As always with these events, I want to remind you that it’s okay to prioritise your own mental health too. As mental health bloggers, we naturally want to get involved in the largest mental health event in the UK. But if you’re not in a good place right now, there is absolutely no reason you should have to.

I add this right at the start because it can seem like there is so much going on across social media there is a near-constant stream of content. You won’t be able to keep up with it all. And that’s okay. I won’t either.
Participation in MHAW 2021 can be one blog post, one YouTube video, one social post. It can even be an offline gesture like a conversation with a friend. These all matter and can still all make a difference.

Blog

If you have a mental health blog, it makes sense to write a blog for the week. With the theme nature, you might want to share how nature has affected your mental health either in general or a particular experience, like a dog walk, that you remember for some reason.

Having a blog is a personal space, so I’d recommend making this post personal. However, if that’s not something you’re comfortable with, you could do a more news-style overview of the theme using the resources created by the Mental Health Foundation.

Social Media

A lot of the conversation about mental health awareness week 2021 will be happening on social media. It’s a great place to share the link for your blog if you wrote one.

You may want to share some of the pre-made nature graphics by MHF, which are resized for different platforms. You 3could also retweet / re-share their content too.

For me, the most important thing to remember about social media is how quickly it can become overwhelming. With so much content, it’s difficult to keep up. Set yourself a limit to how often you’ll spend on social, and stick to it.

If you use social media to promote your blog, this can be a great time to get involved in the community. I personally focus on Twitter and Instagram for this, but if you’re building a following on another, like TikTok, you can do it there too.

Engaging with like-minded people can help grow your audience and build connections, and sharing in MHAW, our social, mental health family is a great place to do that. Not only may your blog get a bit more traction, but you’ll also help other bloggers get the same, which ultimately increases awareness for this week.

To engage, you could just leave a like or comment on the blog or social post that you read to say why you notice it. This is a chance for us all to come together and promote the week, so you’re welcome to do that on my accounts too.

But if you’re reading blogs and social posts, not only is that providing positive content into your feed, but you can see how other bloggers approach the week and might get a new perspective or some tips for your own.

As always, with social media, you are allowed to block or mute any account that may be positing negative content or that which you find triggering, even if it’s in the spirit of the week. Always talk about anything that might be upsetting and take a break when you need. The standard reminders, but they need to be said here.

Mental Health Foundation Resources

Nature Journal

MHF have produced a printable journal where you can document how you feel before and after connecting with nature. If you do journaling anyway or want to see what it’s all about, I think this would be a great way of expressing your own thoughts and processing what’s going on and how you feel. What’s more, you can keep it private too.

Green Pins

The MHF as always have green pin badges available, which are the international symbol of mental health, so you can publicly show your support.

Fundraising

Throughout May, you could take part in 30 minutes of exercise to help fundraise for the vital work of the MHF and ensure that we can continue to get involved in this week for years to come. Not only are you getting out in nature, but you’re also doing some good, so it’s a win-win all round.

Have a conversation

Use this week to reach out to those around you and make sure they’re okay. Use this week to get past some of the awkwardness of having a mental health conversation to check-in or reach out to yourself.

Small conversations can really make a big difference so don’t underestimate your impact of this. One kind person that lends a listening ear can really help brighten someone’s day more than you may realise.

Get involved with passion

When getting involved in mental health awareness week 2021, don’t feel it’s a chore or a compulsory fixture in the mental health calendar. Share as little or as much as you want because you’re passionate about raising awareness and sharing your thoughts.

Mental health blogging is such a personal venture because, more often than not, we’re sharing our own stories, our past, and what we’re going through at the moment. You don’t have to treat it like a job.

So I want to finish this post by saying whatever you do this week is enough. It makes a difference, it helps us in the mental health community, and I really do appreciate it.

Resources: 

Mental Health Foundation’s Resource Hub