fbpx
  • Home
  • About us
    • Privacy Statement
    • Trustees
    • Our research
  • Services
    • COVID-19 advice & helpful resources
      • Resources for adults
      • Resources for children, parents & carers
      • Helpful support – telephone and online
    • Our introduction to mental health training – Suffolk’s Needs Met
    • Counselling
    • Eating Recovery Group
    • GreenCare
    • Mums Matter
    • Open Spaces
    • Personality Disorder Service – Waves
    • Suffolk Night Owls – Emotional Support Line
    • Suffolk Work Well
    • Supported housing
    • The Norfolk and Suffolk COVID-19 support service
  • Workplaces
    • I want to support my team’s wellbeing
    • I want my managers to have the confidence and skills to support their teams
    • I want my team to have the confidence and practical skills to support others
    • I want to support Suffolk Mind through fundraising in our workplace
    • Contact our Workplace Wellbeing team
  • Schools
  • Get involved
    • Job vacancies
      • Project Manager
      • Support Worker (Saxmundham)
      • Management Accountant
      • Case Worker (Suffolk Work Well)
      • Support Worker – Cambridge
      • Support Workers (Woodbridge)
      • Care Worker
      • Relief Support Workers
      • Relief Care Worker
      • Employee benefits at Suffolk Mind
    • Volunteer
    • Suffolk PenPals
    • Friends
  • Support us
    • Donate
      • Why regular donations matter
    • Leave a gift
    • Events & challenges
      • 100 Miles for Suffolk Mind
      • 100 Miles for Suffolk Mind t-shirts
    • Corporate Fundraising
    • Giving Pages
    • In memory
    • Greencare – support our Greencare team
    • Sammy the Sea Squirt
      • Purchase the Sammy the Sea Squirt book
      • Sammy the Sea Squirt resources for schools
    • FAQ’s
  • More help
    • Emergency Contacts
    • Emotional Needs & Resources
    • General FAQs
    • Useful Links
    • Support Groups
    • Videos: understanding self-harm and suicide
    • Video: reflective listening
  • News
    • Blog
  • Contact
  • Resources
    • LGBT+ Mental Health
    • Ukraine: Supporting Your Mental Health
    • 20Zz Sleep Better, Be Better
    • Support guide for children and young people
    • EARLY Minds resource cards
    • Emotional Needs and Resources cards
    • Suffolk’s Needs Met course manual
    • Suffolk’s Needs Met course manual & Emotional Needs and Resources cards set
    • The Qur’an & Emotional Health: An Introduction
Suffolk Mind

26 High Road West
Felixstowe
IP11 9JB

0300 111 6000
[email protected]
  • Privacy Statement
en English▼
X
ar Arabiczh-CN Chinese (Simplified)nl Dutchen Englishfr Frenchde Germanit Italianpt Portugueseru Russianes Spanish
Charity No. 1003061     0300 111 6000 [email protected]
Flipchart_RGB_blue
Work for us
Present White
Leave a gift
Fountain Pen RGB
Become a friend
Postbox White
Newsletter
Megaphone White
Need Help
NOW
Collection Tin With Coin White
Donate today
  • Home
  • About us
    • Privacy Statement
    • Trustees
    • Our research
  • Services
    • COVID-19 advice & helpful resources
      • Resources for adults
      • Resources for children, parents & carers
      • Helpful support – telephone and online
    • Our introduction to mental health training – Suffolk’s Needs Met
    • Counselling
    • Eating Recovery Group
    • GreenCare
    • Mums Matter
    • Open Spaces
    • Personality Disorder Service – Waves
    • Suffolk Night Owls – Emotional Support Line
    • Suffolk Work Well
    • Supported housing
    • The Norfolk and Suffolk COVID-19 support service
  • Workplaces
    • I want to support my team’s wellbeing
    • I want my managers to have the confidence and skills to support their teams
    • I want my team to have the confidence and practical skills to support others
    • I want to support Suffolk Mind through fundraising in our workplace
    • Contact our Workplace Wellbeing team
  • Schools
  • Get involved
    • Job vacancies
      • Project Manager
      • Support Worker (Saxmundham)
      • Management Accountant
      • Case Worker (Suffolk Work Well)
      • Support Worker – Cambridge
      • Support Workers (Woodbridge)
      • Care Worker
      • Relief Support Workers
      • Relief Care Worker
      • Employee benefits at Suffolk Mind
    • Volunteer
    • Suffolk PenPals
    • Friends
  • Support us
    • Donate
      • Why regular donations matter
    • Leave a gift
    • Events & challenges
      • 100 Miles for Suffolk Mind
      • 100 Miles for Suffolk Mind t-shirts
    • Corporate Fundraising
    • Giving Pages
    • In memory
    • Greencare – support our Greencare team
    • Sammy the Sea Squirt
      • Purchase the Sammy the Sea Squirt book
      • Sammy the Sea Squirt resources for schools
    • FAQ’s
  • More help
    • Emergency Contacts
    • Emotional Needs & Resources
    • General FAQs
    • Useful Links
    • Support Groups
    • Videos: understanding self-harm and suicide
    • Video: reflective listening
  • News
    • Blog
  • Contact
  • Resources
    • LGBT+ Mental Health
    • Ukraine: Supporting Your Mental Health
    • 20Zz Sleep Better, Be Better
    • Support guide for children and young people
    • EARLY Minds resource cards
    • Emotional Needs and Resources cards
    • Suffolk’s Needs Met course manual
    • Suffolk’s Needs Met course manual & Emotional Needs and Resources cards set
    • The Qur’an & Emotional Health: An Introduction

