Mental Health Awareness Week, running from 18-24 May 2020, is a chance for the UK to focus on mental health.
This week’s theme is kindness in response to the coronavirus outbreak, which is impacting people’s mental health.
Being kind – whether we are giving or receiving it – is important for and can improve both our physical and mental wellbeing with studies showing it can reduce stress and give you energy among other effects.
Mark Rowland, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said: “Now more than ever, we need to re-discover kindness in our daily lives.
“We want to use Mental Health Awareness Week to celebrate the thousands of acts of kindness that are so important to our mental health.
“One thing we have seen all over the world is that kindness is prevailing in uncertain times, helping people to connect and communities to cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.”
The Mental Health Foundation has conducted a new survey into kindness, which has found that 63% of UK adults agree that when other people are kind to them, it has a positive impact on their mental health.
Almost two-thirds also agree that being kind to others has a positive impact on their mental health.
Kindness is not just about being kind to others though but also remembering to be kind to ourselves.
Forty-eight percent of the people surveyed by the Mental Health Foundation agreed that being kind to themselves had a positive impact on their mental health.
Acts of kindness can be small, like texting a teammate, or big, spur of the moment or planned, but can have a great impact.
Throughout the week, we will be sharing a range of content on our social media channels, including a series of kindness challenges for you to get involved in and quotes from the Vitality Roses on looking after their mental health.
Make sure you’re following us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for the latest news and updates.
You can read more about Mental Health Awareness Week and the research into kindness here.
[All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 4,246 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 24/04/2020 and 26/04/2020. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).]
