Suffolk Mind offers support to Suffolk’s LGBTQ+ community
Suffolk Mind are offering free courses and counselling to support the mental wellbeing of Suffolk’s LGBTQ+ community during LGBTQ+ History Month.
The independent mental health charity has secured funding to offer free Your Needs Met and Sleep Well, Be Well courses as well as counselling sessions. Figures from Healthy Suffolk in 2018 shows that 88% of people who identified as transgender and non-binary have (had) depression [1]. During the pandemic, research from Suffolk Mind indicates that those who are non-binary were one of the worst affected groups for meeting their emotional needs.
Suffolk Mind’s Your Needs Met course explores how people can stay mentally well by looking after their emotional needs. Sleep Well, Be Well explains how important sleep is to an individual’s mental health. Insomnia and poor-quality sleep are linked to physical ill health as well as mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.
During the pandemic, research by Suffolk Mind shows that more than half of people in our county have struggled to get a good night’s sleep.
Suffolk Mind are offering the support over the telephone and Zoom to ensure it is accessible for everyone who needs it during this time.
Corrina Hanley from Suffolk Mind has Coordinated the project: “Anyone can experience a mental health problem, but those who identify as LGBTQ+ are more likely to develop problems like depression and anxiety. Reasons for this could be homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, stigma and discrimination or social isolation and exclusion.
“Suffolk Mind has always offered support to Suffolk’s LGBTQ+ community, but we want to make it more accessible by offering a tailored support service. We want to ensure people have somewhere to go when they are struggling with their mental health”.
People can self-refer for this support here.
Author: Kristina Brinkley
Posted on: 11th February 2021
