The 2012 Olympics bought us many good things, the sun shone at last, London was highlighted as a hip city to visit and even the much hyped dreaded transport problems seemed to fade away in the golden glow of our Olympic success.
The Olympics adventure which many thought was a fool hardy venture 10 years ago, an expensive misadventure seven years ago, a potential embarrassing flop 3 months ago, turned out to be an all singing, all dancing, greatest show on earth just two weeks ago with critics now admirers and everyone feeling positively smug that we could pull it off and change skeptics into fans…
One of the other success stories in the shadow of the Olympics is the Paralympics, which used to be thought of as the poor relation of the so called real Olympics, now has better recognition with the best ticket sales ever known in it’s history.
The Post Offices plan to recognize individual Olympic athletes with a gold letterbox and a stamp to commemorate each medal winner was agreed to be a fantastic tribute to Team GB, the subsequent light version served to Para Olympians of one stamp for all of the gold medal winners together, was a bitter pill to swallow and with public opinion raging that this was surely unfair. This decision has now been reversed.
If this means that the public are becoming aware of the need for inclusion in society than should we hope for this to spread to mental health?
Here is an illness that is the true Cinderella of healthcare services and is thought by many to be the ugly sister in terms of funding received, support in the workplace which remains often minimal, stigma remains high and tolerance by many would be employers pretty low. Yet in terms of prevalence we know that 1 in 4 of us will suffer with mental health needs at some point in our lives, that suicide is the second commonest reason for death in males under 30, and that mental health impacts on every aspect of quality of life in our community.
Is it a dream to think that in 10 years this status will be eradicated?
That in 7 years, support in the workplace will mandatorily include free and accessible counseling, that there will be back to work support for anyone who suffers with stress and depression or substance misuse. That workplace bullying will be as stigmatized as drink driving is now, and emotional resilience will be taught on the curriculum in all schools ?
Lets hope so – if Britain can pull of what is lauded as the Best Olympics ever, why cant it lead the way in delivering innovative and world class mental health and suicide and mitigation services…let’s imagine that !
Like to know more, contact us at the Results Co…..love to hear your ideas…
