Sometimes, it can be hard to know where to turn.
For all the gains made through the steady promotion of greater mental health awareness over the past few years, culture’s messaging remains decidedly mixed. It’s one thing to acknowledge one’s vulnerabilities, and yet the unseen rules of social media continue to insist on a performance of flawlessness in biographies which reduce the complexity of experience to the needy simplicity of ‘content’. Likewise, for those unfamiliar with the system and its localised terminologies, the mental health pathway into services can be a tricky one to navigate, with its distinctions less clear to the layperson.
This is where Your Head In Mind hopes to come in. The brainchild of Kyle Thimmaya Clow, the inspiration for the platform came to him during his own hospital admission following a psychotic episode earlier this year. Looking back, Clow reflects: “My time in hospital was eye-opening. The lack of awareness around drug interactions and mental health was shocking.”
Remarkably, given the circumstances, a seed had begun to germinate. “In my psychotic state, I began envisaging a science-based mental health platform.”
The need for this initiative was reinforced by Clow’s experience during the period following his discharge from hospital.
Kyle Thimmaya Clow
“I had vivid delusions. Despite the severity, follow-up care was minimal. I’ve seen first-hand how limited mental health treatment options can be. Medical professionals often rely solely on antidepressants, which are not well understood and can have serious side effects.” Moreover, as Clow came to realise, “therapy waiting lists are long, and the options are usually restricted to basic talk therapy or limited CBT [cognitive behavioural therapy] sessions”.
Seeing what was missing, Clow was all the more determined to develop something which could help to bridge the gap. Your Head In Mind does so by opening up a number of stepping stones. Firstly, it aims to supply a map of resources in the community, provided outside the NHS, which offer additional support, including charity organisations such as Andy’s Man Club which caters to men who might otherwise find it difficult to share their feelings. Alongside this, there is an emphasis on providing balanced, accessible research findings as a counterweight to social media’s tsunami of opinion and misinformation. Complementing both will be a forum, alongside a series of podcasts in which Clow converses with acknowledged experts in their field.
While the platform, which is aimed at Greater Manchester residents, is informed by his own experiences, Clow has been careful not to privilege his personal understanding over those of others. He says: “I hold a Master’s degree in Stem Cell Technology, and have worked in labs over the past few years, so I’m deeply aware of the importance of evidence-based sources.”
The immediate aim for Clow is simple: “My hope is to prevent people from reaching crisis points.” Beyond this, though, he sees the platform as a foundation to be built upon, reaching towards a wider, more inclusive vision.
“Through Your Head In Mind, I aim to destigmatise mental health and educate others from a scientific and human perspective.”
Indeed, this recognition of both the personal and the empirical, the sociological and the psychological, seems central to the platform’s approach. For Clow, it’s been a period of personal growth. “I’ve learned a lot about myself, and after speaking to a guest on one episode of the podcast, I’m actually planning to try EMDR [Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, a therapy which aims to help process traumatic experience].”
From one experience to another, Your Head In Mind offers an inclusive place to turn.
Urgent mental health care can be accessed by calling 111; Samaritans offer listening support on 116123; Text support is available through SHOUT on 85258
