Shouldn’t Every Week be Mental Health Awareness Week?

Happy Marlo LOVE Manifesto Launch. Panellists (L-R): Dr. Tamara Russell, Natalie Costa, Dina Hamalis, Jacquie Bance de Vasquez, Marvyn Harrison. Photo Credit: Fran Hales

Last week was Mental Health Awareness Week 2023, and it is inspiring to see so many initiatives and events (including Happy Marlo’s great panel discussion “Education & Wellbeing: Evolution or Revolution?”) marking the occasion. But what happens for the rest of the year? Many businesses have seen the benefit in publicly championing good causes, but is that support still seen when there is not a Day, a Week or a hashtag?

I have experienced bouts of depression throughout my life, some more intense than others and some longer-lasting, but what has been a constant is the inevitability of it reoccurring. For a long time I struggled with the frustrations I felt when that familiar feeling started creeping up on me — I was doing exercise, I was eating well, I was writing my feelings down in a journal, so why was I starting to feel so low again? I have always put pressure on myself to be better, and I was what I thought was a model student in how to beat depression. Initiatives like Mental Health Awareness Week are great at raising awareness and motivation, but I have often struggled in the following weeks to sustain that feeling, and have subsequently felt like I am failing.

Happy Marlo’s expert panel discussion on Monday 15th May threw up some thoughts that I really recognised, and wish that I had acknowledged earlier. Natalie Costa, Founder of Power Thoughts and BBC Bitesize Contributor, said “The more I am doing this work, the more I’m realising that the greatest gift we can give our children is learning how to sit with uncomfortable feelings, and how to work through them”. Not everyone experiences depression, but absolutely everyone experiences low mood, sadness, anger, and frustration at times. The ability to acknowledge your feelings, and sit with them, is very underrated.

Since having children, I try and look at the world more through their eyes, and it can be scary how little they are listened to. As adults, we have experience that informs our feelings and our actions, and it is understandable that we want to pass that on to our children. But how much do we actually listen to them? I have caught myself telling my daughter to stop crying — Why is it more important that she stops first, before finding out the full reason it is happening? And why do I try and hide my own tears from my daughters? I am learning to actively listen more, and not hide my own emotions away — there is no shame in feeling them.

Happy Marlo launched our new LOVE Manifesto last week:

Photo Credit: Fran Hales

I have popped a copy on my fridge to give me a daily reminder of how I want to interact with my daughters — I’m no longer putting high amounts of pressure on myself to perfectly embody the lessons I’m learning, and there will be challenges, but I am excited for the journey.