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Mental Health

The purpose of the mental health workstream is to accelerate progress towards an inclusive culture around mental health within the industry.

Our objectives for 2024 are:

1/ Host member events in collaboration with other DP workstreams with expertise around mental health, given its intersectional nature

2/ Build allyship across the DP workstreams and ensure that member firms provide support to their employees

3/ Continue building and updating our Mental Health Directory in order to share resources and suppliers that DP member firms use

To see our full Mental Health aims and objectives, please click here

Glossary

What is mental health?

What is good mental health?

What is Wellbeing?

What is mindfulness?

What is depression?

What is anxiety?

Services

There are a number of services which everyone can access. In addition to this many people have private medical insurance provided by their employer or purchased themselves. These often include mental health support and counselling so please check your policy or talk to your HR department.

Seek the advice and support of your GP. If you cannot do this and are in distress or need immediate help visit A&E
Talk to the Samaritans. Their number is 116 123 and it is free, 24hours a day
Text ‘Shout’ to 85258. They can help with arrange of mental health issues
For practical advice on different types of therapy and medication, benefits, debt or money issues and your rights under the Mental Health Act call Rethink on 0300 5000 927
Mind have an information line to answer questions about different types of mental health problem, where to get help, drug and alternative treatments and advocacy. Their number is 0300 123 3393. They also have a legal advice service 0300 466 6463
Tell someone you trust what is going on with you
Each borough has a Community Mental Health Team. Search online for the one that operates in your area
There are also a number of online communities which people may benefit from

For Employees

Resources for help with mental health

Knowing what foods we should and shouldn’t be eating can be really confusing, especially when it feels like the advice changes regularly. However, evidence suggests that as well as affecting our physical health, what we eat may also affect the way we feel.

Improving your diet may help to:

Improve your mood
Give you more energy
Help you think more clearly

Here are some ideas below:

Mind UK: About food and mood
Quarantine cooking club: Arrange a zoom/facetime/whatsapp call with a friend or group of friends and cook a meal together. No meal should be enjoyed alone.
Plant based and Vegetarian option: https://deliciouslyella.com/recipes/
BBC Good Food: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/
Joe Wicks, The Body Coach: https://www.thebodycoach.com/blog/cats/recipes?loadmore=true&pc=21#art11
Wellness Apps: Calm,Headspace, Sanvello, Happify, Healthline)
Mood checker
Exercise

Sometimes searching for the right workout can be longer than the workout itself so we have provided you with some helpful apps and links below to get you motivated:

Nike Run Club: https://www.nike.com/gb/nrc-app

Strava: https://www.strava.com/

Couch to 5km: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phe.couchto5K&hl=en_GB

The Body Coach: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAxW1XT0iEJo0TYlRfn6rYQ

Women’s Health: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwGBV6mXtBB3O-rEQpevYHA/videos

Instagram Online: For any Instagram fans, most personal trainers and gyms are offering live workouts on their Instagram story. It might be worth giving your favourite celebrity PT a follow.

Podcasts

Happy Place – Ferne Cotton – Fearne Cotton talks to incredible people about life, love, loss, and everything in-between as she reveals what happiness means to them
Daily Meditation – Mary Meckley
A Library of Meditations at Your Finger Tips. Be happy, healthy, more at peace, and sleep better as you’re greeted every morning with a daily guided meditation technique. Feel as though you’re seated next to your personal meditation teacher Mary Meckley as she takes you on a weekly journey to manage your emotions. New themes each week based on an emotion with different daily meditation techniques to manage stress triggers. You are so worth slowing down for.
The Therapy Edit – Anna Mathur
10 min episodes brought to you by Psychotherapist, Anna Mathur. Find useful tips, insights and reflections to support your mental wellbeing.
Calmer you Podcast – Chole Brotheridge
Quiet the inner critic, calm your mind and move forwards with confidence. With Chloe Brotheridge, expert hypnotherapist, coach and author of The Anxiety Solution and Brave New Girl.
Deliciously Ella – The podcast looks into the world of physical and mental health, wellbeing, the realities of building a business and a brand and staying positive in a busy world.

Books

Good and Bad Habits

Good habits (not an exhaustive list). Good mental health habits are habits and routines you can implement to maintain and improve your mental health. Remember the stress container. Examples include:

Eat a balanced diet. It is well known our gut bacteria synthesise around 95% of the serotonin the brain uses to regulate mood and activity
Exercise regularly
Go outside – sunlight and fresh air are mood enhancers and also help with vitamin D production
Stay hydrated
Laugh more – it doesn’t really matter what you are laughing at – within reason!
Sleep well – the brain actually repairs itself during sleep
Practice meditation
Maintain good posture – another example of the physical linking with mental
Take a break from technology. All technology!
Keep a journal of your thoughts to help identify triggers and behaviour patterns
Talk about it with people who care for you
Get a pet. Not suitable for everyone but a possibility for some. Even a goldfish will do!
Stop multi-tasking – it is exhausting and over-rated
Consult a doctor and get a professional opinion. This is incredibly important as early intervention can dramatically shorten recovery times and improve outcomes

Bad habits (not an exhaustive list). Bad mental health habits are behaviours that have a negative effect on the way we think or the way we feel about ourselves. Examples include:

Perfectionism
Lack of exercise
Excess and uncontrolled stress
Anger
Overuse of a smartphone
Overuse of social media
Procrastination, which can lead to ‘last minute’ behaviour and more stress
Co-dependency and maintaining toxic relationships
Poor sleep
Poor or unbalanced diet
Overuse of alcohol or other substances
Buying things you don’t need

It stands to reason that it can sometimes be harder to break a bad habit than start or maintain a good one. Some of the examples I have listed may even seem strange or counterintuitive, such as shopping less.

But knowing what the unhelpful behaviours are and working towards eradicating them will have a beneficial impact on mental health.

For Employers

Training and resources
- Mental Health First Aid (see below)
- Every Mind at Work
- City Mental Health Alliance
BNY Mellon Case study
CCLA Corporate Mental Health White Paper
City Mental Health Alliance White Paper – Mental Health and Race at Work

Mental Health First Aid

What is Mental Health First Aid: Mental Health First Aid England is a social enterprise offering expert guidance and training to support mental health, in the workplace and beyond.

What they do: Their mission is to train one in ten people in mental health awareness and skills. They offer a wide range of face to face and digital learning to empower people to notice signs of mental ill health and encourage them to break down barriers, listen in a non-judgemental way and signpost to support for recovery. They provide training to organisations including workplaces; universities; schools and colleges and armed forces. Training employees to become mental health first aiders helps to provide additional support to employees with mental ill health and reduce stigma in the workplace.

For more information on how to train your employees to become mental health first aiders: https://mhfaengland.org/