Mental Health Awareness Week: Anxiety

2-minute read

Anxiety is on the increase, which is unsurprising given everything going on in the world right now. Through Habitus’ work, we’ve seen an increase in the level of anxiety faced by carers – which continues to go unreported / less reported. This has been supported by a November 2022 report by Carers UK, which found that 60% of carers reported feeling most concerned about anxiety or stress.

Often unspoken and unrecognised yet has equally negative effects on individual and family wellbeing.

Caring for a loved one can be a deeply rewarding experience, however, it can also take a toll on a carer's own well-being. The increasing responsibilities and emotional strain carers face as they are expected to take on more responsibilities with less support can lead, and is leading, to increased anxiety and mental health challenges. In recent years, statistics have shed light on the alarming rates of poor mental health among carers, highlighting the urgent need for support and intervention.

A study conducted by Carers UK revealed that approximately 78% of carers experience anxiety as a result of their caregiving responsibilities (2015). Their most recent annual survey highlighted that 41% of carers haven’t taken a break from their caring role in the last year, and 75% worry about continuing to juggle work and care going forward (2022).

The constant worry, stress, and unpredictability of their role can lead to heightened anxiety levels, impacting their overall well-being.

It is important to acknowledge that no caregiving role is the same – we all to some extent have caregiving responsibilities, and understanding the uniqueness of each role and individual can help to better support carers. Be it better access to assistance for caregivers, to creating peer-led spaces to share experiences of caregiving. More practical and mental health support needs to be available for carers who are struggling under the pressures of much reduced formal support for their loved ones.

At Habitus, we have developed and designed successful peer support and community programmes for various charities, health organisations and businesses both in the UK and internationally.

We are accomplished in peer research, co-production, action-based and anti-oppressive research and evaluation. We are experts in helping organisations to engage wider community participation in their projects so that their work is more inclusive and impactful. Through this approach we are dedicated to increasing lived experience leadership.

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