Influential
World Mental Health Day 2022: Making Mental Health A Priority
10th October 2022
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For World Mental Health Day 2022, the theme is all about making mental health a global priority – while we feel mental health should already be a global priority, we know that this isn’t always the case.
Understandably, the past few years have caused stress levels to sky rocket. From yo-yo’ing between moderate normality and lockdowns, to the current cost of living crisis affecting everyone. To say that people are struggling with day-to-day life, would be an understatement.
So we’re glad to have an opportunity to talk about the elephant in the room. Mental wellbeing should be a priority, but the only way to make it happen is to normalise open conversation and make proactive change.
It impacts all industries, but tech stands out
Whilst mental illness is a common issue for all industries, tech stands out because of the high stress rate.
- A health and safety executive summary report outlined that 50% of all work-related ill health cases in 2020/2021 were stress depression or anxiety related.
- In 2021 alone, mental health issues were the main reason for a vast majority of sickness related absences from work, costing employers £43billion.
- 51% of respondents to a survey commissioned by Lime insurance felt under pressure to hide their mental health struggles from colleagues and put on a “brave face”
- And in a separate poll carried out by Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England revealed that 29% of employees have never spoken to their line manager about their mental health.
Mental health IS health. And it shouldn’t be a privilege of the few lucky ones, mental health is achievable for all.
Our minds deserve the same protection, and right to recover as our bodies. Make your mental healing a priority and take care of it as your life depends on it because it does.
Today and every day it’s important to check in on your own mental wellbeing and those around you.
—Magdalena Kowalczyk, People Partner
How Influential prioritises mental health
Fifty-two per cent of tech workers have suffered from anxiety or depression at some point. In addition, sixty-six per cent of those surveyed said they were stressed at work. Statistics like this are why we provide mental health support throughout the company.
We’ve adopted several initiatives over the past few years to help our team stay positive, active and encourage self-care of all shapes and sizes.
Employee engagement schemes
A few years ago, we decided to work with company culture enthusiasts Perkbox. This platform aims to improve the employee experience through:
- perks and benefits
- reward and recognition
- feedback and communication
- healthcare
- learning and development
- Our team can now use anything from free coffee in the city to discounts on experience days and designer brands.
Staying fit
Earlier last year, we switched to YuLife life insurance, and so far, our teams have enjoyed the company leader board, which encourages friendly competition through step tracking.
The app offers daily challenges, from short walks to an hour of mindful meditation. By taking part in these, users earn YuCoins that they can spend. Vouchers can be applied to sports gear provider Decathlon, Fitbit, Nike, and more healthy living companies.
Leading progression in tech
Outside of World Mental Health Day 2022, we’re always looking for new ways to champion a positive and progressive work culture. Whether you work in the tech industry or not, your team need you, and you need to support their physical and mental health.
 
As we find new ways to do this, we’ll keep sharing these techniques with the IT community, hoping they can be adopted on a broader scale. There’s work to do on mental health in tech, and we all play a part in the solution.
