Mental health awareness week - 2022

08 May 2022

It’s Mental Health Awareness week and the theme is ‘loneliness’.  The Mental Health Foundation has some great resources here.

At Lithos, we’ve all been given a fantastic book: Why has nobody told me this before? By Dr Julie Smith.  Some advice she has on mental health and loneliness is replicated here:

When we’re feeling low, the thought of facing anyone can be exhausting and overwhelming.  This is the trap of depression.  It tells us to withdraw, hideaway, don’t see anyone until we feel better.  But in doing so we hold ourselves back.  Taking some time to be alone can be reenergising and recharging, but it can also very easily become a downward spiral of rumination and self-loathing that feeds depression and keeps it going.

Being with others (even when we don’t feel like it), to observe them, interact with them and build connections with them, can help to lift our mood and pull us out of our own head and back to the real world.

Share your experiences and break the stigma. Use the hashtag #IveBeenThere to speak about times you have felt lonely.

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