People in Redditch living with mental health problems offered support at Redditch Town Hall

Members of the new Worcestershire Healthy Minds service, part of Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, spoke about the range of support available to help people living with things like stress, anxiety, low mood and depression.

About one in four people will experience these sorts of problems and the healthy minds service has developed a range of help, including online short courses, to equip people with the tools to better manage their mental wellbeing.

From the start of September people can also book themselves directly onto one of the short courses without a referral from a healthcare professional.

These courses run in different locations and cover topics such as stress, worry, improving self-confidence, sleep management, anxiety and managing long-term conditions.

Members of the public, those who have accessed these services, staff and other professionals attended the recent event at the town hall to find out more and to pose questions to the Worcestershire Healthy Minds team.

Julie Evans, clinical lead for the Worcestershire Healthy Minds team, said: “It was great to see so many people come out to find out more about our service and the support we can provide for those people living with these types of issues.

"Lots of people will from time to time experience feeling stressed, anxious or low in mood and this can be triggered by everyday things like work, relationships or money concerns. We wanted to get across to people who attended the event that this is really common and there are lots of options.

"These include online courses in cognitive behavioural therapy, groups and courses which you can self-refer on to, along with counselling and psychological therapies.”

The event was the culmination of a month-long initiative to raise awareness of common mental health problems and the support available.

For more information on the healthy minds service, visit hacw.nhs.uk/healthyminds.