Next Shabbat, let’s start talking about our mental health - The Jewish Chronicle

Next week, we will be marking Jami Mental Health Shabbat to raise awareness of mental illness and distress in the community and to share ideas on how to support ourselves and others.

More than 100 synagogues, schools, youth groups, university J-Socs and other organisations will be holding events to talk about mental health. Jami, part of Jewish Care, will be arranging its own challah bake, asking people to host a Shabbat meal to raise funds for mental health services in the community and organising an open-mic night at Head Room, its social enterprise café in Golders Green, supported by the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation.

The charity will also be supplying its own Jami Mental Health Shabbat toolkit to engage everyone from schoolchildren to senior citizens – because mental illness and distress doesn’t just affect adults. It is hard to find someone in the community who hasn’t been impacted by mental health problems – and I know the effect this can have on individuals as well as their families.

This is why it’s so important to have Jewish Care and Jami to turn to, when we need them, for expert support, as well as genuine care, in a warm and welcoming Jewish environment. According to the latest report by NHS England, one in five children and young people in England, aged eight to 25 years old, had a probable mental disorder in 2023. In 2024, research from the Institute of Jewish Policy Research highlighted that more than half of under 25-year-olds in the Jewish community were living with mental illness, distress or trauma.

Talking openly about mental health is more important than ever.

Jami’s Mental Health Shabbat toolkit provides a range of resources for teachers and youth leaders, offering practical examples of age-appropriate activities to promote wellbeing in young people – from self-care bingo for primary schoolchildren to a myth-busting mental health quiz for secondary-school-aged pupils.

A section for university students and young professionals also provides tips on how to have conversations about mental health and it includes an activity based on the five steps to mental wellbeing.

Supporting the mental health of our young people is vital, especially at a time when the country’s mental health services are extremely under-resourced. Our Dangoor Children and Young Person’s Service, which works with young people aged 11 to 18, is certainly reaching some of them. Our intention is that, over the next five years, this service will reach many more. Currently, pupils at JCoSS and JFS receive anything from weekly to monthly one-to-one support from one of Jami’s mental health practitioners, and we are looking to expand this into more schools.

These sessions are client-centred, focusing on goals that the individual can work towards – for example, establishing their own healthy eating and sleep routines.

We are already seeing the benefits of this support, with young people telling us that their self-esteem has grown, their anxiety has reduced and their ability to manage their emotions and behaviours has improved. But we know that there are many young people out there who are not receiving the necessary support they need to cope with their struggles and to thrive, and we must strive to support them.

I hope that with continued support from our community, whose donations and time we greatly rely on, our services will foster a sense of belonging and resilience among every young person living with mental illness and distress in the community – and help them to navigate and manage their mental health challenges with confidence and care.

The Jami Mental Health Shabbat is from January 31 to February 1. Visit jamiuk.org/jmhs