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Considering Mental Health Awareness Week, last Monday I engaged in Mental Health First Aid training with Cookson First Aid. This non-for-profit organisation aims to save lives, by providing free first aid training to as many people as possible across the UK.
Positive changes in the legal sector have placed mental health under the microscope, addressing the lengthy work hours and subsequent loneliness as a fundamental issue to deteriorating mental health amongst legal professionals. As a CEO, I have a duty of care, one I take very seriously in creating a culture of care at Bexley Beaumont. Spreading awareness is the first step to breaking the stigma, so here’s what I’ve learnt:
Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social wellbeing; everyone has mental health. Conditions can involve changes to people’s thoughts, emotions, behaviours and relationships with others. In many ways, mental health is just like physical health: everybody has it and we need to take care of it, and it can, and does, get better.
It’s key to recognise that mental health problems are a normal human experience. Recent statistics estimate that 1 in 6 adults in the UK have experienced a ‘common mental disorder’ like depression or anxiety in the past week. These stats are shocking, with so many people affected there should be more conversations. A positive outlook on these upsettingly high statistics, would be that there is a certain comfort in knowing, you’re not alone and you’re certainly not the only one struggling.
The exact cause of most mental illnesses is not known, however many of these conditions are caused by a combination of biological, psychological and environmental factors. Whilst some of these are difficult to control, it’s vital to ensure that the environment we can control to an extent, the workplace environment, is a positive one.
Our charity partner, LawCare, accentuate the competitive work environment with CEO Elizabeth Rimmer commenting on how “people have to work so hard and it’s so competitive and when these individuals get into the profession, those patterns of behaviour are ingrained and rewarded by firms.” These patterns have been ingrained into legal professionals over many years and despite not always being healthy are difficult habits to break. With our flexible fee-share model we are trying to mitigate the risk, in allowing the freedom for partners to work as they choose, where they choose in the comfort of a collaborative community.
The most important take away from the training by Cooksoon First Aid, was being open-minded. Someone may just want someone to listen, creating a safe, non-judgemental environment is the first step to opening discourse. If a colleague, friend or family member is struggling with a mental health problem keep in mind that this is only one aspect of their life. Most people don’t want to be defined by their mental health problem, so keep talking about the things you’ve always talked about together.
Earlier this year we launched BB Wellbeing, an initiative designed to place wellbeing at the heart of the firm. We have some exciting events coming up as part of BB Wellbeing, such as Yoga at the Desk, our annual Summer Walk, the virtual Fitness Challenge, monthly Corporate Chair Massages and Volunteering Days to give something back! Led by our internal BB Wellbeing ambassador, all are aimed at promoting individual wellbeing, alongside the development of meaningful connections with one another to create a supportive community at Bexley Beaumont. By looking after ourselves as individuals, we are then better equipped to support one another.
I felt compelled to share this information, not only is it important for me to create an environment at Bexley Beaumont where we support each other in every way possible, but this information can be applied to every facet of life and should be. I would hope that these findings will transcend the legal sector and spread across all workplaces so together, we can break the stigma.
For further information, please contact Karen: karenbexley@bexleybeaumont.com | 07971 859332
