Stephen Morgan MP has encouraged discussion and honesty for Time to Talk Day, a national mental health conversation launched by charitable organisation Mind which annually takes place on 5 February.
This year’s Time to Talk Day theme is “Brave the Big Talk”. Mind is encouraging everyone to open up about their mental health, even when it feels difficult, so that everyone is able to feel comfortable talking about mental health.
Mental health conversation remains important as this year’s Big Mental Health Report campaign revealed that 1 in 5 adults in England are living with a common mental health problem and rates are rising steadily.
Additionally, stigma has only worsened across the UK in recent years despite general awareness improving overall. In 2024, public knowledge scores about mental health fell by 3.5% compared to the year prior, dropping below 2009 baseline levels for the first time.
Commenting, Stephen Morgan, MP for Portsmouth South, said:
“Over the last decade, there has been crucial progress across Britain in reducing stigma and an increase in public awareness of mental health conditions, and I am proud that this city is included in that progress.
“Unfortunately, whilst understanding has seen major improvement, the prevalence of common mental health conditions for adults has also increased to 1 in 5.
“With open conversation being more important than ever, Time to Talk Day is a valuable nationwide opportunity to ensure progress continues and continues to do so in the right direction.
“If more people talk openly about mental health and suicide, spot the signs, listen without judgement, we can all make a difference.”
Since coming into office, the Labour Government has remained committed to changing how Britain approaches mental health, giving mental health the same attention and focus as physical health within our healthcare system and wider society.
Labour has already modernised legislation through the Mental Health Act 2025, giving patients greater dignity, autonomy rights and support, and ‘have now brought total NHS waiting lists down by over 7 million, allowing earlier intervention and faster support for mental health.
This support follow’s Mr Morgan’s Cuppa & Chat session on mental health on Saturday. Portsmouth people were invited to learn about and discuss mental health to feed into the work of the MP in Westminster.
Mind has encouraged people to get involved in Time to Talk Day in a number of ways, including:
- Sharing your own experiences of mental health on social media using #TimeToTalk.
- Having conversations with your friends and family.
- Raising awareness locally.
- Providing support to others
To find out more about Time to Talk Day 2026, click here.
