Mental Health Awareness Week takes place from Monday 13 – Sunday 19 May 2024.
The theme this year, as set by the Mental Health Foundation, is 'Movement: moving for our mental health.'
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.
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.
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.
For more information on how to move more and improve your mental health visit Mental Health UK - Forward Together (mentalhealth-uk.org)