Mental Health Awareness Month: Time to pause, reflect, and care for your mind

At its core, this month is about showing up for ourselves and each other. It’s a time to learn more about mental well-being, reduce the stigma that still surrounds mental health challenges, and encourage early support.

Mental Health America (MHA), a community-based organization from the United States, established this movement to:

• Educate the public
• Celebrate recovery from mental illness
• Open up conversations about mental health
• Help make support more available to more people
  

When is Mental Health Awareness Month?

National Mental Health Awareness Month has been celebrated every May since 1949. Each year, many organizations (including Headspace) participate in campaigns to promote awareness and share helpful tools and resources. This helps us all make mental health care feel less out of reach and more like something within everyone’s grasp.

Education can be a powerful way to change how we see mental health and each other. One study found that when students received mental health education, their understanding deepened, stigma decreased, and they were more likely to see mental health conditions as treatable, not shameful.

Another study concluded that community education helps “enhance understanding, dispel myths, and reduce stigma” around mental health. That’s exactly why Mental Health Month is so important. Learning and talking openly make it easier to support each other with kindness and care. People will better understand the benefits of therapy as part of mental well-being. Our mind, just as our body, needs care. But the stigma around mental health care makes it difficult for many to seek help.

As Matt Haig, Author and Mental Health Advocate, puts it: “We need, ultimately, to be able to view mental health with the same clear-headedness we show when talking about physical health.”

When we open these conversations, we make it easier for people to ask for help, feel less alone, and be seen. Campaigns like Mental Health Awareness Month also give momentum to important changes, like improving access to care, shaping better care policies, and building more compassionate communities.

Besides raising awareness, Mental Health Awareness Month is about finding small, meaningful ways to care for yourself. You don’t need to overhaul your life to make a difference in how you feel. Even simple, daily moments of pause can help you reconnect with yourself and build hopeful resilience.

Six gentle ways to show up for yourself this Mental Health Awareness Month

Here are a few mental health tips for slowing down, checking in with yourself, and making space for what you need.

1. Take a few quiet minutes just for you.

Maybe that means closing your eyes and breathing. Maybe it’s doodling down what’s on your mind. A few minutes of stillness, silence, or both can go a long way when the world feels loud and fast.

2. Talk to someone.

A therapist, a mental health coach, a trusted guide — even if everything seems “fine” — can do wonders. If you're not sure where to start, it helps to learn how to find a therapist who’s a good fit. You don’t have to be in crisis to need connection. And sometimes, just being heard can do a world of proactive healing. If what you're carrying feels heavier than usual, that’s okay too. You’re not alone. Online therapy can be a powerful next step.

3. Get to know the early signs.

Burnout, anxiety, and depression can sneak up quietly. Learning what to look for can help you catch the hard stuff earlier and meet it with care, not judgment.

4. Practice saying no (without guilt).

Protecting your energy isn’t selfish, it’s necessary. Boundaries, whether at work, in relationships, or with yourself, are an act of self-respect.

5. Give your brain a breather.

Too much screen time can drain us. Try taking a short break from scrolling, even if it’s just for one morning or evening a week. You might be surprised how light you’ll feel for it.

6. Try a little mindfulness.

Not the mountaintop-retreat kind. The real-life, everyday kind. A moment to breathe before a meeting. A wind-down five minutes before bed. The choice is yours.

The Headspace mental wellness app has simple tools that meet you where you are, with no pressure and no judgment. According to a study published in PLOS ONE, taking just 10 days to practice mindfulness with the Headspace app helped reduce stress by 14%. A small pause for yourself each day really can make a meaningful difference in your life.

Each year, Mental Health Awareness Month comes with a new theme. This theme helps shape how we talk about mental health, offering perspective and a gentle way in.

In 2025, Mental Health America (MHA) encourages us to “Turn Awareness into Action.” This May is the time to set a gentle routine, try a few minutes of mindfulness, or simply find something that brings you joy. MHA calls it DIY mental health, and we're all for it.

Over the past five years, the themes have reflected the evolving ways we understand mental well-being. Take a look:

• Tools 2 Thrive (2020 and 2021): Introduced at the start of the pandemic, this theme met people where they were: navigating isolation, anxiety, and rapid change. It offered everyday tools for resilience, grounding, and self-care.
• Back to Basics (2022): A return to the essentials. This theme focused on what mental health actually is, how it shows up in daily life, and why recognizing when something feels off is a vital skill for all of us.
• Look Around, Look Within (2023): This theme asked us to consider the world we live in — our homes, neighborhoods, even our daily routines — and how those environments impact our mental health. It encouraged thoughtful changes in the spaces we move through every day.
• Where to Start (2024): This theme was about taking that first step. It recognizes that modern life can feel overwhelming, and reminds us that small beginnings matter because they have started something.

Each of these themes opened the door to new conversations and new ways to care for ourselves and each other.

This year, maybe you can come up with a theme of your own. One that speaks to where you are right now. And if you're not ready right now, don't feel pressured to start just because that's when Mental Health Awareness Month is. Your timing is valid; give yourself grace to begin in your own way, at your own pace.

Maybe it’s: rest is enough. Maybe it’s: check in with myself more. Maybe it’s: take up space.

Whatever you choose, let it be something that reminds you to show up, with kindness, with honesty, and with care. This journey is yours. And every part of it deserves attention.

Mental Health Awareness Month is a meaningful time to reflect, but caring for your mind isn’t limited to just one month. At Headspace, we believe support should always be there whenever you need it. Headspace offers more than meditations. You’ll find therapy, coaching, and personalized mental health programs, all designed to meet you where you are. Whether you’re feeling stuck, burnt out, anxious, or just need someone to help you chat things through, we’re here for you.

And if cost seems like a barrier, know that many of our licensed therapy services are covered by insurance, making it even easier to get care that works for you.

Thinking about therapy? Make it real. Take that first, powerful step with online therapy through Headspace.


_Sources:

_{1. Lim, D., Condon, P., & DeSteno, D. (2015). Mindfulness and Compassion: An Examination of Mechanism and Scalability. PLOS ONE, 10(2), e0118221. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118221. Accessed on May 27, 2025.}

_{2. Mental Health America. (2025, May 9). Mental Health Month Action Guide | Mental Health America. https://mhanational.org/mental-health-month/action-guide/. Accessed on May 27, 2025.}

_{3. Shim, Y. R., Eaker, R., & Park, J. (2022). Mental Health Journal. Mental health education, awareness and stigma regarding mental illness among college students. https://doi.org/10.29245/2578-2959/2022/2.1258. Accessed on May 27, 2025.}

_{4. Mboweni, E. N., Mphasha, M. H., & Skaal, L. (2023). Exploring mental health awareness: A study on knowledge and perceptions of mental health disorders among residents of Matsafeni Village, Mbombela, Mpumalanga Province. Healthcare (Basel), 12(1), 85. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12010085. Accessed on May 27, 2025.}