World Mental Health Day: How art is supporting men’s wellbeing
Looking after our mental wellbeing is equally as important as our physical health.
There are several ways to do so, with art proven to have multiple benefits. They include lowering stress, improving happiness, promoting social relationships and portraying complex emotions.
Wirral Council’s Lifelong Learning Service has been delivering art classes to members of Men Too - a Birkenhead-based charity that offers mental health, wellbeing, and social support services for adult men.
The creative learning programme builds on a series of previously completed short-courses which introduced skills and creative concepts as a platform to build confidence, learn new skills and provide opportunities for the men to learn in a safe and relaxed environment.
Lifelong Learning's wellbeing creative curricula provide opportunities to explore how to better manage health and wellbeing. Sessions can help process trauma, build self-esteem, enhance cognitive function and improve communication.
One member of Men Too says that taking part in the classes, held at The Lauries Centre in Birkenhead, has significantly helped his confidence and wellbeing
Art is very therapeutic and gives me something to focus on. You can get lost in drawing a picture. All your troubles and woes disappear.
Art is a medicine. If you’re struggling in life, get a piece of paper, sit at a table and focus on what’s in front of you because you can forget all your problems.
I went through a big stage of my life not feeling like part of anything at all. To come into a group, meet new people and learn different art techniques opened my mind. It has made me want to make a difference to other people’s day.
The course has been a really good boost for me. It made me feel happy that my artwork was on display in an exhibition at Birkenhead Park and I won an award.
It’s great to tell people about the different techniques we’ve had to use. The classes are absolutely amazing.
Speaking out as a man is really hard to do and reaching out to men’s groups and branching out to different courses really opened my mind to becoming a part of society again.
For some people, art is a way of expressing how they feel when they’re not comfortable opening up verbally. Being creative while talking openly and honestly has been incredibly powerful and everyone involved has really enjoyed it.
With World Mental Health Day taking place on Saturday 10 October, anyone who is struggling with a mental health crisis or emergency should get immediate expert advice and assessment.
You can get advice from 111 or ask for an urgent GP appointment if you need urgent help for your mental health.
Other services available include can call 116 123 to talk to Samaritans. Trained volunteers will listen to anything that’s troubling you.
To find more information about classes offered by Lifelong Learning Service, click here. If you're unemployed, in receipt of benefits or earn less than £37,144, courses are free.
English, maths, English for speakers of other languages, family learning, and essential digital skills courses are free for everyone.
For more informational about Men Too, click here.
