From Awareness to Action: Mental Health at Work

Laura May shares why small actions at work make the biggest difference to mental health

Trigger warning: this story has a brief mention of suicide 

The theme for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is ‘action’; the idea that to truly make advances in mental health, we must move beyond awareness and get to a place where we are acting to make meaningful change. I’ve been part of the efforts to raise awareness around mental health since I tried to take my own life in 2013, and in more than a decade since I started campaigning, speaking and writing publicly about mental health, I’ve seen huge progress in how open we are to talking about this topic.

Work, however, has always been a difficult nut to crack. We spend an enormous amount of our waking lives at work yet many of us still feel unable to bring our full selves with us. Even as someone who frequently talks about their struggles with anxiety and depression, honesty at work can still feel risky. When I reflect on my mental health journey, it’s often the small, everyday actions- for myself and for others- that have made the biggest difference. So, if we know mental health matters, and we know silence can do harm, the question becomes: how do we act early, and how do we create a workplace where support doesn’t only arrive once someone is in crisis?

Like with physical health problems, prevention is the greatest tool of all. Early action to support mental wellbeing and to make mental health part of normal conversation at work is vital to help prevent escalation to crisis. What does early action look like at work? A lot of mental health awareness campaigning has been about ‘checking in’ or telling people, ‘it’s okay not to be okay’, but unfortunately, if your mental health is in decline, it’s often very hard to be the one who takes the proactive step of asking for support and it puts the onus on the person struggling to be the solution.

For us all

The first step in being proactive about mental health means noticing the small changes in your peers – withdrawal from conversations or meetings, a change in communication style, missing deadlines or making mistakes that wouldn’t normally happen, or on the flip side, overworking or perfectionism in overdrive. Everyone wears their mental health differently, but noticing the small changes at work can mean catching someone before they fall. If you do notice changes, the next step is thinking about what actionable support you can give someone. Obviously a great place to start is an honest conversation about how someone is feeling, but people will often resist asking for help even when given the opportunity.

For colleagues

Early action could be helping someone get on top of their to do list or on top of their organisation, encouraging the use of annual leave (or sick leave where needed), speaking up when you see that workloads are unmanageable (even if it’s not affecting you personally) and speaking to a trusted peer or manager when you notice changes in someone you work with. It also means creating a culture where flexibility is normalised and spoken about, where sharing your struggles is frequent and fighting against a culture where burnout is normalised and being overly busy is rewarded or praised.

For managers

Creating a team culture where healthy working habits and general health habits are encouraged and creating spaces that feel safe for conversations about mental health should be part and parcel of managing your team. Early action doesn’t need to be dramatic or formal. It’s about making small decisions and taking small steps, frequently, to prevent pressure becoming harm. It’s the little things we do individually and as a team to hold each other up that are most effective at preventing crisis.

So, ask yourself: what one small action can I take today – for me, for my colleagues, for my team – to reduce pressure early, quietly, and before it becomes a crisis?

Want to learn more?

Visit the Wellbeing and Benefits Hub to explore our internal support and resources.

 Visit the Mental Health Foundation page for Mental Health Awareness week.

And in the spirit of authenticity, if you’re interested in reading more about my journey with mental health, you can check out my personal blog.