The theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day is to ‘make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority’. The last few years have taken their toll on so many people due to the global pandemic and the isolation that it has caused. There has also been the worries surrounding it and now we have the added pressures related to the rising cost of living and fuel prices soaring. Even before the pandemic, mental health resources were being stretched but this gap has widened due to the increasing number of cases and the disruption to services. It is estimated that there was a 25% increase in anxiety and depressive disorders during the first year of the pandemic and the current socio-economic crises will only add to that.

We are committed to continue with our aim of bringing mental health out of the shadows and raising awareness of how it can affect people, what they can do to help and how they can support friends who might be struggling. There is still a stigma that surrounds mental health and we need to keep striving to get it treated in the same way as our physical health. If someone broke their leg, they wouldn’t feel ashamed about going to the hospital to get it treated but that isn’t always the same with mental illness. Even though mental illness is more difficult to see, it can still lead to physical problems if it is left untreated.

What should you do if you feel like you are struggling?

The first step is often to try and talk to someone. It could be a friend, your GP or one of the great organisations that are out there like the Samaritans, CALM, Shout, Andy’s Man Club or any of the others listed below.

Talking can often be the first step on the road to recovery and there should be no shame in admitting how you feel or wanting to talk about it. It can be difficult when you first try, my first course of counselling didn’t really work out, but keep trying until you find the right outlet for you.  There are also other things you could try like meditation, yoga or mindfulness and there are lots of great apps and online course out there that could help. One of the keys is finding what works for you and then making it part of your daily routines.

What should you do if you think one of your friends is struggling?

One of the best things you can do for a friend is just being there when they need you. If you can check in with them to see how they are it will show them that someone cares which could make a massive difference to how they are feeling. You could also try and take some time to find out more about mental health and understand it better which will make it easier to empathise when they do open up to you. Try to be supportive and help out if you can, depression can be physically draining so making them a meal or helping out around the house can relieve some of the burden. If there is one thing to try and avoid it is trying to force them to talk to you. If they know that you’re there for them, they’ll talk when they are ready, trying to get it out of them might just make them clam up even more.

What can we do to help break the stigma?

We can all do our bit to try and break the stigma surrounding mental health. We can try and talk about how we are feeling so that it becomes more of the norm, we can all try and learn more about mental illness and how it can affect people, we can support local or national causes and we can keep the conversation going. You can help us by getting involved with the charity or by helping us fundraise or you could like, share and interact with our social media accounts so that we can reach as many people as possible. It is becoming increasingly difficult to reach new people on social media so any help in spreading our message is much appreciated. If you want to get involved and help out, get in touch.

Look after yourself and those around you and let’s all make the world a bit better than it was yesterday.

Onwards and upwards.