World Mental Health Day 2024: ‘Workplace Wellbeing’
“World Mental Health Day is celebrated every year on 10 October. The day is about coming together to talk about mental health and show everyone that mental health matters. Talking about our mental health can help us cope better with life’s ups and downs.
So, on World Mental Health Day and beyond it, why not check in with your friends, family, peers, or colleagues?
The 2024 theme set by the World Federation of Mental Health was workplace mental health. The theme highlights the importance of addressing mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, for the benefit of people, organisations, and communities.” (Mental Health., 2024)
Our Chair Richard Daniel Curtis pens his reflections for 2024…
When I think about workplace wellbeing, I always come back to the same core principles. These simple things are the things that have the most powerful impact in creating and maintaining a mental health friendly culture. They are the things you can control in your day-to-day life and do not rely on organisations, others or systems. This is why they are the most powerful, as you are in charge of them, they are the things you can do and say every day.
- Change the words you use. Be clear that we all experience poor mental health (we all experience good mental health). Mental health conditions relate to the diagnosable conditions people can experience (this does not mean they are experiencing a difficulty necessarily). It is only when someone is struggling that we talk about mental health difficulties.
- Change the things you do. Overwhelm is overwhelm, it may come out as stress, as frustration or many other emotions, but it is overwhelm. When you are helping someone who is overwhelmed, you deal with their emotions and then the problem, just as you would with a small child.
- Be a leader. Model your emotional journey (without blaming), we are all on an emotional rollercoaster, make it alright to have had a bad day/hour/minute/week.
There are a host of different techniques and complex theories, systems, software, signs, and much more that you can invest in. But without the empathetic approach of the individuals thinking about their words, actions and modelling, change in the workplace culture will fail.
Wherever you are in a workplace, you can change the culture around you. Letting it radiate out from you through the interactions you have with others, supports their wellbeing. In turn, they may change just one thing, like a phrase they use or the way they interact with someone else. This trickle-down effect may only affect a small part of your workplace, but at least you are having an impact.
By
Richard Daniel Curtis
Chair of the Association of Mental Health in Education October 2024.
The Mental Health Awards 2024
Have you got a story that you would like to share about Workplace Wellbeing? Check out the Mental Health Awards; “a celebration of successful interventions and inspirational stories of people who have experienced recovery. Since 2019, organisations, services and individuals have been awarded for their relentless work toward making a difference in their communities. These awards symbolise hard work and heart-felt devotion. Let us know about people and organisations who deserve to receive a Mental Health Award!”
The Mental Health Awards