Mental Health Awareness Week 2020 podcast
This year’s mental health awareness week finds us in strange and difficult times – but the NUJ has advice and a podcast to see members through it.
This year's mental health awareness week (18-24 May) finds us in strange and difficult times – in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
You may be having to juggle work and look after the children. You may be on your own, or you could be working in a critical job and worrying that you are risking your health or your family's health just by going out to work.
A survey of NUJ members has shown that eight in 10 (84 per cent) fear the crisis will lead to redundancies at their workplace. Thirty-three per cent of freelances said they did not think their income would improve until 2021; 39 per cent said they did not expect work opportunities to improve for three to six months while 16 per cent said they did not expect to make a living at all following the pandemic.
Ann Galpin, chair of the NUJ Disabled Members Council said:
"For people already dealing with mental distress, the lockdown may have limited their ability to access support networks, treatment and their usual means of managing their mental health. Additionally, some members may be experiencing post traumatic stress in relation to covering Covid-19.
It is crucial that employers take these issues seriously and take proactive measures to support and protect the health and safety of workers whether working remotely or in a workplace. For freelancers without the support of an employer, there are resources to support you, including those on the NUJ website.
Natasha Hirst, chair of the NUJ equality council said:
"Many members will be experiencing anxiety and stress arising from the huge changes to our working and personal lives that the coronavirus pandemic has created as well as ongoing fears for the future. The theme for Mental Health Awareness week is kindness. Be kind to yourself and reach out for support if you need it.
The union is here for our members. Whether freelance or employed, please get in touch with branches, officials or reps if you need advice, representation or support."
Among this turmoil, there are ways in which we can protect our mental health.
Here are some tips to help you look after yourself in these extraordinary times if you are working from home:
- Establish a routine. Get up and get dressed in the morning and eat at regular times. Mark the beginning and end of work time.
- Have regular catch-up sessions with managers, colleagues and those whom you manage.
- Develop a regular exercise routine, even if that is not usual for you.
- If you have children, explain you are working and let them know when they can expect to see you. When you have finished work, put your phone/computer away and try to attend to them and their needs.
- Make a point of making contact with your friends and family, even if you don't especially feel like it. Maintaining social connections will strengthen your own resilience as you go through the weeks to come.
- Find some moment in the day when you can do something that is just for yourself; something restorative. Make time to do something that will allow your brain to calm: meditation, visualisation, mindfulness, prayer, yoga, tai chi, gardening…
- Establish good mental health habits: exercise, eating nutritious food, moderate alcohol and sugar intake, adopting good sleep habits.
- Be creative: enjoy music, art, building something, writing, rearranging a room, cooking a new dish, making do and mending, grow plants on your windowsill.
- Talk about your feelings. The emotions you are feeling right now (anger, sadness, fear) are normal responses to an abnormal situation.
Over-working, dirty workstations, unsuitable chairs, poor posture and anxiety about having to return to a workplace are all examples of work-related stress which can affect mental health.
Psychological well-being at work goes hand in hand with good management and there is strong evidence that workplaces with high levels of mental health are more productive. Addressing wellbeing at work increases productivity by as much as 12 per cent (Mental Health Foundation).
If we work for an employer, work-related stress and its impact on our wellbeing is a collective union issue. Our employers have a responsibility to us as workers, to address it. Safety committees should treat issues of work-related stress and mental wellbeing as regular items on their agendas.
Assessments should be carried out that examine all mental health risks that might cause harm in your workplace. NUJ health and safety reps have the power to call for risk assessments (Health and Safety Executive: employers' responsibilities).
Good practice checklist for employers when dealing with mental health problems:
- Commit your firm to challenge the stigma that surrounds mental health issues.
- Ensure mental health concerns are discussed by company safety committees.
- Enable employers and unions to work together to support members dealing with mental health issues.
- Impose policies such as recruitment and sickness absence that do not discriminate against those with mental health conditions.
- Allow workers early access to occupational health services.
- Train all staff on mental health (ideally jointly with the union) with separate mental health awareness training for all line managers.
- Provide an employee assistance programme, an employer-paid scheme that allows employees to contact an independent adviser to discuss confidentially any issue that is troubling them, causing stress or interfering with effective job performance or attendance.
- Make sure you have strong anti-bullying and harassment procedures and a stress management policy.
- Appoint mental health first aiders.
- Put in place policies that support women through the menopause.
Mental health first aiders
Become mental health first aider. Negotiate with your employer to provide training. Providers include:
Union assistance
Listen to the NUJ Mental Health Week podcast by Caroline Homes
Check out Caroline's webinar on looking after your mental and physical health during Covid-19.
Caroline Holmes
Caroline is an NUJ member who has been working in trade union training for more than 20 years. She managed and taught on the International Labour and Trade Union Studies degree at Ruskin College in Oxford.
As a union rep, her roles have included health and safety, negotiating, organising and recruitment, and organising learning events. She runs the NUJ's reps' training programme.
Read or download the Mental Health Awareness Week 2020 document:
Other organisations and resources
- Mental Health Awareness Week 2020: the official website.
- Working well from home under self-quarantine for Coronavirus
- Mental Health Foundation
- Samaritans