Tag: kindness

Friday Feeling [20] – there are lots of ways to help with mental health

There’s a lot of media coverage about mental health lately, and rightly so; it’s important for such a widespread issue to be out in the open and for people to understand more about it. We’re talking more openly than ever about anxiety, depression and personality disorders, and hopefully it’s becoming less of a stigma.

But mental health isn’t just manifested mentally. It can have a physical effect too, and that can be as important to treat as the root cause.

This story about a teenager who had neglected herself so much through her depression that her hair was matted and looked beyond repair is a great representation of that physical manifestation. She felt so worthless and so low that she couldn’t be bothered to wash or brush her hair, and had just left it to it’s own devices. It was in such a state that she asked the hairdresser to shave it off in time for her upcoming school photographs.

But the hairdresser refused, instead dedicating time and patience to grooming the girl’s hair; detangling it and styling it over a period of 13 hours. And, at the end of it, the teenager said that she felt she could actually smile for her school photograph.

Depressed girl and hairdresser

The power of kindness, the power of feeling like someone cares, and even the power of looking good (as fickle as some people seem to think that is) can all help someone with depression to recover. How lovely that the hairdresser recognised that, and made the decision to nurture the suffering girl, rather than just take the easy route.

Read the full story here.

Thanks ,as always, for reading! x

Friday Feeling [19] – sometimes it’s the small things

This is such a great idea! The City of Arlington in the US State of Texas have set up a public app dedicated to recording and sharing acts of kindness.

The kindness initiative highlights nice and generous acts, however small, reminding people that the world is, fundamentally, a good place.

Be Kind

I think every town and city in the world should have one! Read the full story here.

Thanks, as always, for reading! x

Friday Feeling [9] – people power

Despite all the horrible things that have been going on in the UK recently, the thing that’s stood out to many (including myself) is the sense of community spirit, people supporting each other, strangers reaching out to other strangers, and the general feeling that we’re stronger together.

Nothing sums that up more than this story. Not connected to anything that’s happened in the past couple of weeks, it’s the story of a group of people – all strangers – holding on to a man who was trying to jump from a bridge to take his own life. They held on to him for 2 hours, until emergency services were able to take over.

Always look for the helpers

It’s easy to think that no-one cares about us in life, that we’re all alone in the world and no-one would miss us. But this story proves the power of human compassion and that everybody has somebody – even if they don’t know it.

Be kind to people – you never know the difference you might make.

Thanks, as always, for reading. x