World Mental Health Day and the importance of connection & community.

Friday 10th October is World Mental Health Day 2025. The official theme, set by the World Federation of Mental Health, is ‘access to mental health services in catastrophes and emergencies', highlighting the importance of people being able to protect their mental health in times of global instability. 

We start as we always do when it comes to World Mental Health Day. There's no set day to celebrate – and there's certainly no day off. Looking after our mental health (or that of someone close to you) is a 365-day-of-the-year kind of thing. But a dedicated day does serve as a reminder of the importance of good mental health, and the need to prioritise and invest in it. It also gets us talking.

At a team meeting earlier this week, we agreed that we don't want to just pay lip service to days like World Mental Heath Day or Mental Health Awareness Week with a message of "go for a walk” or “do some yoga" – which, by the way, we do totally agree with. So later this month we'll be sharing some of our own personal stories – and we have a couple of exciting mental health initiatives in the pipeline too. But for now, we'll say it how it is.

We are in a mental health crisis.

• 1 in 4 adults in England will experience a mental health problem.
• 6 in 100 people are diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder every week in England.
• In 2023, 6,069 registered deaths were caused by suicide – 75% were men.
• Life expectancy of people with a severe mental illness is reduced by approximately 15-20 years.
• 60% of people in the UK said the cost-of-living crisis was hurting their wellbeing.
• Need support for your child? In 2023/34 there was a 52% increase in young people waiting over a year for mental health support.

It's serious. And we all have a part to play.

Life is hard at the best of times. Juggling everyday life, a cost-of-living crisis, funding cuts to community/education/mental health services, and huge global political and humanitarian events is, after all, no mean feat. It’s easy to see just how we got here.

But what we can do what to make things better for those in our communities – whether that's at work or at home (but hopefully both)?

Connect with community: Communities can provide us with a sense of belonging, safety, support, and give us a sense of purpose. Whether volunteering at a local community event, attending a support group, or joining a sports/creative/music club, communities support us to protect and nurture good mental health.

Time in nature: Spending time in nature is associated with improving levels of poor mental health, particularly depression and anxiety. Nature can generate many positive emotions, such as calmness, joy, and creativity and can help with concentration – even the NHS are prescribing it.

Active listening (and responsible questioning): Ask the hard questions but, more importantly, listen to the even harder answers – with sensitivity, compassion and empathy. People don't always need solutions, sometimes they just need to be heard.

Showing up with compassion, empathy and vulnerability isn't something that's taught very much in business school – if at all. But maybe that's why so many businesses get it wrong. Here at Cloud9 we're proud to embrace it, nurture it, and celebrate it. It might even be our superpower.

If you, or someone close to you, is in crisis or needs support, we’ve included some links to charities and organisations who we hope will be able to offer help and guidance:

• Campaign Against Living Miserably
• Mates in Mind
• Mental Health UK
• Mental Health Foundation
• Mind
• Money and Mental Health
• Rethink Illness
• Samaritans
• SANE
• Shout
• Turning Point

If you need support now: Call Samaritans on 116 123 or text 'SHOUT' to 85258 to start a conversation with a trained Shout Volunteer.