World Mental Health Day 2023: October 10th

Did you know that every year we celebrate World Mental Health Day on 10 October. This year's theme is:

Mental health is a universal human right

For most of us, World Mental Health Day is about raising awareness of mental health and driving positive change for everyone’s mental health.
The question for this week is in what ways can we create positive change for everyone's mental health? How are you currently looking after your mental health and wellbeing? What positive experiences do you want to share with others?


I wanted to focus on 'anxiety' and generate a conversation around it. www.lgbthero.org.uk/Pages/Category/helplgbtq

Anxiety is common and for some an every day emotion we live with that can seriously impact our mental health. We can only try our best to manage (by talking to others, breathing exercises, journaling, self-care or whatever healthily works for you), to make sure our mental health stays healthy including the physical, emotional and social. Thankfully we are not alone and there is support out there. www.lgbthero.org.uk/find-support

So my question is what currently works for you? How are you managing your anxiety? Or what would you like to say about Anxiety? I look forward to hearing from you or any messages / stories of hope you have around how you overcame or manage anxiety.


Everyone can feel anxious. “Anxiety is a common problem which can affect our ability to function normally. LGBTQ+ people are more likely to experience anxiety.” 


From working in health and wellbeing for over 20 years I certainly know anxiety may find us a different points in our life. I know if I am not prepared for Anxiety (and one cannot always be prepared for anxiety) I certainly will experience mental health struggles. Anxiety also affects everyone differently and uniquely but there are some physical and emotional similarities too; and how we cope with living with anxiety is what matters. I try my best at self-care and this helps me but I am not always consistent with this but I try. I experience anxieties as warning signs as a reminder to ground myself into letting my inner self know I have the right to be my authentic queer self, I am enough and that I am loved. I sometimes have the emotional capacity to live with the anxiety and not be afraid of it and reassure myself that it does not define me.

As LGBTQ+ people we can be affected by a further layer of anxiety resulting from hate crime, discrimination, stigma, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, social inequalities, employment and housing and bad press and social media; amongst other situations at home or in the workplace in relation to our sexuality and gender identity and expression.

www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/public-engagement/world-mental-health-day

www.lgbthero.org.uk/find-support

www.lgbthero.org.uk/fs154-mental-health-and-the-gay-community

www.lgbthero.org.uk/lgbtq-mental-health-the-stats


Best wishes