The theme for this year's Mental Health Awareness Week 2023 is anxiety. The annual campaign, run by the Mental Health Foundation, has opted to highlight anxiety in part because of it's prevalence as a common mental health challenge, but also in recognition of the fact that current external pressures such as the cost of living crisis are currently causing greater anxiety in many.

The Mental Health Foundation's report, based on a survey on 6000 people, found:

• anxiety levels increased during the pandemic and have not dropped back to pre-pandemic levels
• 73% of respondents had felt anxious in the last two weeks
• 20% of people feel anxious most or all of the time
• 58% of 18-24 year olds had felt anxious enough in the last two weeks that it had interfered with their day-to-day activities
• 45% of people surveyed were keeping their anxiety a secret