Mental Health Awareness Week - 13-19 May
During Mental Health Awareness Week – recognised as 13-19 May by the Mental Health Foundation – it is a good time to reflect on our own mental wellbeing.
This year’s theme is 'Body Image' and whilst it may not seem relevant to our working lives, it can have a massive impact for some. Our own feelings about our body image can have an effect on our mental health as much as stress, relationships and other factors and can spill into our working environment affecting both us and the interactions with our colleagues.
Mental Health Awareness Week this year should serve as a reminder that we all deserve the care and attention to look after ourselves and make time for things that promote a happy self-image.
As an employer we take mental health seriously, and have a range of resources available to support you and your colleagues:
Mental Health and Wellbeing Guide
Employee Mental Health Guide
Mental Health Awareness Training
Health and Work Policy
Employee Assistance Programme – Time for Talking, a 24/7 support service (0800 970 3980)
To further demonstrate our commitment to mental health in the workplace, we are encouraging you all to take part in Mental Health Awareness Week. This doesn’t need to be anything big or time consuming – for instance, you could:
Take 5 minutes at the end of a meeting this week to talk about mental health, or perhaps
Get together with a friend for a coffee and chat.
Both of these are great ways to improve mental wellbeing and raise awareness!
For full article on Mental Health Week see this month’s Connect magazine.