Dear editor,
I’d like to address Mental Health in the town of Bedford, not as a professional, but as a fellow human being.
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These are troubled times, and, in Bedford, just like anywhere else, many people are struggling and feeling vulnerable. If “A society is how it treats its weakest members,” Bedford, just like anywhere else, is failing many of its most troubled residents.
We all have moments of weakness, and even those who look strongest and talk the loudest also have those same moments, but not everyone has the fortune to be surrounded by a sufficient support network throughout their lives.
As education, youth services, health services, social care and mental health services have been cut, the support network has been eroded and the number of people without the necessary support to reach or maintain positive mental health rises.
With economic strains and hardship come more layers of stress and distress.
With accommodation insecurity, the fear of ending up homeless can be devastating, as can actually becoming homeless.
Also, every derogatory verbal stab and jibe at someone directly about their mental health, on social media, impacts an individual’s mental health negatively and has damaging consequences for society.
A valuable section of society potentially feels and becomes marginalised, written off, demonised and discarded.
Mental Health is a complex matter. Each individual has their own backstory, each individual has their own life circumstances, and many individuals have to tackle the complexities of life alone or without any meaningful support.
Whichever form any measures to improve Bedford take, there must be at their core an ethos of inclusion, compassion, mutual support and humanity.
That way, we can, as a society, help those experiencing momentary weakness, loneliness, mental health problems or debilitating chronic mental health conditions, rather than ignoring them or discarding them.
As has been highlighted, there are many amazing individuals in many amazing organisations, in and around Bedford, who go about helping the most vulnerable members of society, daily.
To ensure that inclusion, compassion and humanity are delivered every day and are experienced by vulnerable people, including those who suffer from poor mental health.
This contrasts starkly with the recent demonisation, dehumanisation and humiliation of those whose mental health problems are very visible. The echoes of this misanthropy have been heard loudly and repeatedly in recent discussions.
Every human in Bedford matters
Based on conversations seen on social media, when the project leader of the private security patrol was asked directly if the security staff had been trained in mental health, mental health safeguarding and mental health first aid, they replied, ‘This is a security team’.
This seems to suggest that members of the patrol dealing with individuals with complex needs and experiencing significant mental health difficulties may not have had the training to cope with situations like this.
There also appears to have been no consultation carried out relating to how best to interact with people with mental health issues.
This is worrying.
In schools, there was (and hopefully still is) a mantra that Every Child Matters. When every child grows up, do they no longer matter, or does every adult in Bedford matter too?
Every child carries forward experiences and memories from their childhood into adulthood. Not all those experiences and memories are positive, and some can be hugely damaging and difficult to deal with.
A difficult childhood or adulthood, having experienced traumatic events and having trouble dealing with the past, present, or future, is not uncommon. It doesn’t make an individual less of a person. It simply means they will need a little more support along the way.
In whichever way Bedford moves forward, it would be beneficial as a society to help anyone who is struggling with their mental health:
So that every person in Bedford feels they are valued, regardless of which life circumstances they come from or find themselves in.
So that positive mental health matters and benefits the community positively for all.
So that Bedford continues to be a safe place where the values of Compassion, Tolerance and Humanity continue to be championed.”
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