Are you surviving or thriving?

Often, it can seem as if we just about cope with the demands of daily life. Some of us may be struggling with mental health problems – others will not, but the absence of a specific problem doesn’t necessarily mean that we are always ‘happy’ or ‘thriving’. Sometimes, we simply function on auto-pilot, do what we need to do each day without thinking about whether we might be feeling anxious or stressed, lonely or sad.

Today marks the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Week and this year’s campaign has a special focus on what we can do to promote good mental health in ourselves and others. The theme Surviving or Thriving? encourages us to reflect on our own mental wellbeing, and to ask whether we can do more than ‘get by’ as we are. Mental Health Awareness Week is an opportunity to re-examine what measures we can take to look after our mental health, and how we can better develop the resilience to respond to the challenges life throws at us.

At Magdalene College Library, you can find books which can help you with welfare issues, including mental health, in our new Welfare section, situated in the Middle Room, Left Cloister. You can see some of our latest titles – which cover subjects such as eating disorders, anxiety, insomnia, procrastination, perfectionism, sexual health and happiness – featured here:

Welfare books

The books in the Welfare Collection may be borrowed confidentially and anonymously. The system works on trust , which means that you may borrow any of the books from the Welfare Collection that have a classmark beginning with the letter ‘W’ without putting them on your library account (however you can still do so if you wish).

You may borrow the books for as long as you need them.

How it works

Borrowing

• Please complete a borrowing slip to record the loan by listing the following information: date, classmark and the barcode number of the book (found on the sticker on the reverse of the front). This is the only information that you need to list on the borrowing slip. You do not need to use the self-issue machine unless you wish to.
• Please post your completed borrowing slip into the box provided on the shelf next to the Welfare Collection.
• It may help to make a note of the date that you borrowed the book by recording it on the date label bookmark. This will help to remind you of when you borrowed the book.
• You can now leave the Library with the book at any time and keep it for as long as you need it.

Returning books

• You can post Welfare Collection books into the main drop box in the Right Cloister, or return them to the shelf.

You will not be sent any overdue notifications and you can keep the book for as long as you need it. We would ask that when you have finished with the book that you return it to the Magdalene College Library so that the book can be made available to others.

For more information about Mental Health Awareness Week 2017, visit https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week