Mental Health Awareness Week 2022 | Right at Home Solent

What is Mental Health Awareness Week?

Mental Health Awareness Week 2022, run by the Mental Health Foundation, took place from the 9th-15th May 2022. It seeks to inspire action to promote the message of good mental health for everyone. However, The Mental Health Foundation announced that this week was specifically all about exploring the feeling of Loneliness; and how it can negatively impact our Mental Health. As a homecare company in Gosport, Fareham, Southampton and New Forest East, who obviously work closely with the elderly, we see first-hand every day how loneliness can have detrimental impacts on ones mental wellbeing. 

The Mental Health Foundation have organised and hosted Mental Health Awareness Week for the last twenty-one years; and during this time the event has grown to become one of the biggest Awareness weeks across the UK and globally. 

Loneliness effects millions of people across the UK every day; a large percentage of these people being the elderly. This week is all about raising awareness of the negative impacts that Loneliness has on our Mental Health and the steps that we can take to address it. During this week 'Mental Health Awareness Week 2022' the aim is to:

• Raise Awareness of the links between poor Mental Health and Loneliness 
• Provide a safe and welcoming space for people to talk and support each other 
• Create an army of volunteers to support lonely people 

Mark Rowland, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said: “Loneliness is affecting more and more of us in the UK and has had a huge impact on our physical and mental health during the pandemic.  That is why we have chosen it as our theme for Mental Health Awareness Week 2022.  

The COVID-19 pandemic certainly has a large part to play in the recent increase in Loneliness amongst the population. As we worked together to do our best to stay safe and save lives, we found ourselves spending a lot less time with our family, our friends or familiar faces – especially for those shielding or self-isolating. Although the place we're in now is so much better than it was a couple of years ago, the COVID is still not over, and we are now realising that this is becoming a new reality that we have to live with and adapt to. But that doesn't mean that peoples lives are no longer being impacted as a result. Our society is always changing fast. The COVID pandemic has given rise to a sense of Loneliness and isolation undermining confidence in daily routines; and in recent times especially, many of us have had far less access to loved ones, particularly the older generations. 

What can you do if you're experiencing Loneliness? 

• Find your Community - Join a Group. (Based on a hobby, religion, spirituality or an particular interest)
• Open up - Try telling someone whom you trust how you feel
• Consider visiting Public Spaces - Such as parks, shopping centres, restaurants and so on...

Follow this link here for more information on Mental Health Awareness Week - https://bit.ly/3FPPhlt