Mental Health Awareness Week 2020- Kindness Matters

From 18th-24th May it’s Mental Health Awareness Week- this year’s theme is all about Kindness.

During these trying and unprecedented times we need to be kind to each other and to ourselves, now more than ever. 

Just a simple act of kindness, such as the following can make a real difference.

• Checking in on family and friends- Just a simple call, text message or video call can lift someone’s mood.
• Checking in on a neighbour- Having a chat over the garden fence or outside their front door (at a safe distance of course) to make sure they’re ok can really make their day.

The Mental Health Foundation, a mental health charity, has conducted a new survey into kindness- Forty-eight percent of the people surveyed said being kind “to myself” had a positive impact on their mental health. 

When it comes to giving and receiving kindness, almost two-thirds of us say that when people are kind to them, it has a positive impact on their mental health and that almost two-thirds of people find that being kind to others has a positive impact on their mental health. 

Almost three-quarters of us say it is important we learn from the coronavirus pandemic to be more kind as a society. It has made us appreciate each other and all our key-workers more, and has given us the opportunity to be more kind during this difficult time.

There are currently lots of ‘good news’ stories of acts of kindness occurring on a daily basis in the media of people and communities coming together- acts of kindness help to build communities, friendships and solidarity. 

At Aicare we have been fortunate enough to receive gifts from a variety of companies to give to our carers and clients, and local groups and schools have made us scrubs, scrubs bags, ear savers and face masks- this makes such a difference to the mental wellbeing of our carers and clients. 

Mark Rowland, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation says that “at one level, kindness can be as simple as phoning a friend who is lonely or thanking a colleague for something they have done. However, to have a major impact on improving our mental health, we need to take kindness seriously as a society- We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to re-imagine a kinder society – one that protects all our mental health.”

Mental Health Awareness is also important in shaping the mental wellbeing of our younger generation- Watch the CBBC Newsround link below to find out what some younger people have to say regarding being kind and mental health:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/52557800