World Mental Health Day – 2025
Published: 9 October 2025
Enable_All
World Mental Health Day – 2025
It’s that time of year again when we take a day to reflect on our mental health and that of those around us. However, I ask, why do we need a day dedicated to this? Surely, we should be taking time out every day to review our own mental health and take caring steps to ensure we’re in the best state we can be. And if we’re not, guide us towards seeking the right kind of help so we can find support, solace, and care where needed.
Those steps should also be applied to those around us. Step back and take a look at your family, friends, and colleagues. Does anyone need your help, a shoulder to lean on, a friendly ear to listen to their concerns, or perhaps just to be there with them in silence, knowing you’re there to offer support?
Recent events, globally and close to home, continue to erode our mental health. Attacks on any faith community affect us all and contribute to collective anxiety and fear. The recent attack at a synagogue on Yom Kippur (the highest holy day in the Jewish calendar) was frightening and worrying. This has increased the anxiety of the Jewish community to unprecedented levels in the modern era. But these attacks aren’t just on one community; they are on many in our society, and they erode our mental health, both individually and as a whole.
This year’s World Mental Health Day has the theme of mental health in the context of catastrophes and emergencies. While this tends to focus on war-torn areas of the world or locations that have recently experienced natural disasters and their effects on those affected, it extends beyond these. The images that we see on television and on our social media directly impact our own mental health; we live vicariously through those images and, by extension, take that suffering into our own hearts and minds. And while we cannot begin to imagine the suffering they are directly under, we find ourselves increasingly affected by what we see and hear.
This empathy is human, and we all should feel some of it. However, our own mental health needs to be at the forefront. We need to take the time to ensure that elements we cannot affect are reduced in our priorities, and we must remember to look after those aspects that we can influence through our actions.
Take time to make use of the opportunities around you to support your mental wellbeing. Recently, Xerox colleagues joined the Palace to Palace ride and Windsor Walk in support of The King’s Trust. This event not only raised funds for a great cause but also gave everyone the chance to get active, enjoy nature, and connect with friends and colleagues.
If you couldn’t take part, that’s okay. I encourage you today to find your own way to pause, take a breath, notice the world around you, and set a small goal that supports your wellbeing or helps someone else with theirs.
Many organisations, including Xerox, offer Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs). If your employer does, I encourage you to explore what’s available to you.
I wish you all the very best of health on this day, both physical or mental. Look after yourself and those around you. Don’t become a statistic. Become someone who looks after their own health and provides support to those who might need it.
Tony Fagelman
Global President of Xerox’s Enable_All Employee Resource Group and a proud member of the Xerox community.