Time to Talk Day 2018 takes place today, with the Rethink Mental Illness charity encouraging everyone to be open about mental health by talking, listening and changing lives.
Rethink believes too many people with mental health problems are still make to feel isolated, worthless and ashamed. But the more we talk about mental health, the better life can be for all of us.
It's a view shared by the Essex Partnership University Trust (EPUT), which provides adult mental health services within the Brentwood and Ongar constituency. The Trust runs the Brentwood Resource Centre, and has just launched an innovative service to treat people who suffer from depression.
Repetitive, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation has been approved by NICE for the treatment of depression and there is growing evidence for its use for other mental health disorders. At the moment it is being offered to private patients but EPUT hopes to make it available more widely.
It is excellent to see this new treatment being made available to the local community so it can help fight depression. Having a newly approved intervention in Brentwood puts the area at the forefront of medical treatment. I was greatly impressed by the team and look forward to hearing how their work makes a difference to the lives of local people.