by Dayana Del Puerto | 9th Nov 2016
OCD: Only Cardiffians’ Disorders
TheSprout, Cardiff’s online magazine and information site for young people (run by ProMo-Cymru with young people), marked two significant mental health awareness dates in October with youth-driven content.
By encouraging young people’s stories, advice, creative writing… whatever…, TheSprout joined in on World Mental Health Day (10th October) and OCD Awareness Week (9th-15th October).
“You can overcome OCD, just like you can overcome any addiction”
– #MyStory: OCD (a truly brilliant piece on OCD: what, why and hope).
Any young person can share anything on their mind (keep it clean, please!) via TheSprout… for example, have you ever read an OCD poem?
“OCD has a hold on me. I like to check the door, then the key:
Door handle-key, door handle-key, door handle-key, door handle-key
Door handle-key… “Nope, that’s not quite sitting right on me”…
Door handle-key… “Nope, I didn’t check the handle fully”…”
– continued at: Poem: OCD Has A Hold On Me.
These pieces were also fittingly performed live as part of a multi-venue, several-month performance of Vexations, as an OCD UK fundraiser. Astonishingly, it is a single sheet of music composed by Eric Satie to be repeated 840 times!
TheSprout has put down some of the best helplines, websites and organisations for mental health info and help for young people in Cardiff here. Please do share with anyone who could benefit.
Time For Time Credits
For the first time ever, in October, TheSprout offered Time Credits for content on a particular theme (you’ve guessed it… mental health!).
We’d encourage other organisations to check out this “currency”, as reward and incentive for young people’s time.
Carrots come in all shapes and sizes (very much like Sprouts of course), and here’s a full list of where Time Credits can be spent in South East Wales.
For November, TheSprout’s youth-led steering group, the Sprout Editorial Group has decided Time Credits should be awarded for any bullying-related content, ahead of #ABW2016.
Young peeps, as always, can submit here.
It’s your shout, your Sprout.
