Blog #1 - Mental Health Awareness Week May 2020 - Intro
So, this week is Mental Health Awareness Week (18th – 24th May). It is good to highlight important subjects like our mental health with an awareness week, but the truth is, we all experience mental ill-health at some point in our lives. There are several statistics on this subject, but the lets go with the NHS one: 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 10 children are experiencing mental ill-health. That’s a lot of people struggling with mental ill-health right now.
We also need to understand that these statistics are based on recorded information or on people being diagnosed with mental ill-health; and we all know how bad we are at openly talking about our own mental health, so this is a bit of an “iceberg statistic”. i.e. these statistics are the tip of the iceberg and the real numbers of people experience poor mental health is the big bit underneath, that we can’t see.
With 54% of all work-related ill health cases due to mental ill-health* (Health & Safety Executive 2019) , and 17.5m workdays* lost to due mental ill health. (Office of National Statistics 2018) , Mental ill health conditions are the leading cause of sickness in the UK*. (Public Health England). According to Public health England e very year mental ill health cost the UK economy 70 billion. (Public Health England). So isn’t it about time we did something about it?
*This is also based on reported information, so you could apply the iceberg effect to this too.
With the current corona virus, these numbers are going to increase. The U.N. warns of a global mental health crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic. So, the UK and the rest of the world need to put in place support programs and networks to cope with this, just like the government and businesses have put in place for the physical side effects of the pandemic. Let’s not forget those who have been struggling with their mental ill-health for months or years, or those who are wrestling with it right now.
Over the next few days, I am going to try and share with you some of my thoughts, struggles and ideas. Please feel free to agree, comment, contribute or disagree with what I say. But let’s respect each other views and agree to disagree sometimes.
Tomorrow I’m going to try and talk about the difficult subject of grief. Many of us are grieving right now from losing friends, family and colleagues to this awful virus, as well as grief from being isolated, losing our freedom, losing a job, loss of financial stability, not being able to see partners, Family and friends and many more.
Thank you for reading
Kind regards
Graham Foxwell
Cedar Tree Mental Health and Well-being.
Thank you for reading. Please look out for future BLOGS and articles from Cedar Tree Mental Health & Well-being.
www.cedartree-mhw.co.uk #cedartreemhw
You can find the other Blogs in this series below (Mental Health Awareness Week - May 2020)
- Blog #1 - Mental Health Awareness Week May 2020 - Intro
- Blog #2 - Mental Health Awareness Week May 2020 - Grief & Loss
- Blog #3 - Mental Health Awareness Week May 2020 - H ope
- Blog #4 - Mental Health Awareness Week May 2020 - Marathon
- Blog #5 - Mental Health Awareness Week May 2020 - Living with Parkinson’s
For more information about the work & training do Graham Foxwell and Cedar Tree MHW do, please go to www.cedartree-mhw.co.uk
Photo by Emma Simpson on Unsplash
