Mental Health Awareness Week 16 to 21st May 2016

Mental Health Awareness Week has been running since 2000 and has so far looked at the impact of exercise, sleep deprivation and anxiety on our mental health.  This year the focus is on the quality of our relationships and understanding how fundamental relationships are to our health and wellbeing.  How we interact with others can have as big an impact on our lives, and theirs, as other more established lifestyle factors such as exercise and healthy eating. 

During Mental Health Awareness Week 2016, which runs from 16 to 22 May, we are being asked to consider all our relationships be they personal, familial, workplace, business or community. 

Ask yourself:

“How much time do I actively commit to building and maintaining my relationships?” 

“Could I spend a little more time really listening to my work colleagues, friends or family?”

“Is my work-life balance helping or hindering my mental wellbeing?”

Sometimes we may find that we need professional help in addressing our relationship issues.  We can find ourselves so deeply entrenched in trying to get through the days that we find it impossible to step back and deal with relationship problems.  A mental health professional can equip us with the tools necessary to deal with those problems effectively and help us stop repeating the patterns that lead to those problems recurring throughout our life.

When we conducted a straw poll at the Centre we asked our colleagues “What would make your relationships better?”  The answers were interesting and included “being listened to”; “having someone do something spontaneous with me” and “being less critical of others”.  Food for thought perhaps?

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