Mental health is an important cause of morbidity and mortality[1,2] in the UK. It is comparatively poorly funded, both for clinical services[3] and for research[4]. NHS services in the UK are struggling to meet demand[5] and support from charities, such a Mind, are needed more than ever.

Mind (The Mental Health Charity) is encouraging people to Run Every Day (RED) in January to: increase awareness of mental health problems, raise funds, and to promote exercise during one of the 'bleakest' months of the year. Exercise also has beneficial effects on mental health, as well as physical[6].

I've decided to take this on by running every day in January, covering 406.1 miles - a half marathon each day (13.1 miles). I normally run about 40miles/week, so this will be a significant set-up. Due to work I won't always be able to cover exactly that distance in one go, but I aim to cover it on average. 

You can follow my runs step-by-step on Strava and on other modalities of social media:

Twitter: @manngsy

Instagram: jake.p.mann

What you can do to help:

1. Talk about mental health.
2. Sponsor me and make a donation to Mind.
3. Join in with RED January or join me for a run (or part of one).

References:

1. Morgan et al. Incidence, clinical management, and mortality
   risk following self harm among children and adolescents: cohort study in primary care. BMJ. 2017;359:j4351. doi: 10.1136/bmj.j4351.
2. Schulz et al. Association Between Depression and Mortality in Older Adults. Arch Intern Med. 2000;160(12):1761–1768.
   
3. The King's Fund. Mental health - part of The King's Fund Verdict. 2015. https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/verdict/has-government-put-mental-health-equal-footing-physical-health
4. MQ. UK Mental health research funding. April 2015. https://www.mqmentalhealth.org/research/research-funding-landscape
5. NHS Providers. Funding mental health at local level. May 2016. http://nhsproviders.org/media/1945/nhs-providers_hfma_mental-health-survey.pdf
   
6. Deslandes et al.  Exercise and Mental Health: Many Reasons to Move. Neuropsychobiology 2009;59:191–198