Author and mental health advocate Nikki Mattox has released a book called Unmasking the truth: the lies we tell ourselves and has decided to donate £1 from every book sold to the Kindness and Wellbeing group in Dartford.
Kai Wei reports.
Kai Wei reports.
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00:00In honour of Mental Health Awareness Week, Nicky Mattox has released a book called Unmasking the Truth
00:05and has also collaborated with the founder of the Kindness and Wellbeing Group in Dartford
00:09who are celebrating this week by wearing green.
00:12I did my own t-shirt that says Mental Health Matters, Kindness Matters.
00:16I made cakes that had green icing and then I made little flags and things that went in the top of them
00:22to decorate them that said things like kindness matters, mental health matters.
00:26After meeting Nicky and receiving advice and training for peer support groups,
00:30she reached out to Laura about her new book, hoping she'd share her story.
00:34Nicky then decided that she's going to donate a portion of every book that sells back to the community.
00:39That will go to help us fund mental health packs and we post them out to people as well.
00:45Then that money that Nicky's donating from the sales of the book will go towards paying for those
00:49and for kindness kits that go out to help people in need.
00:52And I've contributed my own story, which was a fantastic opportunity to be asked to do that.
00:57I really wanted to share my story of, you know, the things that I've gone through
01:02and how that has then led me to create the Kindness community
01:06and share with people that there is hope out there.
01:08Being the fourth book she's released, it's centred around mental health
01:12and is a deep dive into her own mental health journey, as well as many others' stories and experiences.
01:17I live with a personality disorder and a psychotic disorder.
01:22I've been in and out of mental health services pretty much my whole life.
01:27I've learnt really how to survive, because there were many nights I didn't think I'd make it through, but I did.
01:33And I just wanted to, throughout my work, I wanted to show people that it's possible to heal.
01:39Releasing this book at the start of Mental Health Awareness Week,
01:43the author hopes to share various stories to let people know that they are not alone.
01:46Personality disorders and psychosis, for example, they're very taboo.
01:51People have an idea about them and it's quite negative.
01:55These conditions, they're not, they don't make you a freak, they don't make you an alien.
01:59You're still a human being.
02:01This book really talks about the dark parts of mental health, as well as the hope there is.
02:06And I think if you're someone that's wondered if you can get through the night,
02:10if you're someone you feel like you're even not enough or you're too much,
02:15remember that, you know, you're not alone.
02:18Determined to spread the message, Nikki, Laura, and all the contributors to the book
02:22hope that their stories resonate with anyone who may be struggling.
02:26And if you or someone you know is affected by any of the topics covered in this story,
02:30please reach out to Samaritans by calling 116 123 or texting SHOUT to 85258.
02:38Kai Wei, for KMTV.
02:40Well, Laura Cordell, the founder of the Dartford Kindness and Wellbeing Group, joins us now.
02:45Thank you so much for joining us, Laura.
02:47Morning.
02:48Morning.
02:49Morning.
02:49First of all, can you tell us more about this story that you contributed to the book
02:53and why did you decide to share it in the first place?
02:57Yeah, so I think it's really important because there's still so much stigma around mental health
03:02and I'm constantly getting told by my members of the group and people in general in my wider
03:07kindness community that's got like 7,000 plus members that they're going for mental health
03:11support and they're being turned away.
03:13They're not severe enough.
03:15And then without getting treatment, they're getting more severe.
03:18And I think so many people then feel really alone and I wanted to share my story of the
03:23trauma that I've been through and how that has then led to creating the kindness community
03:28to share hope that there is something positive that can come out of those darker experiences
03:32and so that I can help other people who are struggling.
03:35And what do you hope of see the book people are going to be reading, but for people who may
03:40be struggling, what do they hope that they can take away from your story or just from the
03:44book in general?
03:44So I think it's really important that the distinction with what makes this book different is that
03:51it's written by patients essentially.
03:54There are experts in it as well, but it's lived experience.
03:57It's people that are actually going through this.
03:59I've been in hospital myself many times and quite often you get like the doctor's opinion
04:04and that's like a textbook version of them understanding you.
04:09But this book is real.
04:11This is real patients, real stories.
04:14And it really makes a difference that when people read this, they can kind of see themselves
04:19in this and that kind of those lies that we tell ourselves that go around in our head.
04:23It's in here.
04:24You know, people can read this and think, oh, my God, I'm not on my own.
04:27And that is really, really important and that can lead to people sort of identifying that
04:33they're struggling themselves and getting help, which is crucial.
04:36And it's nearing the end of Mental Health Awareness Week, but it's not quite over.
