Daring to Dream, the charity whose mission is to support the emotional health and wellbeing of adults in Wales living with physical illness, held its first formal briefing event – ‘Making space to talk about emotional health’.
Opened by Sarah Murphy MS, Welsh Government Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, the briefing was attended by patients, medical and health board staff, and representatives from many health charities.
During the event, the charity’s founder and chair Barbara Chidgey outlined empirical research demonstrating that emotional health plays an essential role in enhancing quality of life for people living with physical illness, as it directly impacts how they cope with and manage their health conditions.
Barbara told the gathering: “Emotional health is not a supplementary aspect of physical health but a fundamental aspect of overall wellness. Our emotional response to illness is a very human one, it is not a demonstration of a mental health issue. However, if we don’t talk about our human emotional responses to our illness, then this may lead to a mental health condition on top of the physical illness.”
In Wales, just under half (48%) of adults (approximately 1.2 million people) are estimated to live with at least one longstanding illness”. National Survey for Wales (last updated 11 July 2023)
Every one of those people is actively engaged with NHS care and physical support, and every one of them is also grappling with not only physical symptoms, medical treatments, the daily impact on their life but also with the regular whirlwinds of emotion arising from their diagnosis, treatments or condition. All too often the emotional side of coping with serious illness is overlooked.
Mental Health and Wellbeing Minister Sarah Murphy thanked Daring to Dream for its work in this field, saying: “The emotional health and wellbeing of all adults and young people in Wales living with longstanding illness is incredibly important to us and will inform how we shape our policies in the future.”
As part of the event, Welsh cancer sufferers, kidney transplant patients, clinicians and families of those who have passed away from chronic illnesses, sat down with the event’s host, journalist Siân Lloyd, to discuss what they went through, and are still going through emotionally; they shared how they have coped with their feelings.
Feelings of loneliness, guilt and anger were all common themes, but everyone agreed that talking with fellow patients and medical staff who understood the importance of emotional health, had helped them deal better with their emotions arising from illness.
Members of the Cardiff Sing With Us Choirs run by Tenovus Cancer Care entertained those at the event.
Concluding the event, Barbara Chidgey emphasised how important it is that we all ‘make space to talk’ about our human emotional responses to medical diagnoses, treatments or chronic illness.
“Research has found that dealing with emotional responses arising from illness has the potential to assist with a more rapid recovery from health crises, help manage long-term physical conditions, lead to a reduction in hospitalisations and use of other NHS resources and reduce mental health risk by constructively talking about emotions,” Barbara explained.
“Encouraging appropriate expression of emotions arising from illness really is a potential game changer for everyone living with illness, for their families and carers and for NHS Wales.”
Sarah Murphy added: “Events like this help provide a safe space to share experiences and to remind us that music, connection, dialogue and emotional health are the foundation to emotional wellbeing.”
