Sandra Liiv, the project manager of Peaasi.ee, said in an interview with “Vikerhommiku” that Estonians have started to talk more and more openly about their mental health problems.
In mental health cafes launched by Peaasi.ee last year, people in need can chat with a stranger who has completed a mental health first aid course. Sandra Liiv, project manager of Peaasi.ee, explained that during the training, mental Health Café volunteers gained theoretical and practical knowledge on how to notice when someone around us has mental health problems and how to approach the person in difficulty . such a case.
Last year, 45 mental health cafés were organized across Estonia. “We have agreed that on the last Saturday of every month there will be volunteers in the bars of Tartu, Viljandi, Pärnu, Kuressaare and Tallinn, who will mostly be present during the entire opening hours of the bar. They sit alone at a table, wearing a white T-shirt that says ‘I’m here,’ and when someone that day feels like they want to share their concerns and thoughts or ask for advice on where else to go, they can do so,” Liiv explained.
According to Liiva, Estonians are very confident in speaking out about their concerns. According to him, this is confirmed by the fact that last year more than 230 people visited mental health cafes. “It was a little surprising to us too that this coffee format was so well received,” he said.
Liiv believes that the opportunity to talk to a stranger speaks in favor of the cafe. “Maybe it’s much easier to go if I don’t know the person, I never have to see them again and I go ask them for advice, I don’t even have to meet them by name,” he reasoned, adding that mentally the health cafe does not engage in therapy or counseling, but rather it offers the opportunity to talk to someone who listens and is there.
“These are people who can provide primary support in the form of supportive listening. It seems to me that what we often lack is someone just listening to us. They have such knowledge of how to listen.”
Additionally, Liiv believes that the courage to talk openly about mental health has contributed to the popularity of mental health cafes. “That’s kind of the point of the cafés: we bring mental health problems out from under the carpet and from behind the doors of specialists. We create a psychological culture that is supportive and caring, and we show that mental health can be improved “. it has been talked about everywhere and anytime and that it is not a taboo topic. Just as I dare say I have a headache today, I dare say I have bad thoughts,” she said.
According to Liiva, the people who visit the bar are different: there are those who talk to someone for the first time about their mental health problems, but there are also those who have been visiting psychologists or psychiatrists for years, but still want to talk to someone. Also, people of different ages and backgrounds come to share their thoughts.
“They talk and ask for advice about depression, anxiety, loneliness, work or school stress, they also come in groups – for example they sit at the table with the family and share the most pressing concerns with the volunteer,” Liiv listed.
Although mental health cafés have established themselves in several Estonian cities over the past year, they plan to reach other regions in the future. According to Liiva, a lot also depends on how enterprising the people in the local community are.
“For example, we went to Saaremaa because local people who had completed mental health first aid training contacted us and started running the bar themselves,” he explained.
Peaasi.ee’s broader mission is to train at least 1% of Estonian residents to become mental health first aid providers. “These people can be of support not only inside the bars, but it would be very nice if in the working group there was also a person who has completed this training,” said Sandra Liiv.
2024-01-03 10:05:00
estonians-are-increasingly-ready-to-talk-about-mental-health-problems-vita