Mental Health Awareness Week 

Next week (13th to 19th May 2024) is Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK. The theme this year is “Movement: moving more for our mental health”. If I’m completely honest, I’m tired. I’ve worked in this field for over a decade, and I’ve seen many an awareness day, week, or month come and pass and yet still the vital change we need does not come. 

For those of us whose basic needs are being met, moving more can have a huge impact on our sense of wellbeing and our overall health, research and personal experience testifies to this. What about those who are so often left behind? What about people experiencing things which are still taboo, or for whom coping looks like using substances or other things which are deemed socially unacceptable? Often when they “speak out” as we are so often encouraged to do, they are met with a wall of silence, or hoops they must jump through to be heard. 

These awareness weeks come with an implied narrative – your mental health is up to you, it’s your personal responsibility. Of course, this isn’t entirely untrue. However, it completely ignores the societal and social factors which often create and keep people stuck in cycles of poor health and wellbeing, trauma, and distress. 

This Mental Health Awareness Week, Matter South Yorkshire CIC are committed to highlighting these external factors, raising awareness of the social justice causes which need our attention, and thinking about what happens beyond awareness. This blog is just a start, you can follow us on social media for daily posts throughout next week for more on this message. 

“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in” Desmond Tutu

An important note before we start

I want to be really clear here that this isn’t an attempt to criticise mental health services. They have been systematically underfunded and under-resourced for years. In a post-pandemic world, the demand for services continues to increase and whilst attempting to serve the many as best as they can, unfortunately this means that the people pushed to the fringes of society simply cannot access services as they currently stand. We expect people to be able to attend regular appointments, respond to letters or phone calls and engage on our terms. When you are living in insecure housing or are unsure where your next meal is coming from or where you will be able to sleep tonight, this is verging on impossible. 

Those of you working in these settings – we see and hear you. We see your frustration with the system and red tape, we hear your worries about people who are no longer accessing the service. We know that a lot of what we are saying, you already understand, and you are working as hard as you can to make a difference. 

The impact of government policy on mental health

In 2015, nearly ten years ago, a group called Psychologists Against Austerity published a briefing paper on the psychological impact of austerity (full text here). 

“Mental health isn’t just an individual issue. To create resilience and promote wellbeing, we need to look at the entirety of the social and economic conditions in which people live.” Psychologists Against Austerity 

In this paper, they highlighted the ways in which government policies impact on mental health. These included:

• Humiliation and shame 

• Fear and distrust

• Instability and insecurity

• Isolation and loneliness

• Being trapped and powerless 

I want to say that over the last 10 years we’ve seen dramatic improvements and a move towards more compassionate and supportive policies from our government but I cannot.

As recently as April this year, our Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivered a speech promising to “overhaul the welfare system” and end the “sick note culture”. Not only was this extremely humiliating and demonising of people who rely on benefits, but it also displays a complete lack of interest in why so many people find themselves unable to work. 

Poverty and mental health

People living in poverty find it harder to access healthy lives. A recent report from the Kings Fund found that in the most deprived areas in the UK, the depression rate is twice as high as in less deprived areas. Furthermore, nearly four times as many people from deprived areas are detained under the Mental Health Act.
People in the lowest socio-economic groups and living in the most deprived areas are up to 10 times more at risk of suicide than those in the most affluent groups and in the most affluent areas.

Having less access to resources and education about health and wellbeing and increased experiences of trauma and adversity means people in deprived areas have less access to power to make changes in their lives. Living in threat and chronic stress means more chronic cortisol, less access to our cognitive thinking faculties, less information for wise decision making, less connection and support, and fewer opportunities and options. 

We also know that there are a disproportionate number of people from ethnic minority backgrounds living in poverty, and the interaction between poverty and implicit and explicit racism 

The current picture and what next

The latest figures on street homelessness and rough sleeping in England indicate a 27% increase in one year.
The United Nations University found that global poverty has increased 8% since 2020 and The Joseph Rowntree Foundation recently released a report stating that in the UK approximately 1 in 5 people were in poverty in 2021/22 and of those people, 4 in 10 were in ‘very deep’ poverty. 

Instead of tackling these socioeconomic issues, our government has chosen to revert to a narrative of personal responsibility. By publicly criticising people relying on benefits, enacting policies which criminalise rough sleeping, and failing to address the mounting cost of living, they perpetuate the narrative that people not in work, experiencing homelessness or a multitude of other traumatic life circumstances are “less than”. 

So what can we do? Well there’s actually a few things, especially this year given that we are expecting a general election to be called by December. 

Nationally, we can make sure that we are registered to vote, read the political party manifestos, and think carefully about supporting a party which values all contributions to society and supports those unable to work or participate fully in society currently. A move away from actively harmful policies and laws would definitely be a start. You can also speak to your local MP, find out where they stand and express to them the concerns you have about the impact of current policy on people who have been marginalised. 

Locally, you can look for grassroots charities doing amazing work in your community. Often smaller charities don’t have the same (if any) marketing budgets as the larger, more recognisable charities, but the work they do is incredible. Find a cause close to your heart and give what you can. It doesn’t have to be money! Your time or even sharing their campaigns on social media or with your friends and family can help. 

On a personal level you can explore your own thoughts and potential prejudices you may have learnt about marginalised groups. This isn’t to shame or blame you, these narratives are pervasive in our culture and in mass media, but it’s important that we are aware of what we are picking up. There might even be opportunities for you to have different conversations with the people you know, to start spreading a more compassionate message about the people you see sleeping on the streets for example. 

We are so powerful as a community, imagine what a collective holding compassion for all people could do. 

We hope that this blog has explained a bit behind our frustration with Mental Health Awareness Week, and given you some food for thought and maybe even some actions. Please come and join the conversation on our social media next week!