'We want to remove the stigma of reaching out for help'

Lucy Otway led the team of Bristol University students working with Bristol Mind

A Bristol-based mental health charity has said it wants to "remove the stigma of reaching out for help".

Bristol Mind is running a two-week campaign called Kind2Mind to help it raise £20,000 for free counselling sessions for 18 to 25 year olds.

The charity's CEO Emma Brech said they are seeing an increase in the number of young people withdrawing from society with depression, stress and anxiety.

She said: "We're moving away from the medical model of things being done to you - we want to work with you."

Ahead of launching the campaign, which kicked off on 14 May and continues until 28 May, Bristol Mind worked with a small group of Bristol University students to provided some insight into issues faced by this age group.

French and politics student Lucy Otway, who led the research, said: "Everyone's prepared to acknowledge they're struggling with their mental health, but there's still a stigma with what is deemed to be a valid enough problem for therapy."

Bristol Mind is hoping to offer more free counselling to young people across Bristol and South Gloucestershire

Ms Otway, who was aided by the research team at Bristol University, said that of the 40 survey respondents, they found a big disparity between people saying they struggled with mental health and those being prepared to have counselling.

Out of all the respondents, 20% said they were having therapy with most of this group accessing free sessions.

If you have been affected by the issues in this article, support can be found at the BBC Action Line.

Salome Stuttard, 23, said she was helped out of a "dark place" by the people at Bristol Mind after struggling with her mental health during the pandemic.

"I was in a deep depression," she said.

Originally from south London, Ms Stuttard came across the charity while looking for affordable therapy online.

She emailed the charity at the end of 2022 and within a month was seeing a health professional.

"The speed was amazing. I've never experienced anything like that," she said.

'Desperate need'

She was given 16 sessions which ran until mid-2023, after which her mental health improved.

However, after the loss of a friend at the end of last year, she reapplied for another batch of sessions.

"I honestly don't think I would be alive if I didn't have Bristol Mind," she said.

"We are in desperate need of more low cost or free counselling."

The team of Bristol University students found a big disparity between people saying they struggled with mental health and being prepared to have counselling

The Kind2Mind campaign is being supported by the Big Give, which means any donations made to Bristol Mind between 14 and 28 May will be doubled.

While the charity already offers a scaled fee system for clients, the money raised from the campaign will help to fund free counselling.

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