The UK’s Mental Health Awareness week takes place from 10 to 16 May 2021. Did you know 1 in 9 adults in the UK have struggled with their mental health during the Coronavirus pandemic? The awareness week aims to normalise the conversation around mental health to empower those who may be in need of help.
Mental health is no longer seen separate to physical health, recognising the link that if the mind is unwell the body may be too and vice versa. The Covid-19 pandemic has bought about deeper conversations surrounding mental health as multiple lockdowns have drastically reduced social connectivity, fuelled isolation and left people feeling anxious, stressed and scared.
Mental Health UK has created the ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’ – a set of pillars identified as key to improving our mental health.
The 5 Ways to Wellbeing are:
- Connect – speak to people and build supportive connections
- Take Notice – promote the state of mindfulness and take stock and enjoy your surroundings
- Give – helping others promotes welling being and can be incredibly rewarding
- Be Active – regular physical activity is known to lower rates of depression and anxiety
- Keep Learning – learning something new stimulates your senses and builds self-confidence.
Mental health and work
The quality of work and home life have often been a balancing act. With an increasing number of people working from home due to social distancing restrictions, coupled with caring for dependents and not having the avenues for enjoyment and relaxation as in pre-pandemic times, taking time for yourself and maintaining good mental health can often fall to one side.
1 in 5 UK workers have recently felt unable to manage stress levels at work leading to ‘burnout’ – a state of physical and emotional exhaustion. Here at Ipswich Building Society, we are a Suffolk Mind Workplace Wellbeing organisation. Both prior and during the pandemic, we have hosted ‘Your Needs Met’ and ‘Mindfulness’ training sessions to open the platform of mental health discussion and encourage useful ways to limit negative impacts on people’s mental health.
Seeking help and support
If you are struggling, there is lots of helpful advice out there to hopefully access the support you (or someone you know) may need.
The old saying goes ‘to take care of others, you must start taking care of yourself’.
Useful resources:
