Researching..

After settling on my brief and presenting to Chris and Andrea it is time to get stuck into initial research. Over these past two weeks I have trying to get an understanding of what social is and how it affects people who live with it.

This has been mostly deskwork looking through websites and the information online.  I have been finding a lot of stuff online is about stigma and how people struggle opening up about their anxiety about this. An interesting campaign I saw online was “wear your label”. This is all about taking ownership of mental health and not fearing what other people this. They call themselves a clothing line to “create conversations about mental health.”

http://wearyourlabel.com/

This is part of the thinking behind me choosing social anxiety, I have noticed that people are more willing to talk about mental health, but it still has a long way to go.

I have also been exploring where people might look online for help, NHS MoodJuice and charities such as Social Anxiety Scotland. To be frank I think these are a bit drab and aren’t very engaging but they did provide me with information.

I want to know more about what people think and I have some questions I need answers too. I want to know when Social Anxiety starts; how its effects people's lives and how do people overcome it. To get this information I need to involved with people who struggle with social anxiety and I think this might be a tricky one.