Reflecting on Mental Health Awareness Week

Every year Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW) moves the dial on our national conversation and understanding around mental health and mental health problems. The mental health social movement, which Mind is proud to be a part of, has changed the public discourse and for that we must feel optimistic about what can still be achieved.

Sometimes we are asked why MHAW and other initiatives are still needed. Sadly, a quick scan of the news in recent weeks gives us the answer.

This year’s MHAW has come at a time where the rhetoric we’ve heard from politicians and in the media has left many of us with mental health problems feeling deeply worried and anxious. This has come through clearly in the comments and messages Mind has received on social media and in the calls to our helplines.

Words and old tropes that should have long been forgotten, and policies that demonise people with complex needs who have been failed by the system, are sadly becoming all too familiar again.

But, despite the challenges we face, I remain hopeful and inspired.

Hopeful because I see the incredible work being done across the sector and beyond to raise awareness of mental health, advocate for people affected by poor mental health and challenge the narrative we’ve seen from some in politics in recent weeks.

And inspired by the thousands of people, including those in the public eye, now able to share their own experiences of poor mental health in a way that was unimaginable until recently.

We face real challenges

But there is still more to do.

Right now, there are 1.9 million people on waiting lists to get mental health support in England alone. And for many that wait is leading to their condition getting worse. People in more challenging circumstances with more serious mental illness are feeling left behind.

And the impacts of a system at breaking point do not fall equally. People from minoritised communities are more likely to experience mental illness, but less likely to receive the mental health support they need. And the numbers of young people reporting poor mental health have been steadily rising over the last few years.

When politicians say we face real challenges that need to be addressed I don’t disagree. Rising levels of economic inactivity due to ill-health and an increasing welfare bill are real challenges. But it’s not right that people with mental health problems carry the can for this.

The will, passion and dedication in evidence this week gives me hope that these challenges can be addressed. Because when we get mental health services right and provide world leading support, lives are transformed.

The good news is, that there are clear, evidence based solutions that policymakers can commit to over the weeks and months ahead that really will shift the dial on the nation's mental health: reforming the outdated Mental Health Act and raising the standard of mental health hospitals, investing in services like early support hubs for children and young people, and properly addressing benefits assessments and sick pay, are just a few of the ways these crucial issues could be addressed.

So let’s not waste a moment longer. Let’s take the positives we’ve seen throughout another hugely inspiring Mental Health Awareness Week, continue to focus on the solutions and put our collective energies into creating the step change needed for a mentally healthier nation and ensure no mind is left behind.