The more we understand, the better we can help
With Mental Health Awareness Day this month, we’re looking at some key areas of support. Our cover story explores moral injury (p6) – an area we haven’t talked about directly before, but which traces a clear path from combat-related experiences to escaping trauma through substances. Veterans make up a significant part of our DDN community and we hope that this will open up more dialogue with Combat Stress and the other support charities who are ready with highly skilled interventions.
Meanwhile, the more we understand the reasons for young people’s substance use, the better equipped we are to help them cope with the effects of adversity, abuse and exploitation and can aim for the essential ‘whole school’ approach (p12).
We’re keen to help sustain momentum of your Recovery Month activities, so are sharing forward-looking ideas on recovery protection (p16). And have you heard about Recoverist Month (p10)? The founder began his journey in a homelessness hostel but is now working with inspiring visual artists who hope to be regulars on the cultural calendar. For further inspiration, travel 20 years with Kaleidoscope (p20), trailblazing harm reduction in the community.
Read the October issue as an online magazine or download the PDF here
Claire Brown, editor
Please send your letters and comment to claire@cjwellings.com