This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week runs from 12th – 18th May 2025. As is tradition, the annual event focuses on a specific topic or theme relating to the issue of mental health and this year that theme is “Community”.
Our mental health lead, Clare Blunt explores why community is a powerful tool in protecting mental health and why human connections help us to thrive – both in the workplace and in our personal lives.
It should be no surprise to anyone that human connections are fundamental to wellbeing. We are, after all, pack animals and are intrinsically social. Humans are born with the inherent ability to form social connections allowing us to survive and, indeed, thrive.
Whether you consider yourself to be a socialite or a hermit, deep down we all need to feel what it means to share or to rely on a relationship with other people in one way or another. We thrive in connection and whether it’s as colleagues, teammates, neighbours or families, interacting with others has an undeniable role to play in our wellbeing.
Positive interactions (and even sometimes more challenging ones) are essential in making people feel alive. Being seen, heard and supported is all part of what gives us a sense of identity and purpose.
We are wired for connection
Mental health can sometimes feel like an individual responsibility or journey but, in actual fact, it’s deeply relational. We only need to look at the public health challenges that arose as a result of the Covid pandemic to understand that community helps us to remain happy, content and resilient. Take that away and millions of people can begin to struggle very quickly.
Research has shown that people who are more socially connected not only feel happier and physically healthier but actually live longer. Conversely, those experiencing loneliness and social isolation are significantly more likely to experience issues such as anxiety, depression and stress.
It’s for this reason that finding a social group to interact with on a regular basis is so important – be it a faith group, a running club or even just a positive work culture. Community begins with being around others but fundamentally it’s about feeling valued and accepted, as well as safe to some extent.
With community comes communication and it is this interaction within a given environment that can help to combat issues such as low mood or high stress that often come when left alone with one’s own thoughts for extended periods of time.
Don’t underestimate the benefits of building a positive work culture
As we are all only too well aware, much of our adult lives are spent at work. So, feeling a sense of community and connection within an organisation has a huge role to play in broader mental health and wellbeing. That’s why in my work I encourage businesses to pay real attention to their work culture.
If the motive of a company is to pad out a careers webpage or pay lip service to the idea that a company has values then it simply doesn’t work. If, however, a business really demonstrates that it can create an environment in which people thrive then the result is not just a happier workforce but also, typically, a healthier one.
A healthy, motivated workforce is one that is more productive, contributes towards profitability and lets others know that the sense of community is real . . . which make recruitment much easier, too.
Of course, we all know that building community is tricky in our technology-obsessed society. Many of us now work remotely or on a hybrid basis and, increasingly, interactions take place through devices and not in person.
While it’s far too hard to generalise about solutions for individual organisations, one thing I do hope businesses take from this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is this: no matter whether staff spend 40 hours a week on-site or a 14-hour week working entirely remotely, it’s important that opportunities are created to encourage an authentic sense of community.
It could be frequent staff socials and events or it might be virtual break-out sessions. No matter what the solution, I would argue that it pays for organisations to build these considerations into their business plans because community is a powerful thing.
Want to ensure that your business is equipped to identify mental health issues in the workplace and provide meaningful support where necessary? Let’s talk
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