Making our mental health our New Year’s Resolution for 2025

Sun holidays used to be advertised on Christmas Day to get people thinking about a Summer getaway break as soon as Christmas was dispensed with. Nowadays the Christmas fare is barely digested before we are inundated with messaging that can feel pressuring to get walking and exercising to be fit and healthy.

But what if we prioritised our mental health as our New Year’s Resolution in 2025?

To achieve that, we need mental health to be considered, and treated, in the same way as physical health. That requires greater acknowledgement of our mental health and the need to take care of it in the same way we do with our physical health.

People can become mentally unwell over the course of their lifetime for a number of reasons; trauma, stress, changed circumstances. Oftentimes it can be an accumulation of circumstances and with external factors contributing too, concerns about world conflict for example, worries about climate change, socio-economic factors, online bullying and coercion. Each person’s ability to cope in these cases is different. 

Stigma is a proven barrier to people seeking help. In order to access help, people need to be encouraged to speak openly about their mental health concerns and have them acknowledged and validated.

For 2025, let’s all be mindful of our mental, as well as physical health. Exercise does play an important part in that and is to be encouraged. Other ways to mind ourselves are to set boundaries and expectations around our relationships, carving out some downtime in our day for reflection and quiet, and when needed, reaching out and seeking support.

Happy new year to all.

Nicola Byrne

CEO