As has become my custom through the years I am writing to remind you that this week in the UK is Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW). Regular and longer standing readers will know that I originally started blogging on the theme of mental health, sharing my own experiences in the hope that these might help others. For newer readers, this may come as a surprise but, I hope, a welcome one: though much has been done to remove the stigma attached to discussions around mental health there are still many barriers that need to be brought down. If you want to see my earlier posts on my own issues, they can be found in the ‘My Story’ link in the header.

Here in the UK MHAW has been led since 2001 by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) who have done much to provide advice, guidance and assistance for this important subject. Each year they take a theme for the week, and this year it is about the importance of community in relation to our mental health. On their website they say

“Being part of a community can make life feel more meaningful and enjoyable, help us feel happier and safer, and improve our mental health. It can even provide protection from the emotional harm of discrimination.”

That is the opening statement on their page about community. You can find it here, and I urge you to take a look: it is full of helpful thoughts and advice on the importance of communities in our lives, whatever form they might take. If you visit that page you’ll see that a community doesn’t even have to be a physical thing: since I have suffered with a condition that makes it very difficult for me to get out and about I’ve had to rethink what community means for me. It is family, my near neighbours in the block of flats in which I live, old school and work friends with whom I’m still in touch, and my carer and the care agency. But if that sounds limited to you it doesn’t feel like it for me. Why? Because, as the MHF say, a community can exist online, and if those of you with whom I have blog chats on your posts and mine aren’t also a community, then what are we? Don’t ever underestimate the importance of the comments we share on each other’s posts!

They also say that being part of a community – of whatever kind – can give us a sense of purpose, a sense of belonging, which can be invaluable in helping us not to succumb to poor mental health. They sum that up by saying “Life feels more satisfying when you’re part of a community.” And they’re right. Without communities we would be living solitary existences and we are, after all, basically social animals, aren’t we, so that wouldn’t feel right.

As I always do, I took a look on YouTube for a video to illustrate the message for this year’s MHAW. There were several there, though not one from the MHF themselves. Most of them were focused on the organisation behind them, but though this one is branded it doesn’t push the company – just the message – and I rather like its simplicity:

I find that charming, especially Cristina, who doesn’t appear to have received the memo about staying in place until the camera is off! For me, that just adds to the natural feel of it all, and they get the message across clearly and succinctly.

Being a Brit I naturally concentrate on what is happening here, but I’m pretty sure that wherever you are there are similar initiatives in support of improved mental health. They may take different themes but they all have the same goal. I know that the US designates May as Mental Health Month, and there is much online about that. If you are in the US and want to know more there is a good starting point: the Mental Health America website. Unlike us, they don’t appear to have a particular theme for their month, but they offer a wide-ranging set of advice about the importance on maintaining good mental health, and I commend it to you if you are from there. And I found a video from the US about Mental Health Month to share with you:

I just hope that all the cutbacks in healthcare in the US that we read about don’t dilute the message and, most importantly, action to support it.

Thank you for reading, and I hope the message is meaningful for you: it is vitally important for all of us, I believe. Do follow the links I have provided to find out more, and if you think you or someone close to you might be in need of support the sites provide advice on how to find it. Having been there myself I hope you don’t, but from personal experience I know that the worst thing you or they can do is to withdraw and not recognise the need. Seek help and advice: the hardest step is the first one, but it does get easier once you’ve taken that one.

Take care – of yourself and those in your community.