Mental Health Awareness Week

For those of you that don't know this week (11-17th May) is Mental Health Awareness Week and as someone who personally deals with this and have close family and friends who also deal with this, it was a topic I strongly want to talk about. 

Since forming back in 2000 the Mental Heath Foundation has helped generate public debates around how anxiety, sleep deprivation and exercise can impact mental health. This year their focus is Mindfulness. 

Its all about paying attention to to the present moment, using techniques like meditation, breathing, and yoga. If you want to find out more check out their website here.

Due to mental health now being a more opened about topic that people should not have to hide from, nor feel like it is a bad thing, (I used to and sometimes still do) I decided to find some facts about mental health to make people more aware on the topic. 

• One in four people will experience some form of mental health problem throughout the year 
• Anxiety and depression are the most common mental disorders in Britain 
• The number of young people aged 15-16 with depression nearly doubled between the 1980s and the 2000s
• Over the last 10 years, the number of children who have been admitted to hospital due to self harm has risen by 68%
• 9 out of 10 people with mental health problems experience stigma and discrimination (That is just crazy!)
• 90 per cent of people who die through suicide in the UK are experiencing mental distress
• 1 in 5 elderly people experience depression 
• It is estimated that approximately over 450 million people worldwide have a mental health problem.
• One in ten children between the ages of 5 and 16 have a mental health disorder with boys being twice as likely to get them over girls
• Globally, there is huge shortage in the distribution of skilled human resources for mental health

Reading these facts and seeing how many people get affected by a mental illness is terrifying. Yet what's worse is that although people can get a lot of information online about different mental health disorders it hasn't become a widely talked about illness in areas such as schools. Hence the Mental Health Awareness week. 

Statistics from 2009

Whether you are someone who has a mental illness or just knows people that have one, know that this isn't a bad thing and people must stop seeing it like it is. The only way we can get over this view is by talking about it so go for it whether it is this week or not. Make a change. 

Talk to you later x 

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