1. Mental Wellbeing
Rachel Weiss
@Rowan_Rachel
Rachel.weiss@rowan-consultancy.co.uk
www.facebook.com/RowanConsultancy

2. Workshop purpose:
After this training, you will
• Appreciate the difference between mental
health and mental wellbeing
• Be familiar with the concept of Wellbeing
Champions
• Know of the HSE Management Standards
• Distinguish between Depression, Anxiety &
Stress and know ways to mitigate them.

3. CIPD definition of well-being
Creating an environment
to promote a state of contentment
which allows an employee to flourish and
achieve their full potential
for the benefit of themselves and their
organisation
5 components:
Physical, Mental, Social, Spiritual, Intellectual

4. Mental Health

5. Physical Health

6. Mental Health
vs Mental Illness
• Everyone has mental health all the time:
it varies from good to poor
• Some people have mental illnesses,
temporary or ongoing. These are clinically
diagnosed eg depression, anxiety, eating
disorders, schizophrenia.

7. http://wmhp.cmhaontario.ca/workplace-mental-health-core-concepts-issues/what-is-mental-health-
and-mental-illness

8. In Scotland:
• 1 in 4 people experiences a mental health
problem at some point in their lifetime.
• at any one time 1 in 6 people has a
mental health problem.
Mental Health Foundation 2016

10. Legal, business and moral cases

11. Depression
“It is that absence of being able to envisage
that you will ever be cheerful again.
The absence of hope.
That very deadened feeling, which is so very
different from feeling sad.”
J.K. Rowling

12. Depression
Thoughts:
• I am no good
• Life is no good
• Nothing will ever get better
Feelings
Hopeless, helpless, no pleasure in anything
Tired and withdrawn

13. What can help depression?
• Exercise
• Anti-depressants
• Being outside
• Social support
• Knowledge
• Identifying unhelpful
thinking habits

14. Anxiety
“You know that feeling when you’re rocking on the
back legs of your chair and suddenly for just a
split second you think you’re about to fall?
Imagine that feeling being frozen in time and
lodged in your chest for hours or days, and
imagine with it a sense of doom and dread sticking
around too, but sometimes you don’t even know
why.”

15. Our natural alarm system

16. Anxiety
Thoughts
• Something bad’s going to happen
• I’m going to pass out
Feelings
Fear or panic On edge
Worry dizzy, nausea
Behaviour: Talking fast, restless

17. What can help anxiety?
• Breathing
• Relaxation
• Medication
• Reality checks
• Identifying unhelpful thinking habits

18. STOP

19. What is Stress?
Stress occurs….
….when the perceived demands on us
exceed our perceived resources

20. Stress and Burnout
• Perfectionist, conscientious people
• People who live to serve others
What helps?
• Learning to look after yourself
• Exercise, relaxing, friends, walks, solitude
• Recover, then learn new habits

21. Stress Busting Tools
Physical Emotional
Cognitive Behavioural
Relaxation
Exercise
Breathe
Acknowledge
Accept your emotion
Tell somebody
Reality check
Self-talk
Positive thinking
Assertiveness
Negotiation
Lower Demands
Increased support

22. Supporting colleagues
• Ask once, ask twice
• Take it seriously
• Listen and reflect
• Ask questions
• Don't try and fix it
• Build your knowledge

24. Employee Assistance Programmes
(EAPs)
Counselling Service
Financial advice
Legal advice
24/7 helpline

25. Healthy working lives
0800 019 221
Advice line on
workplace health
issues
www.healthyworkinglives.com

26. When Bill returns to work,
people say “Good to see you back!”
and ask how he is.

27. Ways to promote mental
health and wellbeing at
work
• Good employment practice
• Effective return-to-work and
rehabilitation strategies
• A line manager who cares
• Proactive employee well-being
support

28. Reducing Pressure at Work
• take short breaks
• give clear briefs when delegating (clear,
capable & motivated)
• avoid passing stress on to others by
taking time to relax following exposure to
pressure
• Lead by example

29. HSE Management
Standards
• Demand
• Control
• Support
• Roles
• Relationships
http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/standards/

30. Demonstrate senior
level
buy-in
Raise awareness
about mental
health
Update and
implement policies
to address mental
health problems in
the workplace
Ask staff to share
personal
experiences of
mental health
problems
Equip line
managers to have
conversations
about mental
health
Provide information
about mental
health and
signpost to
support services
Demonstrate
accountability and
recruit Employee
Champions
Action plan: seven key principles

31. Mental Wellbeing
Champions
• Time to Change Employer pledge
• Wellbeing Champions
• Mental Health First Aiders

32. Shared responsibility for
our health
Our employer has some responsibility and so do
we.
To work well we need to:
• Take responsibility for own wellbeing
• Monitor our own mental and physical health
• Seek support when needed

33. Caring for my
mental
wellbeing

34. How do you look after
your mental health?

35. Rowan courses
Manager as Coach
Perth, March 25th
Managing Mental Health
Perth, May 13th or online June 11th
2 hours
Mediation Skills
Perth, Sept 24 and 25

36. Join the Rowan conversations
www.facebook.com/RowanConsultancy
@Rowan_Rachel