Discussing Community Resilience

Reading and Reflection (15 minutes)

Discussing mental health can be difficult and they might use different words to describe their experience. Read the ways mental health was often referred to during the ARCLIGHT project and reflect on them in relation to your own community. Are there additional words that might be used in your community to describe mental health?


The Enmore community believed that social and lasting relationships with family members and friends were very important and strong family relationships can make you more resilient. They identified strengths as:

  • Helping one another
  • Giving support including financial and moral
  • Understanding each other
  • Developing trust and staying humble
  • Being non judgemental
  • Remaining positive in life

Other strengths that may be discussed is the role the church or other places of worship/religious practices can play in the individual’s life. Another question a practitioner can ask in a session is “what might a community that has mental health resilience look like?”

Participants may choose words to describe ‘mental health’ as:

  • Stable mind
  • Handling situations
  • Resilient
  • Coping
  • Unhappy
  • Depression
  • Loneliness
  • Mind focus
  • Disconnection
Other terms used for resilient mental health communities are:

  • To be supportive of each other
  • Neighbour help neighbour
  • Appreciate each other
  • Share with each other
  • Pray for one another,
  • Adequate medical facilities and sports help to take your mind off problems
Now reflect on your own community. How would people talk about mental health? Can you think of any additional words that might be used in your community to describe mental health?

Last modified: Tuesday, 2 March 2021, 11:50 AM