Monday the 10th October 2022 is World Mental Health Day. And this year the theme for the day is ‘making mental health and wellbeing a global priority for all.’
And it’s safe to say that this is a seriously tall order.
But as accountants we can all focus on doing our little bit to improve our own mental health and wellbeing and the mental health and wellbeing of those we work with, those in our communities and those who we can find a way to help in the wider world.
Let’s start with how you can make a commitment to look after our own wellbeing and mental health. Here’s a few high level ideas.
- Don’t allow yourself to be too busy to attend to your basic needs as a human being. Prioritise sleep, exercise, hydration and nutrition and learn to honour those basic needs. Even prisoners have those needs attended to as a priority and by neglecting them yourself you’re placing your own self worth at the bottom of the pile.
- One step on from that is to ring fence time for self care. This is where you indulge in things that make you feel happy. Be it long walks in nature, a facial, curling up with your favourite book or spending time with friends – these things matter and they will boost your mental wellbeing.
- Practice gratitude. When the mundane chores in life or at work start to grind you down try reframing them. Instead of feeling bogged down by the things you have to do, think about how lucky you are that you get to do them. Life could be much much worse.
- Remember that it’s good to talk! Communication is so important and if you’re feeling stressed about a situation at work or you’re allowing yourself to get frustrated about a family or friendship dynamic, remember that a problem shared is always a problem halved. Talk about things that bother you.
Now let’s look at how you can boost the mental wellbeing of those around you.
- In the same way that it’s good to talk when you’re feeling down, it’s really important to take time to actively listen to others who have thoughts and feelings they need to share.
- Take notice of those around you who may be struggling. When mental health tragedies occur in many situations they happen completely out of the blue. Just because a quiet colleague in the corner isn’t asking for help, if you spot signs of a mental health problem, don’t assume that unless they ask for help, they don’t need it. The biggest killer of men under 50 us suicide – that’s a sobering fact isn’t it?
- Be part of the team that champions and asks for better wellbeing practices in your workplace. If you can see that something is causing your colleagues strife, be brave and bring it up. A simple solution may be easy to find and you’ll be doing yourself and your colleague a favour by suggesting it.
And what about the wider population?
This one is a really tough problem to solve. In a world that is increasingly more and more divided with lives that seem to get busier and busier, making time to see the plight of others around the world, let alone to attempt to solve it is difficult.
But our advice to you is to do what you can and know that that is enough. If everyone does the same we’ll be making the world mentally healthier place.
- If you have a spare hour in your week think about how you can volunteer to help others become mentally healthier.
- Donate what you can where you can. Be it financially or logistically. Donating to your local food or hygiene bank will help someone somewhere live a less stressful life.
- Encourage your firm to get involved in corporate and social responsibility programmes where you can. Working together as a team to help others will boost your own wellbeing and productivity as well as helping others to live happier lives.
In a world that is being driven apart by politics, health inequalities and personal opinions this Mental Health Day we can all focus on togetherness.
And remember that if you work for a firm who doesn’t support your mental wellbeing or that of those around you, there is plenty you can do to change that. Some of our clients are showcasing some really innovative ideas about how they can support their staff to be happier and as a result, more productive.
Take a look at our jobs board today to see if any of our current roles sound good. Or reach out for a confidential discussion about your unique job search requirements. We’d be delighted to help you achieve greater mental wellbeing professionally.