Recent News

  • Our GreenCare gardener overcomes anxiety to blossom at Chelsea Flower Show
  • Volunteers’ Week 2022: How GreenCare has been an ‘oasis’ for one of our gardeners
  • Two local organisations join forces to increase participation in physical activity and improve mental health in Suffolk
  • Suffolk Mind encourages people to connect with each other this Christmas after continued decline in mental wellbeing
  • Suffolk Mind CEO to run 100 miles in 100 days

News Archive

  • June 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018

Connect with each other during lockdown to halt decline in mental health

Suffolk Mind has issued a plea to local people to write letters, telephone people they haven’t spoken to for a while, shout to neighbours over garden fences, or do whatever they can to connect with others to try and halt the decline in our mental health due to lockdown.

For those that would like to participate, the charity is launching a Suffolk Mind PenPals scheme. People can write to Suffolk Mind and a volunteer will write back within two weeks or so. For more details click here.

Suffolk Mind has released data that shows the proportion of the local population at risk of stress and mental ill health has more than doubled since this time a year ago – before the coronavirus pandemic.

More than half of us (55%) are not, on average, meeting our emotional needs – the key to avoiding stress and maintaining good mental health. And it may be people that have never experienced any kind of struggle before that are doing so for the first time.

Jon Neal, chief executive of Suffolk Mind, said: “We look at mental health through the emotional needs we all have that must be met to stay well. The biggest fall has been in feeling part of a wider community – this fell in the first lockdown, but has continued to fall.

“This may seem obvious, with people unable to see anyone else, but it’s the rate of decline that’s concerning us most. And with little certainty as to when the current lockdown will end, it means wellbeing is unlikely to recover for some time.

“Around two thirds of us now say we do not feel part of a wider community. An increasing number of us don’t feel that we have meaning and purpose in our lives, and more of us are feeling like we have no control, we’re not making choices for ourselves.”

Suffolk Mind has updated the resources on the Covid19 section of its website, providing more tips, videos, blogs and infographics to help people understand their mental health and enable them to do something to help.

We are also providing Suffolk’s Needs Met sessions to the public, a virtual training course with information about how people can meet their emotional needs to stay mentally well. To attend, people just need the coupon code ‘snmopencourse’ when they book here.

“The one thing all of us can do is connect with another human being in a meaningful way. Write a letter, make a telephone call, have a conversation over a fence at a big distance. Do something to connect with people. You might not think you need it, but you probably do. And even if you don’t, there are plenty of people out there do.

“This should be our equivalent of clapping on a Thursday night to respect key workers. The need now is to connect with each other so we all feel part of a community again. We’ve got lots of resources on our website to inspire you with writing suggestions, toolkits and advice. And if you can’t think of someone to write to, write to us and we’ll write back.”

Author: Ellie Winch
Posted on: 22nd January 2021

Elefriend RGB

Side by Side

Side by Side (formally Elefriends) is an online community where you can listen share and be heard. FIND OUT MORE

Flipchart White

Become a Friend

Being a Friend of Suffolk Mind means joining a network of people who have pledged to find out how important mental health is and how to look after it. FIND OUT MORE

Collection Tin With Coin White

Support Us

Suffolk Mind couldn’t exist without your support – whether that’s through a donation, leaving a gift in your Will, or organising a fundraising event – you can help us be there for more people. FIND OUT MORE

Accreditations & Awards

Jpegs_MNEA_win_Suffolk
MQM Logo RGB High Res
Mindful Employer Logo Blue
CyberEssentialsPlus
HLF Logo
TTC Grant Logo
We Invest In People Standard Blue
SIP Logo
Layout 1
FR Fundraising Badge HR
MQM Logo RGB High Res
Mindful Employer Logo Blue
CyberEssentialsPlus
HLF Logo
TTC Grant Logo
We Invest In People Standard Blue
SIP Logo
Layout 1
FR Fundraising Badge HR

Contact Us

Suffolk Mind

26 High Road West
Felixstowe
IP11 9JB

0300 111 6000
[email protected]

Help In A Hurry

  • need Help Now?
  • Contact Suffolk Mind

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
Mind

© 2022 Suffolk Mind
Registered in England 2611510
Charity No. 1003061

Copyright © 2022 Suffolk Mind

  • Privacy Statement