Time to Talk

Guest blog by Poppy Jaman, Chief Executive Officer, Mental Health First Aid England

Today is ‘Time to Talk’ day.

And the topic we want to get you talking about is mental health. All of us have mental health, just as we all have physical health. Mental health issues are common and affect 1 in 4 people every year. It’s a normal part of life, so let’s talk about it.

We each have a ‘Stress Bucket’ we’re managing. Our stress buckets are different and what contributes to how full it becomes is often a combination of what is going on in our lives. For example, for some people, work is a place where they can escape stressful personal lives, for others work stress follows them home and it spills over into their personal lives. For many, stress buckets start to overflow when there is pressure mounting from across their lives — inside and outside of work. When a person’s stress bucket starts to overflow, problems can and do occur.

Mental health triggers

Looking at work, for some, it can be a trigger for mental health issues. The competition, stress and long hours’ culture in some workplaces leaves employees vulnerable, but their fear of discrimination often prevents them from accessing help and support early on. For others, going to work provides the support structure they need to manage their mental health.

Sometimes it is not possible to prevent or avoid every trigger that might lead someone to develop a mental health issue. However, the more we recognise the importance of mental health, the more likely it is that we can either manage our own mental health or support that of others. This might be through encouraging self-help strategies or seeking appropriate professional help or if work pressure or stress is the trigger, being able to have a conversation about what changes could be made to alleviate the cause.

How are you?

A simple chat can make a real difference to help everyone discuss mental health openly. You don’t have to be an expert — a text to a friend, a quick few words with a family member, or walking to lunch and asking a colleague ‘How are you?’ (and genuinely listening to the answer) are all ways to show that we care. Listening is just as important as talking, and it can take practice.

So today, let’s talk about what we can all do to try and reduce the triggers for mental ill health. Let’s encourage our employers to take a holistic approach to managing the mental health of their workforce, let’s have good quality conversations with our line manager or the people you manage about their wellbeing, stress levels and mental health, and let’s look out for signs and symptoms in friends, family and colleagues who might be experiencing a mental health issue.

Let’s not shy away from mental health. It’s Time to Talk.

Time to Talk Day: www.time-to-change.org.uk

For information on Mental Health First Aid training: www.mhfaengland.org

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