Mental Health Awareness Week; A Focus on Nature.

This month included Mental Health Awareness week. 

I read the entry on the Mental Health Foundation website by the Chief Executive Mark Rowland.  I was struck by the honesty and the power nature has. No wonder it was the focus of Mental Health Awareness Week this year of all years. 

You may be wondering why I am publishing this now, at the end of the month and not the beginning of the week. Well truth be told, I had a lot on my plate and didn’t get it finished, and there were many people in the science communication, nature and wildlife wellbeing social media world that were rightly raising awareness.  What was one more voice, and one with a smaller ‘presence’ on social media?

Well mental health is important to me. I have suffered with poor mental health for the past few years. I thought this was such a bad thing, everyone else was doing really well. In fact, that was not the case. opening up to friends and discovering other people on social media etc opened my eyes to the fact that A LOT of people were going through or had been through a very similar situation. 

It is now the bank holiday weekend, the sun is shining after what seems like months of rain, frost and cold. The blackbirds are singing and swallows are chattering high up in the sky. Bliss. This is what nature does. It isn’t a cure, but it sure helps to put everything into perspective and lift your spirits. As we enter June, remember to check in on yourself and your friends. As we slowly get back to some sort of normal, for many the thought is quite overwhelming. So just take care and escape into nature on the occasion. It does wonders. 

‘Nature is our great untapped resource for a mentally healthy future.‘

Mark Rowland.