Mental Health Awareness Week takes place from Monday 13 – Sunday 19 May 2024. The theme, as set by the Mental Health Foundation, is “Movement: moving for our mental health.” This year, we want you to move your way by finding something that moves your body and mind.
Why movement matters
Being physically active is great for our bodies and our minds.
Exercise has been proven to reduce anxiety and depression, and it can help us to prevent physical illnesses. Sadly, people living with mental illness die on average 20 years younger than the general population, often from avoidable physical illness. This group is more likely to develop preventable conditions like diabetes, heart disease, bowel cancer and
breast cancer.
Our own research shows that 56% of people found that exercising regularly helped them to alleviate stress and prevent burnout in their lives.
Visit our information page to find out more.
Movement and your mental health
Move your way
Despite the evidence that keeping physically active can promote good mental health, we know there are barriers preventing us doing so, like accessibility, time, money, body image, lack of open space, or the negative connotations we might commonly associated with ‘exercise’ itself.
This Mental Health Awareness Week, we want you to ‘move’ for your mental health.
Movement doesn’t need to look like going to the gym, running a marathon or taking part in a team sport – and it doesn’t need to cost the earth. It can be as simple as stepping off the bus a stop early, moving a 1-2-1 meeting to a walking call, giving your child a push on a park swing after school, or dancing in your kitchen while you cook dinner.
Overcoming barriers to movement
There can be numerous barriers to being physically active and moving such as low energy, lack of confidence, or financial constraints. It’s likely all of us will face one or more of these barriers at some point in our lives – rather than be hard on ourselves, it’s important to recognise their validity and find what works for each of us.