Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW)

The theme for this year is centred around Community, which plays a pivotal role in mental healthcare today. We have been active in addressing the crucial intersection between community and mental illness for quite some time. While we have seen improvements, there is still some way to go.

The significant rise in the number of people being diagnosed with a mental illness in recent years has been driven by real issues that affect all communities in the UK, such as increases in poverty, housing and food insecurity, as well as loneliness and isolation.

People who have a mental illness should be able to access joined-up care, particularly in the community, which addresses all their needs holistically rather than one at a time.

We have a wealth of resources available - some of which are free to access for this whole week - to help support communities and professionals alike.

Learn more about the role of community care and how we can all take action. Take time to explore and share with others the stories, information and resources available below.

Also, the Mental Health Foundation are asking people to share what community means to you using the hashtag #ThisIsMyCommunity on social media. You can tag us too across all of our social media platforms.

MHAW resources and information

Press release

• People with substance use and mental health disorders suffering harm and premature death after being excluded from care, warns RCPsych - a press release highlighting a new report which calls on the UK and Devolved Governments to provide substance use and mental health services with the training, staff and funding they need to improve care.

Blog posts

• Community Mental Health Framework (CMHF): making the vision a reality - a post from President Dr Lade Smith CBE; the CMHF provides a constructive vision for the expansion of services but it needs to be properly resourced.
• It’s time to restore continuity of care in our mental health service - another post from President Lade Smith about how continuity of care strengthens the therapeutic relationship because it allows our patients to build trust with us over time.
• My journey from South Asian to UK practice, second motherhood, community and cultural differences - Dr Supriya Agarwal talks about the challenges of coming to work as a psychiatrist in the UK, and her experiences.
  

Social prescribing information

Social prescribing helps to connect people to community services and puts them in contact with other local people who can help to support their mental and physical health.

• Social prescribing mental health information - read our detailed information about social prescribing

• Podcast discussion - listen to the discussion between CPD eLearning’s Trainee Editor, Dr Nadia Imran, and the College's lead on social prescribing, Dr Katherine Kennet on how connecting people with activities, groups and services can improve health and wellbeing.

Quality standards for professionals

• Community of Communities - this is a quality improvement and accreditation programme for Therapeutic Communities (TCs) in the UK and overseas.

MHAW 2024

Last year, the College used Mental Health Awareness Week to raise awareness of the challenges faced by people with serious mental illnesses, or SMIs.

Society may be more open to talking about common mental health problems, like depression or anxiety. But when it comes to SMIs that cause psychoses, stigma is still very present.

Press releases

• Discrimination against people with severe mental illness is cutting lives short – warns UK’s top psychiatrist - Dr Lade Smith CBE, President of RCPsych, warned that outcomes for people with severe mental illnesses (SMI), will only get worse unless society champions their right to acceptance and support.
  

Podcast

Our MHAW podcast featured an open and honest conversation looking at living with schizophrenia. Hosted by Dr Jane Morris, with guest Graham Morgan. Graham has authored the books 'Start' and 'Blackbird Singing'.

Blog posts

• Kate Northcott Spall is an award-winning campaigner who is advocating for greater awareness and safety around the use of antipsychotic medication. She has written a blog post about her late brother William’s experiences of living with schizophrenia. 
• Nathan Randles, one of the College’s Patient Representatives wrote a powerful blog post - Living with a Serious Mental Illness - about the challenges of growing up with an SMI.

BJPsych journals collection

We published a BJPsych journals collection for Mental Health Awareness Week that focused on stigma and dispelling myths around mental illness.

RCPsych in Parliament

For MHAW we engaged with MPs and Peers and the College was mentioned in a number of debates. This included a Westminster Hall debate on the link between physical and mental health, as well as a debate in the House of Lords, where Peers supported our calls to reform the Mental Health Act. 

• Watch the Westminster Hall debate           
• Watch the House of Lords debate