Mental Health: Support and Help

As a school community, GMS does all it can to promote the importance of “emotional health” or “well-being”. Looking after our mental health is just as important as looking after our physical health. As such, mental health becomes everyone’s business: everyone has the capacity to help others, because we all have times of feeling down, stressed or frightened. Most of the time these feelings pass, but sometimes they may develop into a more serious problem and this can happen to anyone. Mental health issues affect us all in different ways, depending upon the stage of life we are in.

The beauty about being human is that we are all different, resulting in us all having a different set of unique skills and talents. Sometimes people will bounce back quickly from a setback, while someone else may feel weighed down by it for a long time.

Just like the weather mental health does change: sometimes it is sunny and sometimes there is a storm. How an individual copes with the storm is important. Continuing the metaphor, it is best if the storm can be prepared for with the correct clothing to protect. Thus, anticipating, or recognising the symptoms can help alleviate the length and severity of the set-back or ‘storm’.

There used to be a stigma attached to mental health concerns. In the past, this meant that people felt uncomfortable opening up: it was a topic to be buried. Today, it is recognised as healthy to share feelings, of unhappiness, stress, anxiety or fear, with friends and peers.

In GMS, if students feel like they need a helping hand, or someone to talk to, there are lots of good people to turn to. Attached to this post is a list of agencies and services that can offer support. There are also the everyday mechanisms of – Tutor, DOL, LGS, Safeguarding Team, and in fact any member of staff that you are happy to talk to.

• See our:  Help outside school updated 18.03.2020 gms
• See also: https://theyarethefuture.co.uk/worry-anxiety-coronavirus/