Northampton Mental Health nurse graduate on growing understanding of mental health
Kieran Coulson recently graduated in Mental Health Nursing from the University of Northampton, linked with St Andrews Hospital in the town.
A mental health nurse from Northampton says the portrayal of mental health on screen is inaccurate.
3\7 year old Kieran Coulson has recently graduated in Mental Health Nursing from the University of Northampton, which is linked with St Andrews Hospital and part of the ASPIRE programme.
The course helps healthcare assistants get into mental health or learning disability nursing.
He's been speaking to us on the issue during this Mental Health Awareness Week:
"I do think a lot of people lot of people are misguided, in terms of what mental health is because a lot of people's exposure is to movies like where they were or TV series, where they're exposed to mental health. And it's very extreme situations and it's like very dramatised."
He's not sure this depictions help our understanding of what mental health is:
"Some like some of the films that feature mental health as a theme, and it's it's not, it's not like that in real life."
Children's Mental Health
Kieran's final project at University focused on children and mental health, and says he believes people are starting to get better awareness about the issue, but underestimate how certain situations affect younger people:
"When people are going to secondary school, you're growing up with all these children around you. You formed relationships with you with them, and then you go off to different schools.
"And it can be quite distressing for children. I think we underestimate how distressing it can be."
He wants to see more awareness around the stress of things like GCSE's and looking after our own mental health.
During his course Kieran worked at Saint Andrew's Hospital who have a mental health project called the Reds Academy which he feels could be expanded nationally.
Mental Health at University
Kieran says we was well aware from his studies of the importance of mental health and used it to help others:
"When I was at university, we one of the placements I did was going around the university campus and checking on students well-being, and giving them information about how to maintain their mental health and well-being as well to prevent things like burnout or having some sort of mental health breakdown."
He says he felt supported throughout the course and thanks those who helped him, especially his Senior lecturer Tim Alexander, and the team including Emma Swain on the ASPIRE programme.
"Probably gave her a lot of sleepless nights with the amount of support I was asking from her, but yeah, she was. She was so helpful and a big part of why I passed the course."