Mental Health: Can We Talk About it Over a Pint?

Promoting mental health has been given an extra push over the past few weeks. What if it became something that we could learn about in the pub? I’m exploring the idea of running informal, informative and possibly even fun talks led by people working in mental health in the local and I’m looking for opinions.

There has been a lot of media attention recently devoted to the destigmatisation of mental health.

I have worked in mental health for ten years and can attest that anxiety, low mood and suicidal thoughts are incredibly common. These experiences are articulated by people from all walks of life who could often be seen to have it made;  a successful career, good family, friends and a great taste in therapists.

Within my job I only see a very small cross-section of the people who are having problems, because I only see the people who have decided they need help.  In terms of promoting mental health awareness, talking to my clients is preaching to the converted.

An example of a pub.

However, many of my clients do tell me that it took a long time to realise that something was wrong.  It seems as though many of us struggle to recognise and discuss these kinds of issues or perhaps we are just not very well-informed about how they feel.

Some creative initiatives have emerged to raise awareness and to reduce the stigma that deters us from discussing mental health. One campaign included printing messages on beer mats. and a tweet mentioning it had over 70,000 likes. It seemed like perfect placement for the message that lads get sad too. 

Last year I went to an annual event called A Pint of Science. The premise is that researchers deliver talks in a pub designed to be understandable to lay people. In their own words, it ‘brings some of the most brilliant scientists to your local pub to discuss their latest research and findings with you. You don't need any prior knowledge, and this is your chance to meet the people responsible for the future of science (and have a pint with them).’ There’s an opportunity to ask questions after and even a quiz with some tongue-in-cheek prizes

I’m not particularly knowledgeable about anything scientific apart from psychology, but I really enjoyed the talks. I think the pub atmosphere lent to that hugely. I felt as though the speakers were explaining their research to you in the way that they would if a friend asked them in the pub; using non-technical language, assuming no prior knowledge and with friendly humour (and a powerpoint, which isn't what they would normally do in the pub...hopefully).

Some non-scientists enjoying a Pint of Science talk.

What about if we applied this formula to mental health? So to go one step further than messages on beer mats, what if we actually made understanding mental health a pub-friendly activity? In fact, Pint of Science are running a talk in Manchester called ‘Art and Technology to Understand Mental Health’ that is now sold out. If there is that much interest in learning the theory, how much interest could there be in learning to manage your own mind?

Talks could be put on by therapists, nurses, doctors, lecturers, and made to be interesting and entertaining. I know that sounds odd, what is entertaining about mental health? But the aim would be to make it non-threatening and informal, maybe even interactive, borrowing heavily from the Pint of Science model.

And who wouldn’t benefit from learning about good mental health? It is a normal part of being human to feel anxious, down or stressed sometimes. Whether it’s been triggered by workload, family problems, the end of a relationship or money worries, sometimes our mental health can take a bit of a battering. Sometimes we’re able to bounce back quickly and sometimes we struggle. Embracing the British institution that is the pub and taking advantage of the tone it sets could help to normalise something that is, in fact, totally normal.

Information about what causes stress, anxiety, or low mood, where it comes from, how if feels as well as some useable strategies to deal with it could be delivered in less than the time the pub quiz takes (and there might be a quiz at the end). This could be useful to anyone, whether it’s to address difficult feelings now or just to keep you on an even keel, kind of like improving your psychological fitness. We could approach it as something that affects everyone to differing degrees and that we can all work on. 

Also, by using a pub to turn it into a social event, we might be encouraged to start talking about it. Perhaps if we felt we understood it, had a vocabulary to discuss it and knew that our friends had an awareness of what it was we might find it easier to open up.

I’m looking to run a pilot talk in July. It would be great to hear feedback about how you would feel about learning about mental health down the pub. 

Cheers!

Elizabeth