We have been working for the past couple of years to create a new mental health platform called DON'T JUST STARE, exploring mental Illness through creativity.

Website - http://dontjuststare.com/

After the Founder of DON'T JUST STARE ,Nicole De Leiburne experienced Anxiety and Depression she decided to create a platform that allowed a different approach to mental illness, that could bring to the public the elements that she did not feel were available to her during her experiences of the current mental health system.

The Director Bea Herbert has a Psychology Degree (Bsc), experience as an addiction Recovery Worker and is studying as a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist. Together they have created an innovative series of workshops and events to bring mental health into conversation in a non-clinical but scientifically informed way. Everybody who is involved in the organisation has direct experience of mental illness, from the illustrators to the volunteers.

The new approach and the different message has been so well received by the public that we have been invited to host our Creative Wellbeing workshops in schools, universities and businesses, to open up conversations about mental health. We hope to inspire people to explore these issues, openly and with confidence, by educating people and connecting them with others who have creatively explored their own suffering.

Seasonal events will be welcome to the public, showcasing musicians, artists and speakers, who have all suffered from Mental Health Illness and found solace within their creative outlet.

We really believe this new platform is vital at a time when rates of mental illness are increasing. DON'T JUST STARE provides a welcomed addition to the current mental health system by providing community based exploration of these issues. We aim to promote creative approaches and solutions to these forms of suffering as individuals and as a society.