Mental health awareness week is 18-24th May this year and the theme is Kindness. Over the next few weeks Futureworks will be raising awareness of Mental Health.

For one week each May the Mental Health Foundation campaign around a specific theme for Mental Health Awareness Week. Since the first Mental Health Awareness Week in 2001, they have raised awareness of topics like body image, stress and relationships. Hundreds of schools, businesses and communities have started conversations around mental health that can change and even save lives. The campaign reaches millions of people every year. This year, with your support, the aim is to reach more people than ever.

Why was kindness chosen as the theme?

Awareness and understanding of mental health has improved dramatically in recent years, thanks to campaigns like Time to Change, run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness. We now have a much better understanding of the fact that we all have mental health just as we all have physical health, and that we need to look after it. For too long people have struggled in silence, either unaware that they can access help for the mental health problems they are experiencing, or scared to speak out because of what others might think.

• Approx 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem
• 792 billion people are affected by mental health worldwide
• 34% of students report having psychological difficulties for which they needed professional help
• In the UK the highest suicide rate among men is 45-49, in the republic of Ireland the highest rate among men is aged 55-65.
• In 2018, there was 6,154 suicides in the UK. Meaning that more than 16 people per day took their own lives
• According to a survey by the Mental Health Foundation, only 13% of UK people consider themselves to be living with high levels of good mental health
• In a survey by the NUS 78% of students said they had experienced mental health. 
  

Here you can find videos of people expressing their issues with mental health in very different ways.

How can you look after your own mental health?

Activities and exercises 
How to look after your mental health through exercise
18 Self-care tips 
Practical ways to help you cope with mental health 

Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival will have a special programme of online activity beginning in May, including live-streamed events, film screenings and artist commissions. The festival aims to support the arts and challenge preconceived ideas about mental health. Artists and audiences will also be exploring what kindness means to them. More information can be found here.

• Everybody has mental health, and looking after your mental health is just important as looking after your physical
• Mental health problems can happen to anybody at any time and are a common human experience

• Missing family, friends or partner
• Juggling academic work with work commitments
• Age
• Worrying about your next steps after college or university
• Meeting deadlines
• Expectations
• Financial pressures
• Trauma or abuse
• Change in personal situation
• NOTHING! - Sometimes there isn't a trigger or a reason. 

Stories on Anxiety & Stress
Stories on Depression
Men & Suicide
Stories on Self-Harm
Stories on Eating Disorders
Stories on LGBTQ & Mental Health 
Spot the signs 

Are you struggling with your mental health or worried about others?
Contact: support@futureworks.ac.uk 

Samaritans offer a helpline where anyone can call at any time. They listen, help and talk through concerns, worries and problems. 
Call 116 123 FREE (24 hours, 365 days a year) or email: jo@samaritans.org

For men in the UK who are down or have hit a wall for any reason, who need to talk or find information and support.
Open 5pm - Midnight, 365 days of the year. 0800 58 58 58 

Shout is the UK’s first 24/7 text service, free on all major mobile networks, for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. It’s a place to go if you’re struggling to cope and you need immediate help.
TEXT Shout to 85258

Essential support for under 25's. 
0808 808 4994 
Text THEMIX to 85258

Be kind to others and yourself, you never know what some one might be going through.