With World Mental Health Day taking place tomorrow, I want to call on everyone to open up about mental health, to talk and to listen.
Mental health problems can affect anyone, any day of the year, but World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to show your support for better mental health for everyone and consider your own wellbeing.
Recent research carried out by Mind with over 16,000 people found that more than half of adults (60%) and over two-thirds of young people (68%) said their mental health got worse during lockdown, showing how looking after our own and supporting others with their mental health is more important than ever. We have recently started to deliver Youth Mental Health First Aid Courses as part of our Leading Well programme for anyone who works with, lives with or supports young people aged 8-18. They will teach you the skills and confidence to spot the signs of mental health issues in a young person, offer first aid and guide them towards the support they need. In doing so, you can speed up a young person’s recovery and stop a mental health issue from getting worse.
The theme for World Mental Health Day this year is ‘mental health for all’.
Your mental health doesn’t always stay the same. It can change as circumstances change and as you move through different stages of your life. We all have times when we feel down or stressed or frightened. Most of the time those feelings pass. But sometimes they develop into a more serious problem and that could happen to any one of us.
GC is committed to not only supporting your health and wellbeing, especially during these uncertain times, but also in creating an environment that encourages open conversation about mental health. As part of our commitment, we have recently made the Time to Change pledge, a campaign to change the way people think, talk and act about mental health problems. To support our pledge we are training Mental Health Champions who will play a key role in ending stigma and raising awareness around mental health. If you would like to become a champion or find out more about the role then please get in touch.
Everyone has their own personal lived experience of mental health, and two of our Mental Health Champions – Bryoni Parkinson and Zelakah Murphy, have volunteered to talk about mental health and their experiences to encourage open conversation and support others in these short videos:
- What does ‘mental health for all’ mean?
- Why is open conversation about mental health important?
- Why did you sign up to be a Mental Health Champion?
- What is your personal experience with mental ill-health?
- What advice would you give to others who are struggling with their mental health?
A key message that I have taken from watching these videos is that our mental health is just like our physical health: everybody has it and we need to take care of it. I want to thank both champions for openly sharing their personal experiences to encourage people to talk more openly and to listen to others so that we can all work together to help everyone feel safe and supported when talking about mental health.
Do one thing this World Mental Health Day
It’s now more important than ever to reflect on what keeps us well and identify what can impact our wellbeing during this time. And as mentioned in the videos, this can be very different for different people.
Whether it's going for a walk, learning a new skill, taking the first steps to getting support for yourself or speaking to someone about how you are feeling; take the opportunity to do one thing this World Mental Health Day to help look after your own mental health. If you’re struggling to know where to start, you could download the Mind calendar with ideas for different things you can do each day or use these eight relaxation tips to look after your mental health.
As a reminder, our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), provided by Health Assured, is available to you and your immediate family 24/7 by calling the free confidential helpline 0800 030 5182 or visiting the online portal (Username: Growth, Password: Company). During working hours, you can also access support from our Mental Health First Aiders.
Sometimes we say we are fine when we are not. I would urge anyone who needs support or wants to speak about their mental health to do it. There will always be someone who can help, whether it’s through our Mental Health First Aiders, Mind, Samaritans, a colleague, your manager, a friend or family member.
Please speak up and don’t feel that you’re on your own.
Take care and I hope you enjoy the weekend,
Vicky Barton,
Director of HR and Organisation Development