Category: Workplace Mental Health

In May 2023, thanks to three bank holidays in just four-and-a-half weeks, many workers in the United Kingdom have engaged in a practice that has shown dramatic benefits for our mental health, work-life balance, and overall well-being: a four-day workweek. 

Anxiety and stress at work are sharply on the rise, and worryingly only a quarter of workplaces are estimated to actually have plans in place to support people should they experience chronic stress. What are the common themes at work that people find anxiety inducing? Tackling these could reduce chances of chronic stress or burnout. We’ve broken down common workplace anxieties and what you can do to support people experiencing them.

Anxiety at work is on the rise. Over 8 million people in the UK experience an anxiety disorder, and burnout and stress are costing industries over 70 million sick days per year. What exactly is making employees in workplaces so anxious, and what are the truths about just how many of us are anxious at work?

Many teachers these days are facing overstuffed workloads and packed diaries, giving them little time to complete tasks and take well-deserved breaks. This pressure, as well as the pressure of being frequently reviewed, can often lead to a decline in teachers’ mental health. Michael tells us of his experience, and why he ended up making the decision to leave teaching.

There is a mental health crisis facing the education sector. Over the past few years, teachers, team leaders and support staff have seen unprecedented levels of change to their workload. From pivoting lesson plans for online delivery, creating support packages to help students learn remotely, to the recent cost-of-living crisis and budget cuts to the sector – it’s no surprise that education staff are recording persistent, higher levels of stress in their roles. There are calls for the sector to evaluate their support mechanisms for staff, and provide a psychologically safe space for staff to feel valued, and supported to bring their whole selves to work.

For many workers, Christmas is a time of year for rest and annual leave. However, for people supporting those living with mental illness or experiencing mental health problems, this isn’t always the case, and in fact it can be the festive period where support is required the most. We spoke to Cathal, Beth and Monika, Rethink Mental Illness mental health recovery workers, about the impact of their work at this time of year.

It’s estimated that we consume as much as 60% of our food and drink in the workplace and spend more than 40 years of our life at work. For our partners Eurest and 14forty, workplace caterers, this made them think about the link between nutrition and mealtimes and worker’s mental health. How can you ensure as an organisation you’re supporting employee’s mental health through mealtimes?

There’s much more to a mentally friendly work set up than pretty décor and new plush furnishings. An office space that’s truly inclusive for those living with mental health problems, experiencing poor mental health and that’s psychologically safe and inclusive for all, starts with policy and practice and may include environmental factors such as food and mealtimes and specifically designed office spaces for all types of workers.

For World Mental Health Day, we spoke to Rees Bramwell, Senior Nutritionist at our partner Eurest and 14forty. Eurest brings award-winning contract catering services to businesses across the UK, who use their knowledge of how mealtimes and nutrition contribute towards good mental health to promote mentally healthy workplaces up and down the country. We checked in with Rees to find out what they’ve been doing to prioritise mental health as we approach the last few months of the year, from amending internal policy to creating fundraising schemes.