Mental Health

12 May

Mental Health Awareness Week, 2024

The theme for Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 (13th-19th May) is ‘Movement: Moving more for our mental health’. Being active has proven to be good for our mental health but it can be challenging to fit movement into our day-to-day lives.

“Going for a walk in your neighbourhood, putting on your favourite music and dancing around the living room, chair exercises when you’re watching television – it all counts!”
- Mental Health Awareness Week, 2024

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Let’s talk about Mental Health:

Mental health covers various aspects of our well-being, such as our emotional, psychological, and social states, which significantly impact our thoughts, feelings, and actions. It also plays a crucial role in how we cope with stress, interact with others, and make positive decisions.

Mental health conditions can affect each of us differently at different times of our lives. Some common mental health conditions include depression and anxiety.

The Link between Mental Health & Neurodiversity:

Mental health conditions can sometimes be a secondary symptom of an underlying neurodifference.

It is common for neurodifferences to go undiagnosed, particularly amongst women and girls. In some cases, an underlying neurodifference can be misdiagnosed as a mental health condition such as bipolar, depression, anxiety or a personality disorder. Living with a neurodifference - particularly if it is not recognised as such - can also impact mental health.

There are often co-occurrences between neurodiversity and mental health due to a lack of support and/or discrimination in the workplace.

This emphasises the importance of building neuro-inclusive workplaces that promote psychological safety and well-being to help:

Reduce feelings of anxiety or overwhelm
Improve inclusivity
Increase employee retention
Reduce presenteeism
Reduce burnout
Increase productivity

Did you know?

1 in 6.8 people experience mental health challenges in the workplace.
In 2022/23, an average of 37.1% of women and 29.9% of men reported high levels of anxiety
One study found that 54% of people with a learning disability have a mental health challenge.
The National Autistic Society found 47% of autistic people fall into the severe anxiety category based on the GAD (Generalised Anxiety Disorder) diagnostic criteria.