At any one time, one in six employees will have a mental health condition. In many cases, the ill health will be either caused, or made worse, by work.
This year’s mental health awareness week, from 14-18 May, focuses on stress – a major contributor to mental ill health.
The Mental Health Foundation, which is spearheading the event in the UK, says that by tackling stress, we can go a long way to tackling mental health problems.
Read about why research carried out one hundred years ago has surprising relevance in today’s battle against workplace stress.
As we explored in April, official figures show that work-related stress is at a record high, though the burden may well be even greater. Mental health awareness week is another opportunity to highlight the impact that work can have on our mental health.
To help, we’ve drawn together a range of resources:
- we have a members’ stress guide
- a reps’ stress guide
- at the end of last year, the government released an independent review into mental health and employment. Thriving at Work said that every employer should introduce new standards to better support people with mental health issues. Read our short briefing on the review
- we also run mental health awareness courses
- Unionlearn has an excellent educational workbook on mental health
- the TUC also has an online mental health awareness course (you will need to register).