What you should know about mental health

Here we are! Mental Health Awareness Week 2026! So what a perfect excuse to break out of my cycle of feeling stuck with writing content. 💁🏼‍♀️ But, I’m gonna cheat a little bit. Because this isn’t my own hot takes on Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme of ‘action’ (I mean, I’ve also shared some hot takes on that over on our Instagram).

But rather, we asked our community: What do you wish people knew when it comes to mental health? So here’s 5 of those ideas from our community, with some extra thoughts from me.

“Nobody is immune from poor mental health”

This is such a great way to kick it off. Mental health issues affect around 1 in 4 people. It’s *super* common. And while we can absolutely do things to help protect our mental health (check out our ‘Things to Try’ page!) sometimes life just gets a bit much. Sometimes circumstances can catch us off guard. Sometimes you just feel awful. So this is a solid reminder that mental health doesn’t discriminate. It can affect anyone from any walk of life. But it’s also a great reminder to consistently show up for the folks around you. Even the ones who seem like they have it all together.

“Even mentally healthy people can do things to help their mental health”

And actually, special shout out to this comment too; it kinda builds on the last one. But it’s also a really important reminder. In the same way that it’s a good idea to constantly do things to keep on top of your physical health (I’m talking: healthy eating, regularly exercising, getting enough sleep, etc), we need to keep on doing things to keep on top of our mental health too. Even when you’re feeling mentally healthy. And I mean.. again, that’s also gonna be things like healthy eating, regular exercise and getting a good night’s sleep..! So yeah, even if you’re feeling fine right now, keep on practising the things that help keep your head above those waves.

“Just because someone has had issues with their mental health, doesn’t mean that another person’s experience/behaviour will be the same”

One hundo. Like the tags on our t-shirts (plug plug plug 👀) say: one size doesn’t fit all. So you’ve gotta find the route that’s right for YOU. You’ve gotta find the support network that works for you. The coping strategies that work for you. And here’s a reminder too, that we need different coping strategies to help with different situations and emotions. What works when you’re feeling angry won’t necessarily help if you’re feeling anxious (it might, but it’s worth trying a few different things!).

I’m for sure guilty of comparing myself to other people in all walks of life. If you spend too much time online, it’s easy to assume that everyone else has their stuff way more together than you do. But they’re on their path and you’re on yours.

“Trying to be better can a lifelong process”

Omg YES. 👏 This is a big one. I know that I’m guilty of wanting quick solutions. And wanting to see results and change immediately. But the truth is that dealing with mental health doesn’t have some quick fix. It’s not always some neat solution. And it’s for sure not as straightforward as “just do THIS and everything will change”. It’s a journey. I’ve been clean from self-harm for years now. But still get triggered. I still find it uncomfortable to dwell on (I know, typical given that I’ve devoted my life to HATW). So it’s not the quick, or even easy, solution. It’s in putting small things in place, and practising them. And knowing that you’ve got a toolkit of things to try, for whatever situations and emotions you find yourself up against. As well as having the mindset that “better” isn’t some final destination that we’ll reach. It’s about trying to get a bit better than yesterday, every day.

“It’s not a weakness”

I mean. I feel like this shouldn’t even need to be said. But sadly, it does. People still mistake struggle with mental health as a weakness. And sometimes we can be guilty of.. I guess.. self-stigma? Like, telling ourselves that we should just pull ourselves together, and not be weak. Well here’s your reminder that it is NOT a weakness. Let’s use the classic physical health vs mental health analogy. If someone had a broken leg, you wouldn’t call them weak. If someone had the flu, you wouldn’t call them weak. So let’s apply that same logic to talking about folks who struggle with mental illnesses, like we would for someone with a physical illness.

So that’s just a couple of thoughts. But what do you think? What do you think people should know about mental health? Let us know by sharing your thoughts below, or drop us a message on our Instagram & join the conversation!

Before you go!

It’d mean the world to us if you’d pick up some of our merch with a message, so we can continue to be here and share ideas about mental health. Here’s a couple of our best sellers, but we’ve got a whole bunch of stuff that we think you’ll love.