Raising Awareness for World Mental Health Day

On 10 October, people around the world mark World Mental Health Day. Each year the World Federation for Mental Health sets a theme. For 2026 it’s “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change”. The focus is on the people who live with mental illness, and on making sure their voices are heard and lead to real change in how support is provided.

It’s a theme that reaches well beyond the clinic. Wherever people spend their time, including at work, being heard makes a difference. So this year we want to look at what that means in the workplace, and at how we support the people who work here.

Mental Health in Today’s Workplace

Most of us spend a large part of our lives at work, so it’s one of the places where mental health matters most. The figures show why. According to the Health and Safety Executive, work-related stress, depression or anxiety affected 964,000 workers in Great Britain in 2024/25. 22.1 million working days are lost as a result. Mental Health First Aid England reports that almost half of UK employees – around 45% – do not feel comfortable talking to their manager about their mental health.

Those two facts sit awkwardly together. A great many people are struggling. Just as many don’t feel able to say so. That silence is the gap this year’s theme speaks to. People are far more likely to get the right support when they feel heard, and the workplace is one of the places where that can start.

Supporting Each Other at Work

Supporting each other at work doesn’t need a grand programme or a big budget. More often, it’s the small, human things that make the difference. It can be as ordinary as checking in on a colleague and listening to them with your full attention. It helps to be honest about your own difficult days, which gives others permission to share theirs. It matters to respect the moment when someone needs to step back or work in a way that suits them better. It costs nothing to notice when a normally talkative person has gone quiet. None of this is complicated. All of it tells people they matter.

Our Commitment to Mental Health

This is a subject we take seriously as an employer. Priority Pixels has been a signatory of the Mindful Employer Charter since 2021. This initiative is led by Devon Partnership NHS Trust, which commits organisations to supporting the mental wellbeing of their staff. For us, it’s less about the certificate on the wall and more about the day to day. We try to keep an open, honest culture where people can talk about how they are without fear of judgement and where asking for help is treated as a strength.

That means managers who listen properly and colleagues who look out for one another. We don’t always get everything right, but we care about it and keep working at it. This year’s theme is a good reminder of why that matters.

World Mental Health Day is a moment to stop and pay attention, but the point of it is what happens the rest of the year. It’s about listening to people, taking their experiences seriously and letting those voices shape how we support one another. That’s true in a hospital, in a community and in an office in Devon. If today prompts one honest conversation that wouldn’t otherwise have happened, it’s done its job.