story by: CREZ DICKENS

A staggering one in four adults in the UK experience a mental health issue on a ​daily basis and its reaching crisis point, according to Bob Anthony, Chair of the ​Rotary Action Group on Mental Health Initiatives.

And the Rotary Action Group is calling on all Rotarians worldwide to help break ​the stigma surrounding mental health by starting conversations and introducing ​projects in our clubs and communities.

For example, on their website RAGonMentalHealth.org, they have toolkits ​andresources to support Rotarians find funding partners, create grant ​applications, carryout community assessments and monitor and evaluate ​projects.

According to the World Health Organization, one in eight people or 970 million ​people globally, live with significant mental health conditions such as depression ​or bipolar disorder.

They say that adequate resources to prevent and treat these conditions aren’t ​readily available everywhere, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

This lack of adequate support can destabilise families and disengage people from ​their communities.

But Bob urges Rotarians to access the website to look and utilise the toolkits to ​support the work Rotary does locally. The website has a series of toolkits that can ​be great project inspirations.

Wellness in a Box, he says, is one such kit which provides worksheets, slide ​presentations and facilitator scripts to help create a project for anyone, from ten-​years-old upwards to tackle depression, look at suicide prevention, build ​resilience and reduce stigma.

The worksheets look at problems, create ideas and is a creative problem-solving ​model. The benefits of this model, Bob explains, is to break down a problem ​instead of bottling it up, and by addressing worries collaboration between ​community groups is promoted.

Bob asks that if someone is seen to be struggling with issues, or in crisis, they ​should seek help from a medical expert or emergency personnel.

This Rotary Action Group suggests making well-being a regular topic of ​discussion in clubs, ask a mental health expert to come and talk to club ​members, invite professionals to chat to see if clubs can help them in any way.

Also organise social activities or networking opportunities with other clubs or ​districts. Form partnerships with schools and local universities aimed at ​encouraging young people to talk to the right professions about issues they may ​face.

Some projects that have been set up and received Global Grants can be seen on ​the Rotary Showcase and people can view them to gain ideas. For example, a ​project started in September delivering seminars on coping with stress and ​mental pressure to communities in India.

In Malaysia a project aimed at making mental health a priority has just begun. It ​aims to show the importance of integrating mental health education into the ​broader education system.

And in the USA, an EZ Peezie Crisis Services Project to publicise available mental ​health crisis services to local cities and towns residents has been launched ​through social media. This was in response to news the Rotarians learned that ​suicide was the second leading cause of death of people aged between 10 to 14 ​years.

In another project, nine-year-old Zeaedric from the Philippines was helped by a ​club to create a podcast on bullying, prevention and support strategies.