Each year, Mental Health Awareness Week aims to bring awareness to the importance of wellbeing, help remove stigma, prevent people from suffering and improve the care available.
Whether you’re going through a difficult time yourself, know someone who is, or just want to find out more, now is a great time to focus on mental health.
So here’s what you need to know about the most important events of 2023 – from when it starts to this year’s health themes.
This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week runs from 15 to 21 May.
Although it is run by the Mental Health Foundation, a number of charities also support the week and get involved in their own way.
The official theme set by the Mental Health Foundation this year is anxiety.
That’s because a recent survey by the foundation found that a quarter of adults feel so anxious that they can’t do some or all of the things they want to do.
We all feel anxious from time to time. Anxiety is a natural response to the uncertain world around us. For example, in the current cost of living crisis, more than a third of adults are anxious about their finances. But it’s important that we recognise and react when we feel anxious so that our anxiety doesn’t become overwhelming.
Choosing anxiety as the theme for this year’s Wellbeing Week will hopefully kick-start a wide-ranging dialogue, encouraging people to share their own experiences and any useful ideas about how to manage their anxiety. This is health