Fucking Mental. Chris Young's top 10 tips for great Mental Health this Christmas!

Welcome to my alternative, infinitely more realistic, top 10 tips for great mental health this Christmas! This is my response to all those platitudinous and chipper top 10 tips that seem to flood social media at times. We need to think differently

1. First, and foremost - be Lucky – be very, very lucky – this will all become clearer as I go;

2. Do not be the victim of childhood sexual abuse;

3. Do not be a victim of homelessness;

4. Do not be a victim of neglect and invalidation;

5. Do not be a victim of poverty including food insecurity;

6. Do not be a victim of childhood bereavement;

7. Do not be a victim of bullying;

8. Do not be a victim of domestic violence;

9. Do not be different in any way;

10. Do not be genetically predisposed to any mental malady;

11. 11? I thought you said? Yeah, I know – I lied. Do you really think you’d be reading this if I’d called it, ‘Chris Young’s top 13 tips…?’ Get over yourself. Don’t even consider having any kind of physical disability.

12.  Don’t suffer any of the myriad of negative effects – both physical and psychological – caused by the medications prescribed to make you mentally well.

13.  Don’t be harmed or invalidated by the very services charged with your care.

So, in short, to summarise and conclude, mental health services are at a crisis point in the UK, while many of the causes of mental ill health - poverty, homelessness, food insecurity, prejudice and hate crimes are galloping unchecked and out of hand across this fair country of ours. No amount of mindfulness or positive thinking is going to make a difference until we break down the institutional divisions and inequalities inherent in the chronically underfunded system.

Merry Christmas to you and yours, and a happy new year when it comes.