I have talked about my sight loss in public more times than I can count. Presentations, podcast episodes, blog posts. Each time, someone comes up to me afterwards and says something like: “I had no idea it was that hard.” And I think: what took us so long to start talking?

Mental health is no different. We have spent years telling people it is fine to not be fine. That stigma is bad. That we should check in on each other. Those conversations matter. But Mental Health Awareness Week 2026 is asking for something more. The theme, set by the Mental Health Foundation, is to “Take Action.” Not to talk about taking action. To actually do it.

Mental Health Awareness Week takes place from Monday 11 to Sunday 17 May 2026.

Why This Year’s Theme Matters

Awareness has done a lot of heavy lifting. It has shifted language. It has opened doors. But awareness without action is just optics. Nearly one billion people globally live with a mental health condition. A large proportion still cannot access proper care. Stigma still prevents many from asking for help. The gap between knowing the problem exists and actually solving it is where most organisations stall.

The Disability Dimension

I want to be honest here, because this week asks for honesty.

I have lived with depression and anxiety for over twenty years. The progressive sight loss of the last decade has increased the weight of both. When you lose your sight gradually, the world keeps presenting you with obstacles: best before dates you cannot read, apps that break with VoiceOver, road crossings with no audible signal. The cumulative effect of inaccessibility is exhausting. And exhaustion compounds anxiety. And anxiety compounds everything else.

Right now I am in a new phase. Frequent bouts of real challenge, with no clear cause and no obvious resolution. It is often hard to see how to break the cycle. What I know is that the safe spaces and support from my team, my manager, and my employer make a real difference. The ability to speak openly, without fear of judgement, is not a small thing. It is what makes it possible to keep going. With that support around me, and the courage to keep talking, I believe I will find a way through.

This is not unique to sight loss. Research consistently shows higher rates of anxiety and depression among disabled people. The causes are structural as much as personal: inaccessibility, exclusion, financial precarity, and the emotional labour of advocating for yourself every single day. When we talk about taking action on mental health this week, we have to include making environments less hostile. Accessibility is a mental health issue.

What Action Looks Like at Work

Most of us spend more waking hours at work than anywhere else. That makes the workplace a critical intervention point. The most impactful actions are those that go beyond awareness and provide ongoing support systems. A one-off webinar does not count. A poster in a kitchen does not count. What counts is building the structures so people do not have to fight to be well.

Here is what taking action looks like in a workplace context:

1. Check in with a colleague this week using one of Mental Health UK’s conversation guides. Not “how are you?” as a greeting. A proper check-in.
2. Review whether your employee assistance programme is actually accessible. Can someone find it with a screen reader? Is the phone line the only option?
3. If you manage people, complete a basic mental health awareness training course before the end of May. Not a tick-box eLearning module. Something that changes how you have conversations.
4. If your organisation has a neurodiversity or disability network, make sure mental health is explicitly part of that conversation.
5. Share a story. Not a corporate story. Your own. Silence is what stigma feeds on.

Takeaway

Good mental health is not a constant. Life does not cooperate. What we can control is whether the environments we build at work and in public make it easier or harder for people to ask for support. This week, pick one action. Not five. One. Then do it again next week.

Mental Health Awareness Week is from 11 to 17 May 2026. The Mental Health Foundation theme is “Take Action.” They mean it. So do I.

Sources: Mental Health Awareness Week 2026, Mental Health UK. Additional context: Mental Health Awareness Week 2026: Everything You Should Know, Goodera.