“Celebrating Mental Health with Ruby Wax”​

Recently, I attended Unmind’s conversation with Ruby Wax – “Celebrating Mental Health with Ruby Wax”.

In this conversation Ruby touched on wellbeing, community and how we are a product of our environment. A sense of community in the workplace is so important. We live in such a fast-paced world that we can simply lower the stress hormone by looking at each other for support. It is becoming more and more apparent with working from home being the new norm, that loneliness has one of the most negative impacts on our mental health. So if you don’t feel part of a community in the workplace, then we need to take it upon ourselves to create a community around ourselves; that may be a running club, wine tasting or a book club.

Ruby also talked about how bringing awareness on Mental Health Day is great, but this is a 365-day, 24/7 problem that needs to be recognised as such. 1 in 4 people suffer with their mental health, and more now then ever we need to ensure that this recognised and supported every day in and outside of the workplace. Ruby stated, “mental and physical health are a onesie”. There are many ways that our physical and mental health affect each other, so it’s important we don’t just look after our bodies but also our minds.

The talent that is coming through the ranks recognise businesses that walk the walk but don’t talk the talk. Organisations will start to lose talent if it is apparent that they are not putting their people and their people’s wellbeing first. We want to work in a business that cares! We spend one third of our life in the workplace, so it is integral that business leaders set the tone that we are all human and have bad days – accept it, embrace it, and evolve from it.

More and more businesses are now being recognised for putting their purpose over their profit with the B Corporation Certificate – this is something that all organisations are striving for, and people are striving to work for. This being said, there are only 1,700 businesses globally with this certificate. Room for improvement don’t you think?

Ultimately, the emphasis of the conversation was understanding the importance of mental health and mental illness; taking the time to educate and create community. It’s vital that businesses have this at the forefront of their minds at all times and not just for their current employees, but also for all their future talent out there.

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