May marks Mental Health Awareness Month, and this year’s theme is ‘community’. We have communities all around us: at home, in our social lives, and at work.
We spend roughly a third of our lives at work, and feeling supported and uplifted by your colleagues can make a huge difference.
At Seashell, several members of staff have undertaken Mental Health First Aid training to support their colleagues identify, understand and support someone who may be experiencing a mental health issue.
“It was a really useful course and a great reminder of good practices and how we can look after each other – even in small ways,” said Andy. “I think my team is excellent at supporting each other, but I do encourage people to pop in to my office for a cup of tea if they need. I would definitely recommend the course to others if you have the opportunity!”
Andy, one of our members of staff, has shared some useful tips from the course that we can use to support the people around us:
- Good mental health advocates support their colleagues by checking in regularly, even if they don’t believe people are experiencing difficulties
- We should support with open questions and allow people to speak without interruption
- People may be uncomfortable sharing their feelings in public spaces, or prefer to avoid eye contact. In this case, try walking side-by-side.
- No matter your level of responsibility at work, the pressure or stress experienced by a person can be the same.
The course also outlined the CARE principles, which act as a useful reminder for supporting people:
C – Check in on people regularly
A – Apply non-judgemental communication methods
R – Reassure, and provide further information where possible
E – Encourage professional support, or self-help
