By Ayyab Cockburn, Co-founder and Executive Officer, MJN

 The 10th October marks World Mental Health Day, and this year’s theme set by the World Federation for Mental Health is ‘Mental Health in an Unequal World’.

As a network, we recognise the world is unequal, and attitudes towards mental health issues have and continue to be taboo or at worst discriminatory.

Certain groups are disproportionately affected by mental health issues due to a complex range of socio-economic factors and inequalities, which the recent pandemic has only exacerbated.

But we remain passionately committed to redressing the balance through the pursuit of deeper, fairer, and more meaningful human connection. We see human connection as multi-layered, comprising of the relationship we have with ourselves, with each other, to our collective purpose and to the environments in which we live and operate.

We seek to restore and deepen these connections through the promotion of habits which enable us to think differently, listen to diverse perspectives more compassionately, act more equitably and embed fairness more structurally.

World Mental Health Day shines a light on the need to really dig deep into those connections, at individual, interpersonal, collective, and institutional levels. I believe we need to question whether we are thinking and doing the right things at each level to promote positive mental health for ourselves, each other and particularly those who are in need most.

We don’t believe this has to be overwhelming as a journey. It’s starts with small, positive habits which create localised pockets of behaviour change. This in turn increases the likelihood and success of structural change to sustain the improvements.

So, our ask today is the same as it is everyday – for us all to really focus on those small acts, be they one of self-care, reaching out to someone for support, or learning about how to spot the signs of struggle. From then on, like anything else, it’s all about practice, persistence, and consistency to normalise the acts as part of our daily routines.

It can start with a simple “how are you?” and really listen to the answer. How often do we ask others the question and then pass over with “I’m fine”? Ask the question twice and you’ll be amazed with how much it can encourage someone to open up with the real response, the one where they want to say, “actually I’m struggling” or “I’m having a bad day”. Showing empathy costs us nothing but the rewards to ourselves and others can be so much richer.

We owe meaningful human connection and the positive mental health it affords us, to ourselves, to the people we care about, to our bigger purpose, wider communities, and our future generations to come. Let’s collectively reimagine and work towards mental health in a more just world.