World Mental Health Day 2026 – Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change
Published 1 October 2026
World Mental Health Day takes place on 10 October each year, bringing people around the world together to raise awareness of mental health and encourage positive change.
The theme for World Mental Health Day 2026 is “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change” – recognising the knowledge and expertise of people who have personally experienced mental health conditions and mental health services.
This year’s campaign calls for us to go beyond simply listening to people’s stories and ensure that lived experience can genuinely influence decisions, shape services and create change.
Lived experience is expertise
Lived experience is the knowledge and understanding someone gains through experiencing something themselves.
For people who have experienced mental health challenges, sought support, received care – or been unable to access the support they needed – that experience can provide valuable insight that cannot be gained through professional training or research alone.
People with lived experience can identify barriers others may not see, highlight what works and what needs to change, and help ensure mental health support responds to people’s actual needs and circumstances.
But lived experience is different for everyone. There is no single experience of mental health and no one person can speak for everyone. That makes it important to hear and value a diverse range of voices and experiences.
From being heard to creating change
Too often, people with lived experience are asked to share their stories but are not given the same opportunities to influence the decisions that follow.
Meaningful involvement goes further. It means people having opportunities to influence decisions, co-design services, contribute to how support is delivered and help evaluate whether services are working.
This is something we believe strongly in at Making Space.
Our approach to co-production and person-centred support is rooted in working alongside people, recognising their strengths and expertise and ensuring they have a genuine voice in the support and services that affect their lives.
Daryhl Lewis, Wellbeing Services Lead at Making Space, said:
People with lived experience bring an understanding of mental health that simply cannot be gained in any other way. Listening to those experiences is important, but meaningful involvement has to go further – people need genuine opportunities to influence the support they receive and the services designed around them.
Across our wellbeing services, we work alongside people to understand what matters to them, recognising that everyone’s experience of mental health is different. Their knowledge, strengths and experiences help us understand what good support looks like and where things can be better.
This World Mental Health Day is a valuable reminder that lived experience is expertise. When we listen, learn and act on what people tell us, we can create support that is more personal, relevant and responsive to the people and communities we serve.
Talking about mental health
World Mental Health Day is also an opportunity to come together, start conversations about mental health and remind people that everyone’s mental health matters.
Talking can be good for our mental health – and talking about mental health is important too. But starting a conversation isn’t always easy.
Whether you want to talk to someone about how you’re feeling or check in with someone you care about, the Mental Health Foundation has practical advice to help people start those conversations.
And sometimes it is the world around us that can leave us feeling overwhelmed. Constant access to news and social media, particularly during difficult or uncertain global events, can make it harder to switch off.
The Mental Health Foundation also has useful advice on managing doomscrolling and coping with feelings of overwhelm caused by global events and relentless bad news.
Giving yourself permission to step away, setting boundaries around news and social media and making time to switch off can all help protect your wellbeing.
Finding support
If you are struggling with your mental health, you do not have to manage things alone. There are organisations that can listen and help:
- Samaritans: Call 24/7 on 116 123, email [email protected].
- Mind support line: Call 0300 102 1234, 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (except bank holidays).
- SANEline: Call 0300 304 7000, 4.30-10pm every day.
- National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK: Call 0800 689 5652, 6pm-midnight every day, if you have suicidal thoughts.
- Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM): Call 0800 58 58 58, 5pm-midnight everyday if you are affected by suicidal thoughts.
- Shout: If you would prefer not to talk but want some mental health support, you could text SHOUT to 85258. Shout offers a confidential 24/7 text service providing support if you are in crisis and need immediate help.
- Switchboard: If you identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, call 0300 330 0630, 10am–10pm every day, email [email protected] or use their webchat service. Phone operators all identify as LGBT+.
- For NHS support, contact your GP and ask for an emergency appointment, call NHS 111 out of hours, contact your mental health crisis team if you have one, or read the NHS advice if you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts.
- There is plenty of support available within your community. You can find services through your local council's website - if you're not sure who your local council is you can search for it here.
- Another helpful resource is the Hub of Hope, the UK's largest mental health support directory. Visit to find organisations and services near you.
Find out more on accessing mental health support on the Mind website.
Real voices, real change
World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to raise awareness and talk openly about mental health. But the 2026 campaign asks us to go further.
It asks us to recognise lived experience as expertise, make space for different voices and ensure listening leads to meaningful action.
At Making Space, we believe people should feel valued, respected and empowered, with genuine opportunities to influence their support and the services and decisions that affect their lives.
By listening, learning and working together, we can help create support that responds to what people really need.
This World Mental Health Day, let’s move from listening to action – creating change with people, not simply for them.
#WorldMentalHealthDay