04:40Can you share what mental health means not just to you and your community, but whether
04:44you think it's important to raise awareness for issues like those mentioned in the book,
04:48which aren't as common as things like anxiety and depression?
04:51So people who have maybe some other mental health issues that maybe weren't covered in
04:55the book, do you think it kind of has that scope to make people feel accepted and raise
05:00that awareness?
05:02Yeah, absolutely.
05:03I mean, that's what Nikki's story does.
05:05It's a really challenging book that people can then read and feel that they're not on their
05:11own and find those stories in there of those rarer conditions like Nikki mentioned and actually
05:17feel like there is support out there and there is a way through the darkness and that there
05:21is hope on the other side.
05:23And I really hope that lots of people will buy the book and then benefit from those stories
05:28and realise that they're not on their own.
05:31And I think hearing you say that these are real stories, raw, and people can relate to
05:36at home, as mentioned, we're coming to the end of Mental Health Awareness Week.
05:41How have you been reflecting on this and obviously celebrating the week in itself?
05:47So at the Kindness and Wellbeing Group, we all wore green.
05:50We had cakes and banners and things.
05:53So these are from the Mental Health Foundation.
05:55So we displayed those.
05:56We had conversation cards to get people talking about mental health.
05:59And then at the group, some of my members then made up mental health packs, which then
06:04you saw a little bit of that in the video.
06:06And we told them about the book.
06:07So lots of my members have bought the book as well, which is fantastic.
06:10And yeah, making up those mental health packs means that my members then see those resources
06:14and benefit from them.
06:15And then they realise that they're not alone.
06:19And then the people that we send those out to all over the world, they get support.
06:22So all the fundraising that we do goes to enable us to help do that kind of work.
06:27And we run an online market fundraising as well.
06:30So lots of the resources and things that you see behind me are bought from that market.
06:34And then we have sellers in the market that are struggling with their own mental health,
06:37which means that then they get support to grow through the market.
06:41And then I buy things in the market that go into our kindness kits that get sent out as
06:46well.
06:46So it's like a full circle of everyone supporting everyone.
06:48So it's a really, really supportive community from all sides, which is fantastic.
06:53That's amazing.
06:54I mean, the theme for this year's Mental Health Awareness Week is community.
06:58And it sounds like you're really embodying that.
07:00But outside of that week, what things does the group really embody to try and raise awareness
07:06of mental health and to help people within the community?
07:08What sort of activities do you do in sort of every day or every week?
07:14Yeah.
07:15So you saw very briefly in the video there a table full of resources.
07:19So that's like our mental health library.
07:22And people can borrow those books and they can take them away.
07:25They're like workbooks.
07:25So then I reprint them for the following week.
07:28And then they can interact with those.
07:30And then we've got our mental health pack, which we send out all over the world.
07:35People can get a free version of this on our website.
07:37And then they can download that directly to their email, which is really helpful.
07:42And that way we're supporting more people.
07:45And then at the group as well, we offer loads of crafts and people can sit and have a coffee.
07:49And it's a very non-judgmental environment where people can come together, whatever they're
07:53struggling with, not just mental health.
07:55But people can come and feel like they're supported and that they're not on their own.
07:58And that is a really big part of what we do is just bringing people together in the community to feel like they've got support.
08:04And we've got a huge age range of people that come to our group with all manner of mental, physical, health complications and people that are perfectly well as well.
08:14Everybody's welcome.
08:16And everyone just supports each other.
08:17And whatever anyone is going through, everyone is there and everyone's got each other's back and there's never any judgment.
08:23And it's just such I couldn't have picked a more fantastic group of people if I'd handpicked them out of my wildest dreams.
08:30They are literally the kindest, most fantastic group of people I could ever have imagined.
08:34So I'm so grateful to all of them because the group wouldn't be what it is without them either.
08:39I think you're really echoing the point of community here, but it's not just in Dartford.
08:44Your charity and community is actually widespread.
08:48Can you tell us a bit more about this, please?
08:49Yeah, so it started from like a tiny little idea of me helping a few people and it's now grown into this like global phenomenon.
08:57So we've got over 7000 people in our Facebook group and they're getting support every day with positive quotes, uplifting stories, acts of kindness.
09:07And then they're supporting each other as well, which is fantastic.
09:10And then people donate and people join the market.
09:13So everything is kind of feeding back into this idea of community all the time so that everyone is getting support,
09:19which is really, really important to us.
09:21Amazing. Thank you so much for joining us, Laura.
09:23I really appreciate your time this morning.
09:26Thank you so much.