster."
Pure Mental NI was founded in 2019 by Jay Buntin and Matthew Taylor, is a youth-led charity which campaigns for better mental health education in primary and secondary schools in Northern Ireland. This summer Pure Mental will celebrate its fourth anniversary with a Birthday Gala ‘Black Tie’ event at the Clayton Hotel in Belfast on Saturday, August 5.
This event will be a positive reflection on the journey of Pure Mental so far and an opportunity to thank everyone who has supported the charity in the last four years. You can secure your tickets for the Birthday Gala event here and keep updated from Pure Mental on Twitter @PureMentalNI.
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