May 14, 2018

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Mental Health

Mental Health Awareness Week

Today marks the start of Mental Health Awareness Week, which will run from 14-20 May. Now in its 18th year, the focus this year is stress.

Research has shown that two thirds of us experience a mental health problem in our lifetimes, and stress is a key factor in this. Past themes of Mental Health Awareness Week have included focus on mindfulness, anxiety, sleep deprivation, and Surviving or Thriving?

What is stress?

The Stress Management Society says that: “stress is primarily a physical response. When stressed, the body thinks it is under attack and switches to ‘fight or flight’ mode, releasing a complex mix of hormones and chemicals such as adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine to prepare the body for physical action. This causes a number of reactions, from blood being diverted to muscles to shutting down unnecessary bodily functions such as digestion.”

The Mental Health Foundation adds that: “stress is a feeling of being under abnormal pressure. This pressure can come from different aspects of your day to day life, such as an increased workload, a transitional period, an argument you have with your family or new and existing financial worries. You may find that it has a cumulative effect, with each stressor building on top of one another.”Mental Health

SHP will be publishing more articles this week on mental health in support of the event.

For more information about the event and how you can get involved with Mental Health Awareness Week, follow this link to the Mental Health Foundation information page.

Mental Health and Wellbeing is the focus of the Occupational Health and Wellbeing Theatre at the Safety & Health Expo 2018.

Hear industry leaders share their own personal stories in the brand new Occupational Health and Wellbeing Zone, with talks on mental health, reducing stress, boosting resilience, including a discussion with Santander on how to manage psychological wellbeing for positive business outcome. Seminar topics include : ‘Health risk management approaches’, ‘Using nature-inspired design to improve office occupant health and wellbeing’ and many more debates and panels…

What makes us susceptible to burnout?

In this episode  of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.

We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.

stress

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