Time to talk about mental health

Today is #TimeToTalk day - a day that encourages everyone to talk about mental health. 

Mental health problems affect one in four of us. Despite this, many people still don't feel able to openly speak about their own mental health. They may worry that opening up, particularly in the context of work, will mean that others will perceive them as being weak and unable to do their job.   

Time to Talk Day is designed to bring mental health issues into the open and to encourage everyone to have conversations about it.

The day provides an opportunity for you and your organisation to highlight the work you're already doing to address mental health stigma in the workplace and remind your staff of the help and support that's available to them. 

Whilst it's important to have policies in place to support staff with mental health problems, you should also be able to spot when someone is under too much pressure and appears to be unable to cope with the demands of their job. Our checklist will help you spot the warning signs and to intervene early.

There's loads of resources available to help you to improve the mental health of your staff. ACAS have an excellent step by step guide to promoting positive mental health in the workplace which is a good starting point.

Time to Change also have lots of resources to encourage people to have conversations about their mental health, including games and activities.

"Games, social events and activities can be fantastic opportunities to start up a mental health conversation in a way that doesn’t appear intimidating or awkward.

With this in mind, in this year’s Time to Talk Day Activity Pack you’ll find ten games curated by the Time to Change Employers Team to introduce to your organisation to kick start these conversations alongside a suite of resources, digital assets and templates to support you on in the run up to the day." Time to Change

”