About Mental Health Awareness Week and anxiety
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme is Anxiety.
Anxiety is extremely common, but not something we often admit to, or talk about. It is a natural response in the brain and the body, but can become problematic if it is persistent, overwhelming, or stops us from doing things we want or need to do.
Research shows that anxiety levels amongst the population increased throughout the pandemic and have not yet dropped to pre-pandemic levels (1).
It’s one of the most common mental health problems, and within the workplace 60% experience at least mild symptoms of anxiety, according to recent research from Champion Health (2).
Alexa Knight, Director of England at the Mental Health Foundation says:
“We’ve chosen anxiety as the Mental Health Awareness Week theme this year to kickstart a nationwide conversation, encouraging people to share their own experiences and any helpful ideas on how they manage anxiety,”
There are many ways we can cope with anxiety such as:
- Breathing
- Moving
- Spending time in nature
- Talking about how you feel
- Managing your sleep well
See the Mental Health Foundation for more details (4).
What about businesses?
Wherever your business is on its mental health and wellbeing journey, this week can be used as an important opportunity:
- Leaders as role models – Your leaders pay a crucial role in creating your workplace culture. If leaders can be authentic and share their stories, it gives others permission to start having more open conversations. Once you all start talking, you will be surprised to hear how many others have been through a similar experience.
- Share tips and coping strategies – There are many ways to manage anxiety and sharing examples can be really helpful.
- Share your stories – This does not need to be limited to leaders. Sharing your own stories can help reduce the stigma around mental health, encourage openness and lead to better support in the workplace.
- Organise mental health awareness training to upskill your manager and staff. Help upskill, empower and embed mental health awareness knowledge and skills in your staff increasing retention and productivity.
Make the most of this mental health awareness week and beyond. At Promote Mental Health we talk mental health every week of the year. Contact Promote Mental Health today for details on the training we offer, and keep an eye on our social this week for tips on managing anxiety from our personal experiences.
References
1 2022 https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/research/coronavirus-mental-health-pandemic-study
2 Champion health 2023 https://championhealth.co.uk/insights/guides/workplace-health-report/
3 Mental Health Foundation 2023 https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-05/MHF-UK-Uncertain-times-Anxiety-in-the-UK-and-how-to-tackle-it-MHAW-2023-report.pdf
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