It's so annoying that anything that gets set up supposedly for #mentalhealth now rapidly gets co-opted by anyone who's ever felt a bit anxious because they might have missed their bus or felt a bit sad at work on a Monday morning.

Call that mental well-being.
Eg a couple of outdoor swim groups specify they're for #mentalhealth folks but turns out they're exactly the same as any other swim group.

Yes everyone feels anxious or sad at times. But the fact you feel better after swimming outdoors is not the same as experiencing SMI.
Can't we have anything any more that is just for people who have experienced mental ill-health?

Sometimes I'd just like to be able to mix with my own kind - folks who've experienced a serious setback - rather than someone who's just felt a bit sad or anxious.
A community mental health nurse once said to me that research showed that having a mixed group with non-mentals & folks with SMI helped the SMI folks to lift themselves up. Well that's super nice! And we all need a variety of interactions.

But we also need to mix with peers.
If you've got acne or an ingrowing hair on your face, you are not the peer of someone who's dying of skin cancer; if you've felt a bit anxious or sad, you are not the peer or someone who's been sectioned for SMI.

This seems obvious (except to #mentalhealth services).
Almost all stuff that's set up by #mentalhealth organisations seems aimed at folks with mild-to-moderate difficulties.

It's needed stuff.

But it is not a replacement for provision aimed specifically at folks most severely affected by mental ill-health which has been cut.
There's a spectrum running from everyday anxiety & sadness - normal, common, useful - to anxiety disorders clinical depression & other forms of mental ill-health that severely affect people & which can be extremely debilitating & even fatal.

But this is not all "mental health".
We can *all* benefit from measures to improve out mental well-being - hooray!! - whether we're living with a serious health condition or disability or are in perfect health.

Thumbs up for all this mental well-being stuff.

But that's not a replacement for #mentalhealth care.
I do take anxiety & depression seriously, because they can become an anxiety disorder or clinical depression, & those can be very serious indeed.

Afaik, it's prolonged anxiety that can then turn into depression, & the latter can set in, like concrete.

Mental well-being matters.
But I would actually like some stuff that acknowledges that having to take the odd duvet day or feeling fantastic after a cold water swim is not analogous to the experiences of folks who may've lost their whole career, home, friends, life, to serious mental ill-health.
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