This week marks the start of this year's Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme for this year is 'Kindness'. In our regular series, Five Minutes with, we're catching up with our Mental Health First Aiders from across Dentsu Aegis Network to hear how they're adjusting to the life working from home and their hints and tips on how to stay mentally healthy in the current climate.
Rebecca McEwan, Business Development Manager, Dentsu Aegis Network shares her thoughts on why it's crucial to have a mentally healthy workplace and the need for Kindness.
As a Mental Health First Aider, why do you think it’s so important to have a mentally healthy workplace?
Working in a fast paced industry such as ours, mental health has to be a priority. With tight deadlines, demanding clients and ever changing requests it can sometimes be difficult to know whether your coming or going, which is why we have a team of fully qualified mental health first aiders to support our people and our brands when things become a little too much. That said, it’s also a really fantastic industry to work in and we’re very lucky to work some really fantastic suppliers and clients who support us with all the great work we do as an agency around mental health, making Dentsu Aegis a really great place to work.
The theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is Kindness; why is it so important to check in with each other now more than ever?
This is a completely unprecedented situation, which I don’t think any of us would have predicted even six months ago. Being kind to one another is a topic that has been talked about a lot this year, and is ever more important now. We really don’t know what other people are feeling or experiencing through this situation, from people who are locked down alone like myself who would really just like some company or even a hug, to those who may be locked down with a house full of family and would switch places with me in a heartbeat just to get some alone time and space. We all just need to appreciate that this is hard for everyone, and taking that extra few minutes to text a friend, call a colleague or facetime your family could be priceless.
Is you could give one tip to someone who is finding it hard to adjust through current changes, what would this be?
Do something for you, and don’t feel bad about it. It really is the little things that make you smile. For me, as we’re spending the majority of our time at home I decided to invest in a fancy new pair of slippers, a real treat for my feet. Seriously though, I would really just try and focus on the good that this is doing, how far we have come, and that this really won’t be forever. Think about just how amazing it will feel when you get to see your friends and family again, how amazing that first cuddle will be. Personally, I can’t wait!