Created by The Mental Health Foundation, Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW) runs every year and is the biggest opportunity for the UK to join together to focus on prioritising mental health. “The week aims to tackle stigma and help people understand and prioritise their and others’ mental health.”
Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 will take place from the 13th to the 19th of May – the theme this year is “Movement: Moving more for our mental health”.
Movement is essential for our mental health but lots of us struggle to move enough. There are many reasons why people struggle to participate in physical activities, and this Mental Health Awareness Week aims to help people to find moments for movement in their daily routines.
Going for a local walk, putting on your favourite playlist and dancing, or running around the local park – these are all moments of movement!
Mental Health Awareness Week aims to increase public understanding of mental health and how mental health issues can be helped or prevented.
Mental Health Awareness Week was created to ensure that mental health remains at the centre of the public conversation. It has directly contributed to government policy changes and provides a significant red-letter day when mental health charities throughout the UK can fundraise to support their work.
And potentially most importantly, MHAW champions put pressure on decision-makers to support change and collectively prioritise mental health in the UK.
#MomentsForMovement
This year, we will be focusing on #MomentsForMovement – a campaign run by The Mental Health Foundation.
We will be challenging each of our eighteen services to move more – whether that be a sports day, fifteen minutes of dedicated movement a day or a sponsored walk.
We will be documenting their progress on our social media pages across the month so do keep an eye out.
#WearItGreenDay
Wear It Green Day will be on Thursday the 16th of May, during Mental Health Awareness Week.
We will be asking our team members and residents to wear their best green outfits, decorate their spaces and enjoy green festivities.
By going green, we will be supporting The Mental Health Foundation in “carrying out vital research and delivering programmes for different communities.”
You can download the resources to hold your Wear It Green Day here.
Our physical and mental health sit hand in hand. Issues with our mental health can increase the risk of developing physical health issues, and vice versa.
The Mental Health Foundation found that “one in three people with long-term physical health conditions suffer from mental health problems, most often depression or anxiety.”
Depression can be linked to several physical chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, asthma cancer, arthritis and cardiovascular disease. Additionally, schizophrenia has also been linked to some respiratory diseases and can lead to a higher risk of heart disease.
Long-term and chronic physical illness, especially, can cause a lot of stress, worry and anxiety for those suffering. This can increase when attending appointments or awaiting test results.
Those suffering from mental health issues also often struggle with sleep. This can lead to conditions such as insomnia (problems falling and staying asleep) and sleep apnea (issues with breathing during sleep).
You can read the full article here.
During Mental Health Awareness Week 2024, we promise to share useful resources and infographics to help you make movement a priority this year.
Every small movement counts!
We’ve collated some useful articles for you about movement below:
The Mental Health Foundation is a UK charity for everyone’s mental health. With prevention at the heart of what they do, the Mental Health Foundation aims to find and address the sources of mental health problems so that people and communities can thrive.
Keep up with our campaign on social media – you can find us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
You can see what we got up to last year for MHAW here.
If you need additional support during Mental Health Awareness Week, you can access the below helplines:
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/public-engagement/mental-health-awareness-week/about
Photo by Unsplash.
