Mental health awareness calendar

75% of mental illnesses start before a person’s 18th birthday. With most long-term mental health problems beginning in adolescence, there’s a growing need for support for young people. Since 2019 our programme Bloom has developed young people’s resilience through life’s unexpected turns and transitions. In Children’s Mental Health Week, we highlight the importance of mental health support from a young age.

One in four of us will experience a mental health problem, but many still feel isolated, ashamed and unable to open up on their lived experience. The ‘Time to Change’ was co-founded by our partner charity Rethink Mental Illness to end mental health discrimination. Time to Talk Day encourages everyone to be more open about mental health – to talk, to listen, to change lives.

An eating disorder is an unhealthy attitude towards food, which can make you obsessed with your eating patterns. Eating disorders can involve eating too much or too little and using food to manage your feelings. The charity BEAT runs Eating Disorders Awareness Week annually to tackle myths and misunderstanding around eating disorders.

Self-harm is the intentional act of harming or injuring our body. Self-harm may not be obvious and can include substance abuse, our relationship with eating and deliberately acting in a way that puts ourselves in danger. Self-Injury Awareness Day is a global observance dedicated to raising awareness about self-harm and self-injury.

University Mental Health Day brings together the student community each year in an effort to make mental health a university-wide priority across the country, and to create continued change to the future of student mental health.

Bipolar disorder can make someone’s mood change dramatically from extreme highs (mania) to extreme lows (depression). These changes can be overwhelming and distressing, but a person may feel well between these periods. World Bipolar Day is organised by the International Bipolar Foundation to bring global awareness to bipolar conditions and to eliminate social stigma.

Stress Awareness Month has been held every April, since 1992 to increase public awareness about both the causes and cures for our modern stress epidemic. Many aspects of life can cause stress, but this year, we’ll be sharing tips and coping strategies to help you manage your mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.

Mental Health Awareness Week will take place 13-19 May 2024. Make sure you bookmark our webpage to find out the latest on how you can get involved this year.

Schizophrenia is a common mental illness that affects 1 in 100 people in their lifetime, yet the condition is widely misunderstood. Hosted by one of our founding charities Rethink Mental Illness, National Schizophrenia Awareness Day shines a light on the challenges faced by people living with a diagnosis of schizophrenia in the UK and beyond.

World Suicide Prevention Day is hosted by the International Association for Suicide Prevention and provides the opportunity for people, across the globe, to raise awareness of suicide and suicide prevention.

World Mental Health Day is run by the World Federation for Mental Health. The theme this year was prioritising mental health in the workplace. We produced some practical resources that you are welcome to use throughout the year here

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder affecting 1 in 100 people in the UK. People living with OCD will experience obsessions and/or compulsions  – an obsession is a repeated unwelcome thought or image which can be hard to ignore, while a compulsion is something you think about or do repeatedly to help relieve anxiety.  The week is a chance to bring about greater understanding of the condition and how it affects people.

Every November is home to men’s mental health awareness month. Men experience disproportionately high-rates of suicide, with death by suicide being the biggest killer of men under the age of 50 in the UK. There are many reasons why men might talk less about mental health, such as societal expectations of masculinity. Each November, we tackle this stigma and encourage men to talk.

National Stress Awareness Day was set up by the International Stress Management Association, with the mission of raising awareness of the effects of psychological distress in the workplace and strategies to address it.

Anyone can experience bullying at any age, be it at school or college or in the workplace. Bullying can have a range of negative impacts on our mental health, confidence and self-esteem, many of which can affect us long-term. Anti-Bullying Week and Odd Socks Day aims to make a noise about bullying and to not stay silent when we hear bullying dismissed as ‘just banter’.