Connect Mental Health is a Donegal activist group which campaigns for positive mental health awareness. During the week they released the story of Frank, titled ‘It’s Grand’.
Although the video is very witty, it also has a serious undertone as it highlights a very real issue surrounding mental health; the mentality that ‘it’ll be grand’, and the flippant nature of which we dismiss our mental health as ‘just a bad day’.
The video tells the story of Frank, a young man who breaks his arm during 5 a side football. Despite his friend’s advice, he refuses to get it checked by a medical professional, saying ‘what doesn’t kill me and all that’.
With time, an infection sets in and it festers until he is unable to do even the most menial of tasks, such as answering the phone.
Eventually his arm is so decomposed that it falls off.
Throughout the video, Frank is smiling and joking, despite his pain.
Frank’s arm is a metaphor for mental health, and how if you don’t look after it, things can spiral out of control.
The video ends with ‘you wouldn’t ignore this… don’t ignore your mental health’.
If you’ve felt affected by the content of this video, you can reach out to the following; Samartians, Reach Out, and Aware.
Well done to Connect Mental Health and Hunt the Vigan for this amazing video!