Signature is proud to be celebrating Mental Health Awareness Week!

Today marks the launch of Mental Health Awareness Week, the UK’s national week to raise awareness of mental health!

The week, which is hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, is in its 22nd year and runs from 9-15 May.

This year, the theme for the week is ‘Loneliness’. Across the country, people will be reflecting on loneliness and how it impacts our mental health. Long-term loneliness is closely linked to mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.

In addition, Signature will be highlighting the importance of Deaf Mental Health, and the challenges which the deaf and hard of hearing face in the sphere of mental health. We will also be keeping all of our social media channels active throughout the week, sharing as many helpful tips as we can. To help us out, we'll be sharing some resources and advice from a range of organisations from the NHS to Mind to SignHealth.

Mark Rowland, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said:

“We hope this year’s theme of loneliness will strike a chord with many of us who felt lonely and struggled throughout the Covid pandemic. Millions of us experience loneliness from time to time. We know that some people are at higher risk of experiencing loneliness and the evidence shows the longer we feel lonely, the more we are at risk of mental health problems.

Loneliness deserves more attention and we’re calling on everyone who has struggled as a result of being lonely to share their experiences. We must work together - as individuals, as a society and through government policy - to reduce loneliness and prevent mental health problems by investing in welcoming, social spaces and new community initiatives.”

Some of the ways people can participate in Mental Health Awareness Week:

• During Mental Health Awareness Week use the hashtag #IveBeenThere to share experiences of loneliness to support others and give the campaign momentum.
• Sign up to walk, run or job as part of our 80 Miles in May challenge and share your photos using #80MilesinMay and #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek.
• Join the conversation on social media using #IveBeenThere and #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek. Tag us in your posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and we can work together to promote Mental Health Awareness in the Deaf and Hearing community!

For more information about this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week visit mentalhealth.org.uk/mhaw.