Mental Health is Wealth

Good mental health is wealth, to be more precise.

But the opposite is true as well — poor mental health, especially at work, is denting employers’ resources and is detrimental to many of us. The latest evidence shows that mental ill-health costs UK employers ca. £56bn annually, with 17 million working days lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety. This doesn’t include the cost to the NHS, local authorities and individuals that can’t work due to their mental health, and the toll it has on their families and communities.

Looking after our mental health is invaluable. It’s essential to look after it regularly, not only when the “dark clouds” of depression or anxiety hover over us or when we are feeling stressed. It’s about our emotional and mental state that requires constant care, just like brushing our teeth daily.

Staying on top of our mental wellbeing benefits us now, but it also gives us the resilience to deal with difficult times in the future and minimise the risks of physical health problems.

Here are five quick tips on how we can look after our mental health:

1. Connecting with others: It’s essential to prioritise quality time with friends or family, talk to someone about how we are feeling or volunteer at a local charity for a cause we care about. We can do this over the phone, online or in person, and it can help us stop feeling lonely and improve our wellbeing.

2. Living a balanced lifestyle: Having a healthy and balanced diet, a good night’s sleep, being active and enjoying the outdoors all impact our mental health. Eliminating bad habits like smoking can also positively impact our mood.

3. Doing something you enjoy: This can be anything from a favourite hobby, learning a new skill, or just relaxing. Life is stressful, and it’s essential we take some time to do things that make us happy.

4. Keep a gratitude mini-journaling: One of the things that helped me throughout the pandemic was to keep a daily gratitude mini-journal. I would write a sentence or two about what I was thankful for that day. It allowed me to reflect and helped me increase my overall wellbeing and life satisfaction. Guess what? If writing isn’t your thing, there’s a brilliant app just for that, which I’ve used during lockdown; check out Presently (on Android).

5. Being present: For some of us, the pace of our lives is pretty fast. But we can gain a better perspective by taking some time to check in with ourselves, to be aware of our thoughts and feelings, and the world around us. It might help us respond better when faced with a challenge or feeling stressed at work.

Take some time this week to try one or two of the above tips and try turning them into habits. It might not make you wealthy in the financial sense, but it might increase your mental health resilience, which is far more valuable.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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