MENTAL Mapping: Mental Health Da Nang

People reached out to us for mental health support. We observed a community need and sparked mental health conversation. That conversation lead to the formation of a new group, Mental Health Da Nang, comprised of mental health advocates, practitioners, and community members: people who care about mental health. 

Over the course of months, with weekly meetings to discuss ideas, the group worked to introduce a new online resource, mentalhealthdanang.com, to map out the local mental health ecosystem. If you visit the site, you can get a sense of what is offered there. 

Reflecting on the name and creation of this resource: Mental Health Da Nang, it makes us think about issues surrounding mental health. This type of work, we believe, should be in the interest of the government. Governments across the globe ought to more significantly invest in the mental health & wellbeing of its people. 

Why don’t more resources like this already exist? Mental Health Da Nang. Mental Health ___________. It seems basic and important. If someone needs mental health support, where do you go and what is offered? If I’m experiencing loneliness or need someone to talk to, that’s something to take seriously. Where can I go, or what should I do?

Dork Dancing can be helpful in the creation of community mental health resources, the type of resources that deserve significant investment. In the future, the hope is Dork Dancing will work not only with people in the streets, but cooperatively with governments to more powerfully elevate community mental health. Dork Dancing works. It makes people feel better and spreads an important message that heals. 

Not only does Dork Dancing help people feel better instantly, but it has brought the community closer together around this issue of mental health, raising awareness about an important, shared human challenge. Our other events, outside of dancing, have really helped too. 

Mental Health Da Nang is a small success worth celebrating and sharing. It started from nothing and was a coordinated, grassroots response from the community. It is something simple and helpful. 

We did not lead Mental Health Da Nang (Jon lead), but our community (dork dancers like Mily, Kelsey, Tim & Trevor) played a major supportive role in helping create what we see today.

We are interested in this work of helping create MENTAL Maps in different communities (wherever #dorkdancing spreads), providing helpful information for the community to more effectively respond to mental health needs.

Anything that does good for mental health, we’re interested. In the future, we hope to engage stakeholders from both private and public sectors, engaging the community throughout the process.

Dork Dancing depends entirely on charitable giving. We hope you may consider supporting by donating!