Fortnightly sessions will provide people who are feeling ‘frazzled’ with the opportunity to exchange personal stories in a comfortable environment. The initiative is part of a partnership with comedian Ruby Wax, who has spoken often about her battle with depression.
Ruby Wax has experienced episodes of depression for most of her life and has long campaigned for a better mental health provision.
She says the idea for the “Frazzled Cafe” came from her “Sane New World” tour, based on her book of the same name which examines the rise of mental health problems in the modern world.
These Cafes are not simply for the one in four people who will suffer mental illness at some point in their life but for the four in four who can find the strains and demands of modern life overwhelming.
Three will be based in London with others opening in Brighton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Cambridge, Nottingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Canterbury and Norwich. There are expected to be further cafes opening throughout the year.
Frazzled Cafes-Ruby Wax in Partnership with M&S
‘The UK is the seventh biggest prescriber of anti-depressants in the Western World’ – Health and Social Care Information Centre.
Surveys have also shown that despite business leaders being approached at work by staff with mental health issues, only 14% of companies have the policies in place to deal with such a problem.
If you would like to attend a session then you must sign up via their website: Frazzled Cafe
Sessions take place once the store is closed to the general public.
“We need to take the stigma out of mental illness. People shouldn’t be ashamed of it.” Ruby Wax
Image Credit: Frazzled