Coffee Break May: Mental Health Awareness Week 12-18th May 2025

Metal Health Awareness Week runs from 12th to 18th May, 2025. Recent research indicates that our mental health in the UK is declining, with people experiencing depression, anxiety disorders, stress and suicidal thoughts. Of course, our experience in the lockdown period contributed to this for some people. Mental Health Awareness Week raises awareness, helps people reach out for support, and with this year’s theme being “Community” it helps foster a strong feeling of coming together to help people feel less alone.  

People will feel more able to seek help, diagnosis and treatment if required.  Feeling alone can mean feeling isolated and unconnected and can affect behaviour leading to more self-isolation and avoiding social events. It may also affect you physically by not caring about your physical appearance, not taking care of yourself and not doing everyday tasks, like cooking and cleaning or may be staying in bed longer or for most of the day.  Long term loneliness can lead to feelings of stress, anxiety, depression and long term can increase the risk of dementia.  Let's try and be more aware of our neighbours for instance if you have not seen them out and about for a while. Let's notice our colleagues or friends if something does not seem quite right.  Maybe their behaviour has changed and are not engaging like they used to with other people. Maybe their appearance has changed, and they seem to be not taking care of themselves. Our mental health affects our physical health too, relationships with our significant others, work relationships and even our finances.  

Of course, community to you can mean where you live but can also be where you work, or a club or sports team. A sense of community can raise spirits and bring hope and a feeling of belonging.

Here at Yorkshire Smoke Free our community is all the people who work here and the people we help to quit smoking. Joining our service can help you feel supported whilst quitting smoking and give you a sense of belonging to a wider community of people who are quitting as well.

Resources such as our web site and our social media pages can help you feel supported, less alone and more able to start your quit attempt with confidence knowing other people are doing the same as you!  You are already a part of a community by reading this blog!

Did you know that smokers with poorer mental health are more likely to smoke and smoke more heavily, die on average 10-20 years earlier and need higher doses of medications such as antidepressants because smoking interferes with the way some medications work. It is important to note because of the way smoking effects antipsychotic and antidepressant medications you should speak with your doctor, psychiatrist and stop smoking advisor before stopping smoking if you are taking these sorts of medications so the dosage can be monitored.

Quitting smoking improves our physical health and our long-term risks of developing smoking related disease but the great news is that it also improves mental wellbeing, overall mood, and helps relieve stress, anxiety and depression. It is a common belief that smoking helps you relax and therefore helps with stress, but smoking increases anxiety and tension.  Smoking interferes with chemicals in the brain.  You feel irritable and anxious if you have not smoked, craving the next opportunity to light up.  These anxious feelings are temporarily relieved when you light up another cigarette, making you feel that smoking makes you feel better. The opposite is true of course that smoking itself causes the anxiety in the first place.  Feel calmer, more positive and be able to deal with everyday stresses and challenges in a better way than smoking which can lead to an improved quality of life!

It is important to talk to someone and discuss it with your doctor if you are having a difficult time, struggling to cope with poor mental health, or any other feelings you are not coping with. You could also call 111.  Ask someone to take you or call a taxi and go to A & E if you need immediate help.  116 123 is the number for the Samaritans. Samaritans | Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy | Here to listen . You can also contact them if you are concerned or worried about someone else

“Community “means different things to different people and can mean a small community social club or a corporate worldwide organisation. A sense of community however is felt. It is warm, caring, kind, compassionate and welcoming. It is noticing things when they don`t feel quite right, checking in with people when they might need it most and always there when we need it!

Written by Carrie at Yorkshire Smoke Free NHS Stop Smoking Service - Yorkshire Smokefree