Poor mental health affects millions of people across the world. According to the WHO, one in four people will experience mental health problems in their lives - and of that number, it is also estimated that only 25% of people with mental disorders receive treatment.
This is partially due to a lack of resources available to people in need. Many great charities for mental health are stepping up to help fill that gap and get resources to people in need.
Why we Need Charities for Mental Health
In recent years we have seen a growing awareness of mental health issues, but unfortunately, access to services remains a challenge for many people. While most people do not have the ability to seek treatment, those that do are faced with long delays and limited resources.
Mental Health charities provide a range of support including peer support, helplines, counselling, and online forums. They also work to conduct research, provide training, and campaign for policy change to help improve services affected by mental illness.
Businesses Supporting Mental Health Charities
There are many businesses that play an important role in supporting these charities for mental health. Fundraising and vocal support can help raise awareness and also directly support the work these charities undertake every day.
Lush has been a longtime supporter of many mental health charities including both Mint and Samaritans.
Lush have specially designed 'Charity Pot' products, where proceeds directly benefit charitable organisation (including some grassroots mental health initiatives).
In addition to their financial support, they also have implemented some important mental health policies within their business. These include providing mental health first aid training to their staff and including more flexible working arrangements to support the busy and complex lives of their employees. By making mental health a core part of their values, they have created a supportive workplace for their employees.
Here are a few of the best mental health charities to support:
Mind
Rethink Mental Illness
CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably)
MindOut
Young Minds
The Mental Health Foundation
Samaritans
Anxiety UK
OCD Action
Mind
Mind is a leading mental health charity providing information, support, and advice to people suffering from mental illness. They also campaign and support initiatives to help raise awareness and provide better services to people outside of their own dependents. As a national charity, they have supported over 900,000 people from its over 120 unique branches across England and Wales.
Rethink Mental Illness
Rethink Mental Illness offers a wide range of services including information and advice as well as support from local groups. They also campaign to support policy changes and help reduce the stigma associated with mental illness.
Annually Rethink Mental Illness helps over 60,000 people with its services.
CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably)
CALM's main focus is to prevent male suicide. They have a helpline, online chat service, as well as support groups dedicated to supporting men struggling with their mental health. To date, CALM has helped to prevent over 1,100 suicides and have reached millions of people with their awareness campaigns.
MindOut
MindOut focuses its support on the LGBTQ+ community. Their services include counselling, peer support groups, advocy, and online support. Each year, MindOut helps over 1,500 people with its services.
YoungMinds
YoungMinds focus their effort on the support and well being of children and young people. They provide information and advice to young people and their families. In 2020, they supported over 93,000 young people and family members in addition to providing training to 7,000 professionals.
The Mental Health Foundation
Mental Health Foundation aims to prevent mental health problems by supporting and promoting good health for all. With a lot of effort into campaigning and policy change, they are especially active in aligning with initiatives such as Mental Health Awareness Week.
In 2019-20 The Mental Health Foundation provided support to over 1,000 people through their online counselling services and reached over 16,000,000 through their campaigns and advocacy work.
Samaritans
Samaritans offer emotional support to anyone in distress with their 24-hour helpline. Samaritans provide a safe place for people to talk about their feelings confidentially. Samaritans offer services through their helpline, email, and face-to-face services.
They also work to raise awareness of mental health issues and suicide prevention. In 2020, they answered over 10,000,000 calls for help and reached over 7,500,000 people through their awareness campaigns.
Anxiety UK
Anxiety UK provides support, information, and resources for people affected by anxiety. They offer a range of services, including counselling, email support, and online resources. Anxiety UK also campaigns for better mental health services for people with anxiety and works to raise awareness of the condition.
OCD Action
OCD Action provides support and advice to people affected by obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). They offer a range of services, including peer support, advocacy, and information resources. OCD Action also campaigns for better mental health services for people with OCD and works to raise awareness of the condition.
If you are looking to support mental health charities, there are many excellent options available. Consider donating your time, money or resources to help those in need and make a positive impact in the fight for better mental health.
