How to talk about Mental Health Awareness Week without being a d*ck
An Interview with GP and Wellgood Wellbeing Founder, Zoe Watson
On the 15th - 21 May the Mental Health Foundation hosts Mental Health Awareness Week, an opportunity for the whole of the UK to focus on achieving good mental health.
Sadly, some businesses choose to put performative measures in place for one week only, when in reality employee wellbeing and mental health is a year-round topic.
We spoke to Dr Zoe Watson, GP and founder of Wellgood Wellbeing about what companies should, and shouldn’t, be doing.
Zoe is a white woman with blonde wavy hair. She is holding a white and blue mug and is sitting in front of a beige wall, smiling with her eyes closed. She is wearing a black long-sleeved top and big round gold earrings.
If you want to align your business as one that cares about the mental health of its employees - that’s great! But…
DON’T: Just talk about it during mental health awareness week. This is a lifelong commitment, so walk the walk don’t just talk the talk.
DO: Foster an environment in which your employees feel they are able to confidentially talk about their mental health issues without the fear that it will influence their ongoing employment. Mental health is not an “other person” problem. It’s an everyone problem. It is your responsibility as an employer to provide an environment which positively influences the mental health of your employees.
Think about that for a second.
Think about the things that make you - as a human being - feel stressed out and anxious. Think about the systems and operations within your business. Could any of them be improved to make them less stressful for your employees? Be proactive and forward-thinking in vigorously assessing your current communication systems. Send out anonymised questionnaires to your employees and ask them for genuine feedback on the things which cause them stress and anxiety - then look for genuine ways in which you can resolve these.
During Mental Health Awareness Week
DON’T: Reward employees for embracing wellness. We’ve all seen them, competitions that reward step counts and imply greater worthiness to their active employees. I’ve even seen reward schemes that actually reward employees for the biggest BMI change.
There are a number of issues with this. Firstly, step challenges are entirely ableist. They don’t consider physical disabilities or even those with hidden disabilities like chronic fatigue.
Secondly, attaching numbers to anything can lead to obsession and obsessive behaviours. This can have a dramatic impact on the mental health of anyone with a history of disordered eating or anxiety. Don’t create toxic challenges that can negatively impact staff.
DO: Provide your employees with a safe space. Take this week as an opportunity to open up conversations around mental health and even provide somewhere (not necessarily a physical space) where employees can take time out of their day.
Take this, and continue this support year-round.
Photo: @priscilladupreez, Unsplash. Three employees are sat and stood around a desk, smiling and laughing at the screen of one of their computers. They are in a room with white walls and a tall ceiling. Behind them is a tall bookcase filled with files and books.
DON’T: Attach an ROI to mental health and wellness. Mental Health Awareness Week social media is showered with posts attributing a wellness scheme to higher staff productivity.
The mental health of your employees is a human right, and should not be connected to your bottom line. Doing so minimises what your employees are going through.
DO: Create protected time daily for your employees. This should be on top of coffee breaks and lunch and should be within an employee's contracted hours. During this time, no meetings should be arranged and your employees should be allowed to do whatever they please.
This is far from compulsory meditation or yoga but simply a period of time where employees can do whatever they need to relax and decompress. It might be doing some dinner preparation, getting outside, or scrolling on social media. This is time for them while they’re on the clock, and should be made available to everyone.
DON’T: Market this as a perk. Don’t use you being a good employer as an opportunity to sell yourself. It may sound counterintuitive but this is something you should be doing solely because you care about your staff, not as a marketing opportunity.
DO: Feel free to share your own personal experiences as a business leader. Mental Health is for everyone and therefore something we all experience in some way. If you want to showcase your business as authentic, show your own authenticity.
By sharing our personal experiences, we may open ourselves up to people confiding in us, and disclosing that they are struggling, meaning that as their manager or boss, or even as someone simply in their network you can provide them with support and a safe space.
While we’re at it if someone discloses to you that they are struggling with their mental health:
DON’T: Shower them with toxic positivity, and empty affirmations or tell them to “look on the bright side”. This is the absolute opposite of what someone with mental health issues wants or needs. It minimises their genuine mental health issue and essentially gaslights and denies their reality, which can be incredibly painful.
DO: Listen quietly. Encourage. Acknowledge. Validate their feelings. Ask them what you can do to help.
Wellgood Wellbeing is an online membership platform for both businesses and individuals who are just trying to do their best - and want access to things like yoga, meditation, breathwork exercises, sound baths, workout videos, recipe ideas, mental health education, physical health education and more - all presented to you by REAL people, with REAL lives, who understand that wellbeing is as individual as you are - and that it isn't about waiting for the perfect moment, or the perfect pair of workout leggings, or even the perfect feeling. It's about fitting it into the chaotic whirlwind of life, as best you can.
They’re a social enterprise too - so every membership you buy helps to support a subsidised membership for an NHS or Keyworker.
