Swettenham Chemists will once again be supporting Mental Health Awareness week.
Mental Health Awareness Week is an annual event run by the Mental Health Foundation that focuses on improving good mental health across the nation. This year from 9th - 15th May 2022, with the theme exploring the impact of loneliness and how we can tackle it.

This follows recent research by the Mental Health Foundation that showed many people have increasingly been suffering from feelings of loneliness which has led to harmful
consequences. They also discovered an increased demand from the public for loneliness to be addressed as a serious topic requiring urgent action. Given the theme of loneliness, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in partnership with the Office for
Health Improvement and Disparities are continuing to encourage people to ‘Lift Someone Out of Loneliness’ as part of the Better Health - Every Mind Matters campaign.

The campaign aims to reach 18-24 year olds, based on recent research that shows that people in this demographic are at higher risk of feeling lonely compared to other age groups, but less likely to seek advice and support.

We know that young people feel more confident and motivated to take action to help other people who feel lonely rather than doing things to help themselves. As such, this campaign will primarily target young people as well as those who are:

● Struggling financially
● Ethnic minorities
● LGBTQIA+
● Students
● Parents

The campaign will also target those aged between 10-18. The campaign aims to encourage young people to take small acts of kindness to help someone who may be feeling lonely, which will also help them feel less lonely too.

Feeling lonely is something that all of us can experience at any point and can
have a huge impact on our wellbeing. Sometimes admitting we feel lonely can be hard but it’s important to remember that many others experience feelings of loneliness too, and that this feeling can pass.

For this Mental Health Awareness Week, Swettenham Chemists is encouraging people to reach out to others to help someone who may be feeling lonely, which might in turn help you feel less lonely too.

Find more support and advice for ways to lift someone out of loneliness on the Every Mind Matters – Loneliness webpage - https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/lifes-challenges/loneliness/

Visit this website to help lift someone out of loneliness. Take the Mind Plan quiz to get a personalised mental health action plan with practical tips to help you deal with stress, anxiety, low mood and trouble sleeping. Plus advice on how to cope with feelings of loneliness.