Healthwatch Birmingham and Healthwatch Solihull Board Meeting

Mental health awareness week starts every year on the second Monday in May – in 2019 from 13 – 19 May. In a world that is increasingly opening up to – and understanding those with – mental health issues, it’s no surprise that Mental Health Awareness Week is now a firmer fixture on calendars around the UK and beyond. It’s organised by the Mental Health Foundation, and focuses on a major issue each and every year.

Mental health problems can affect anyone, at any time. We believe that mental health is everyone’s business. So for one week each May, there is a campaign around a specific theme for Mental Health Awareness Week. Since the first Mental Health Awareness Week in 2001, awareness has been raised around topics like stress, relationships, loneliness, sleep, alcohol and friendship. Hundreds of schools, businesses and communities have come together to start conversations around mental health that can change and even save lives.

13-19 May 2019: Body image – how we feel and think about our bodies

Last year we found that 30% of all adults have felt so stressed by body image and appearance that they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope. That’s almost 1 in every 3 people.

Body image issues can affect all of us at any age and directly impact our mental health. However there is still a lack of much-needed research and understanding around this.

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week Mental Health Foundation will be:

• Publishing the results of a UK-wide survey on body image and mental health.
• Look at body image issues across a lifetime – including how it affects children and young people, adults and people in later life.
• Highlight how people can experience body image issues differently, including people of different ages, genders, ethnicity and sexuality.
• They will use their research to continue campaigning for positive change and publish practical tools to help improve the nation’s relationship with their bodies.