Mental Health Awareness Week

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week (15-21 May 2023), the Mental Health Foundation is calling on governments across the UK to help reduce anxiety levels in humans. The charity has published a paper called Uncertain Times: Anxiety in the UK and how to tackle it, which outlines the prevalence of anxiety across the population and what needs to be done to tackle it.

Despite anxiety being so common, stigma and shame play a part in how people deal with it, with almost half of UK adults keeping their anxiety a secret. This suggests that although there has been progress in discussing mental health more openly in recent years, significant numbers of people are still not comfortable talking about their own experiences.

Mark Rowland, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said, “Across the UK, millions of people are experiencing levels of anxiety that are stopping them from living their lives, with many not speaking out and struggling to cope. More can and must be done to protect our mental health.

“A big focus of our Mental Health Awareness Week is to encourage people to share their experiences on anxiety and increase understanding of the steps we can take. However, the scale of the problem requires change that goes beyond individual action.

“We need governments across the UK to recognise and be honest about their roles in the causes of and solutions to high levels of anxiety. We can’t treat our way out of a mental health crisis, we need action which tackles the root causes of poor mental health including poverty, financial strain, bullying and discrimination.

“We need our governments to develop and deliver long-term mental health plans with a focus on prevention of poor mental health, including anxiety. They must ensure that all government departments from work and pensions to justice, transport to education, have a responsibility to ensure their policy decisions support good public mental health.

“Good mental health should be the measure of a thriving society and we need that goal to drive our governments’ decisions.”

Public’s mental health

Returning to the saddleCheshire-based dressage rider, Jenna Puckett, knows all about the anxiety after her ordeal during lockdown. Starting New Year’s Day 2021 with great plans to embark on her Grand Prix debut with her horse Robin, Jenna instead went down with Covid-19 and was so ill she was hospitalised. Continuing to test positive for eight long months, Jenna was soon diagnosed with long Covid and has ongoing symptoms as well as fibromyalgia, brought on by Covid.Jenna says she doesn’t think she’d be here now if it wasn’t for Robin, and despite being very ill, she’d sometimes get her husband to drive her to the yard just to see and touch her beloved horse. The rider has suffered with high levels of anxiety and getting back in the saddle hasn’t been easy.“Day to day, not knowing how you’ll feel when you wake up is exhausting and anxiety inducing,” Jenna reveals. “Horse riding, my husband and the long Covid support group have helped me greatly. I’m pleased to now be back on my horse and slowing building up my fitness.

“I’d say to other people to keep going, keep pushing and doing what you can. I hope to be back competing soon. There’s a way to go yet but I’m making progress. Sometimes this progress trots, sometimes it slows down and sometimes it gallops, but every day is a new day and I’m excited about the future.”

More information on Mental Health Awareness Week and how to get involved can be found at www.mentalhealth.org.uk/mhaw