2023:
Following on from a very successful evening event in Election Hall last October, held in conjunction with the fledgling EMHS (Eton Mental Health Society), run by Etonians Luca Stevens and Nick Hodson, we are currently planning a further evening at Eton. Regius Professor of Psychiatry Sir Simon Wessely has very kindly agreed to give a talk. Topic, date, time and exact venue to be announced on our Facebook page and more widely nearer the time. I am told Sir Simon is an excellent and most entertaining speaker with a keen sense of humour! In the meantime we have organized an ‘open mike’ Zoom meeting for 4.30pm Sunday April 23 hosted by our resident psychiatrist on the general subject of suicide and it’s often very far reaching ramifications.
2017:
Following our successful event at the Oriental Club earlier in the year Old Etonian Mental Health Society has had a quiet summer.
As the collective political headache of the western world leaves many wondering at our collective confusion, meanwhile the mental health news is bittersweet. Research this September chimes clearly with the message delivered by OEMHS members in the spring to leaving B blockers. First year students off to university have been identified by recent research as being particularly at risk of lonely environments and a rise in mental illness of 5% has been seen year on year between 2016 and 2017. However, fantastic news published in the British Medical Journal signals some significant change, with global suicide rates dropping by almost a third since 1990. So there are reasons to be hopeful, but more work to do.
The society has had one major event this summer. Two of its members, including Charlie Mortimer spoke to a sold out house of eighty people at Beach, Blanket, Babylon in Shoreditch on The Psychology of Extreme Experience. The focus was mental health, including addiction, psychosis and pain, and aimed to find the line between silly and serious to help handle these hefty topics. The talk drew heavily from Charlie’s extensive life experience. The message was about the ways in which extreme events change how we think, feel and behave in profound ways – for the better and for the worse. The talk explored how we cope in good ways and bad with the intensity of these transformative experiences and how these experiences can either catalyse recovery or cause enduring trauma. The talk lasted an hour and a half including interval but the Q & A ran on much longer. As one famous face in the audience put it afterwards: “you know it’s been a good talk when it’s the speaker trying to get off-stage.”
Despite technical difficulties the talk was a resounding success, rated 4.4 stars on Funzing, the ‘London talks at night’ website, and a small UK tour was proposed by the organisers. Instead the talk is being reprised on the 2nd December in Shoreditch and in the new year at the Whitworth, the iconic Manchester gallery. All Old Etonians are welcome. Do get in touch directly as guestlist tickets are available.
In a wider sense the OEMHS looks forward to its next general meeting. We look forward to hearing about the successes of our existing members in this field of endeavour and meeting new and enthusiastic faces. We expect to hold a forthcoming meet and greet event in the new year in London and look forward to seeing you all then!
Old Etonian Mental Health Society 