The theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day is “Mental Health for All”!
Everyone knows that mental health can affect anyone on any day of the year, but on October 10th you can help to show your support for better mental health and help spread awareness of just how much it can affect everyday life, as well as help to start looking after your own well-being if you need to.
There have been a lot of previous topics this year focused on mental health which you can see in our news section – this year especially is a trying year for most, with the covid-19 lockdown changing most people’s daily lives considerably. As such, raising awareness of mental health and helping everyone stay positive is even more important now than ever.
Mind is a leading mental health charity that provides support and advice for anyone experiencing a mental health problem, and they ask that on World Mental Health Day you take the opportunity to do one thing to help your mental health, be it taking a small walk, doing something relaxing, having a chat with a friend etc. Sometimes even the smallest action can help you to look after your well-being, and what better day to make a start on improving your mental health that than World Mental Health Day?
In fact, according to some research by Mind, out of 16,000 people more than half of adults (60%) and over two thirds of young people (68%) said their mental health got worse during the 2020 lockdown. This includes people developing new mental health problems as well as existing conditions getting worse. (www.mind.org.uk/get-involved/world-mental-health-day-2020)
So, make sure to take some time to help yourself and others around you this Mental Health Day.
If you want to learn more about mental health issues, on the 10th October there will be a first time event held by the World Health Organisation to celebrate World Mental Health Day – the Big Event for Mental Health – an online advocacy event that will be streamed live on different social media channels discussing what we can all do to improve our mental health and how we can help make sure that quality mental health care is available to everyone who needs it. If you’re interested in watching the live stream more information on times, speakers and the links to watch can be found here: www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2020/10/10/default-calendar/the-big-event-for-mental-health