I took as my theme for this week’s Tuesday Tunes the fact that from 15-21 May it is Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW) here in the UK. For American readers, May is Mental Health Month, which this year is themed around how the environment might be affecting people. In the UK MHAW is run by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF), who have chosen anxiety as their theme for this year. On their website they give their reasons for this:

“This year for Mental Health Awareness Week we are focusing on anxiety. We all feel anxious from time to time. Anxiety is a natural response to the uncertain world around us. For example, in the current cost-of-living crisis, more than a third of adults feel anxious about their financial situation. But it’s important that we recognise and respond when we feel anxious, so that our anxiety doesn’t become overwhelming.”

They go on to say that they want to kickstart a nationwide conversation, encouraging people to share their own experiences and any helpful ideas on how they manage their own anxiety. Their site is full of information and advice, and I recommend it to you if you are currently feeling signs of anxiety or if you just want to know more. As they say on their A-Z Topic page for anxiety, it is normal to feel anxious sometimes, as it is a natural way to respond to threats and pressures. But we shouldn’t allow it to take over our lives, and there are many things we can do to help ourselves: the website shares a lot of advice, if you or someone you know may be in need of help. In more severe cases, this may become an anxiety disorder, and in this event it is essential to seek help from your GP, who will have access to more specialist treatment if they think it might help.

The website lists a range of possible causes, which include genetics, painful long-term health conditions, traumatic events such as childhood abuse or domestic violence, or drug or alcohol misuse. As they say, your current life situation can also trigger anxiety – for example, money or housing problems, unemployment, work stress, loneliness, bullying, or difficult family or personal relationships. The underlying message is clear: there are many factors which can contribute to our feeling anxious, and we shouldn’t allow the stigma of not talking about them to impact on us, as this will only make things worse. They also provide a link to a very helpful page from the mental health charity Mind, which gives a lot of advice on coping with anxiety. You can find it here if you think it might help you. I was for a number of years a trustee of one of Mind’s local branches, so I know from first hand experience just how good they are: they know what they are talking about!

The MHF has recently (in March) undertaken a piece of research into the current state of the UK in this respect. Quite frankly, the results of this are scary. For example, nearly three-quarters of the population (73%) had felt anxious at least sometimes in the previous two weeks, with one in five people (20%) anxious most or all of the time. Anxiety levels amongst the population increased throughout the pandemic and have not yet dropped to pre-pandemic levels: it can become problematic if it is persistent over a long period of time, is overwhelming, or stops us from doing things we want or need to do, and this seems to be exactly what is happening. There is much in the report, but the website makes it easy to dip into. It is worth a few minutes of your time.

Thinking back to my own long spell off work when I was suffering from clinical depression, things are a little hazy about whether I also experienced anxiety. I’m sure I did: I can remember feeling nervous about going out to the shops, or for GP and mental health team appointments, none of which should have been any cause for concern, but they were! The one episode which does still stand out in my memory actually occurred a couple of weeks after I went back to work. This was in the summer of 2012, during the time of the London Olympics, which created large numbers of additional passengers on the Central Line, which passes through Stratford, one of the main stations for the Olympic Stadium. I live at the end of the line, and one morning there was a system failure and we weren’t being allowed into the station. The crowd gradually got bigger and bigger, until I found myself working my way backwards to escape the throng. Having done so I caught my breath, and realised that I couldn’t cope with it, so I went back home and rang my boss to explain. As luck would have it, I had an appointment with my counsellor booked for the next day, and he gave me a lot of help. I had a ticket for the final of the Olympic football tournament for about ten days later and when I told him that I didn’t think I could go he insisted that I absolutely must. Somehow, I managed the journey to Wembley, thoroughly enjoyed a great game (Mexico beat Brazil 2-1 and Neymar was rubbish) but then was faced with hordes of people queuing to get back into the tube station. I explained my concerns to a policeman standing nearby, who suggested that I take a walk in the opposite direction to pick up a different line back into London. This worked perfectly, and I came away from the whole experience feeling a sense of achievement.

I tell you that story to show how we can work our way through our anxieties and move ourselves forward. If you are feeling anything like that, do follow the links I’ve given you to pick up some useful advice. Take care.