For World Mental Health Day around the theme of “prioritising mental health in the workplace”, we’ve asked Annabelle, our Social Prescriber in Banstead, how we can all look after our mental health at work and manage work-related stress more effectively so it doesn’t affect our quality of life and health. In this blog, she shares some of the tips and techniques she teaches our clients.
“A high-quality life often hinges on maintaining mental wellbeing. This is crucial in all aspects of our lives, as it’s the key to experiencing positive emotions like happiness, excitement and joy. Therefore, prioritizing mental health in all areas of our lives is essential.
Consider the time we spend on Earth: approximately 80 years. Of these, nearly 26 are dedicated to sleep, and an additional 7 are spent trying to fall asleep. Work is another significant component, with the average person spending around 3,500 days in the workplace. These statistics highlight the importance of prioritizing mental health in the workplace.
For most, work is a necessary part of life. A job offers opportunities to learn about the role, business, and oneself through new experiences. While work can bring excitement, enjoyment and happiness, it can also lead to stress, sadness, upset and anger. Navigating these emotions is vital. If negative emotions from work are not properly handled, they can spill over into other areas of life and negatively impact our emotional wellbeing.
Tips for managing workplace stress
Time management and organisation:
- Prioritise tasks: Identify the most urgent task and focus on completing them first.
- Set realistic goals: break down projects into smaller, more manageable tasks
- Learn to say no: don’t overcommit yourself. This can lead to overwhelm and burn out.
Setting healthy habits:
- Regular exercise: physical activity can help reduce stress and improve mood. You can do some short exercise breaks during your working day too!
- Healthy diet: eating nutritious foods maintain energy levels which in turn aids physical and mental wellbeing. Find out more about healthy eating on the NHS website.
- Sufficient sleep: aim for 7-9 hours a night
Effective communication:
- Assertion: practise expressing your needs and concerns clearly and respectfully
- Active listening: pay attention to what others around you say and respond thoughtfully.
- Seek support: talk to a trusted colleague friend or family member.
Quick stress relief techniques at work
Breathing exercises:
- Deep breathing: Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose, hold for a few seconds, and exhale through your mouth
- 4-7-8 breathing: inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, and exhale for 8 seconds.
Mindfulness techniques:
- Focus on the present moment: pay attention to your surroundings, the sensations in your body, and the sounds around you.
- Mindful eating or drinking: focus on the taste and texture of your food and drink
- Listen to music: focus on music that you enjoy, listening to the beat, the vocals, the bass etc.
Physical relaxation:
- Progressive muscle relaxation: tense and relax different muscle groups in your body.
- Stretching: stand up stretch! Your arms, legs, back.
Mental techniques:
Positive affirmations: repeat positive statements to yourself, such as ‘I can handle this’ or ‘I am calm and collected’
=> Finding what works best for you may take some experimentation. Try these techniques and see which ones help you feel calm and collected!
Further Support
Sometimes, longer term support is needed when regulating mental health. A great way to improve wellbeing is through social connection.
At Mary Frances Trust, we recognise the importance of this which is why we offer a variety of services that connect you to your community while supporting your mental health. All our services are free.
Social Prescribing
Social Prescribing, offers a “social prescription” as opposed to a “medical prescription”. It is a support service that can help connect individuals to specialist services or community groups that they may need or could vastly improve their quality of life. Social Prescribing can bridge the gap between feeling helpless, lonely and isolated, to feeling connected to your community and utilising services that you need. To get support from a Social Prescriber, speak to your GP or health professional and they can refer you to the service.
Please note that at the moment, Mary Frances Trust only offers Social Prescribing in Banstead. To find out more about our service in Banstead, visit our Social Prescribing page.
We’ve listed below information about other social prescribing services in Surrey Downs delivered by other organisations. Your GP surgery will know where your nearest provider is.
Elmbridge: Professional or self-referral Social prescribing
Leatherhead: GP/practice staff referral or self-referral via Joy app Social Prescribing & Wellbeing Team
Dorking: GP/professional referral only. There’s also the Live Well Service who coordinate with social prescribers in the area Live Well Service in Dorking – DHC Talking Therapies.
Epsom & Ewell: GP referral only. Download leaflet.
Community Connections
Our Community Connections team offers a variety of groups, activities and courses that are designed to help you improve your wellbeing and find tools to help manage your mental health longer term, while meeting others and supporting each other. You can request access to Community Connections yourself without a referral by completing our online registration form.
Our activities include:
- Peer Support Groups (for Women, Men, Autism, Carers, Bipolar, Hoarding, LGBTQIA+ etc)
- Physical activities (zumba, football, walking groups, yoga, taekwondo, qigong and more)
- Meditation
- Hobbies (book club, choir, gardening club)
- Nature groups
- Arts and Crafts and much more!
To find out more about what’s running, visit our calendar.
Please note we deliver Community Connections online and face-to-face in Surrey Downs / Mid Surrey only which covers Banstead, Elmbridge, Epsom & Ewell and Mole Valley.
To access Community Connections in other parts of Surrey including:
- East Surrey – please contact Waythrough (formerly known as Richmond Fellowship)
- North and West Surrey – please contact Catalyst Support
Both providers offer a similar programme of activities, courses and groups with some slight variation.
GP Integrated Mental Health Service (GPihms)
You can also access specialist mental health support from your GP surgery through a team of practitioners and clinicians as part of our GPimhs service, delivered in partnership with SABP.
GPimhs provides a first level of mental health intervention, as well as signposting to other longer term clinical or community mental health services to meet your needs. To be referred into this service, please talk to your GP or Practice nurse. GPImhs is available in all GP surgeries across Surrey. To find out more, visit our GPimhs page.
Crisis Support
If you are ever in a mental health crisis, feeling suicidal or self harming, it is important that you seek the right support straight away.
Please call 111 then 2 for immediate intervention.
Or you can visit Safe Haven, our crisis support service, providing a supportive environment for any adult (18+) in crisis during a time of need and when there may be no-one else around to provide it. Safe Haven is open every day of the year, 6pm-11pm at the Brickfield Centre Portland Pl, Epsom KT17 1DL. The service is also available virtually at this link: https://nhs.vc/sabp/safe-haven-Epsom
Safe Haven provides a friendly, non-judgmental and listening ear for any adult (18+) experiencing a mental health crisis who wants to talk about their feelings. The venue is a place of safety and a calm environment for a person to spend time in during times of distress. It is delivered by mental health professionals from Mary Frances Trust and clinicians from Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SABP).
For a full list of Safe Haven sites across Surrey, please visit the SABP website.
For a full list of crisis support available in Surrey, please visit our Crisis Support page. Please note this page is pinned to the top of our website if you ever need it urgently!
For a full list of our services, please visit our How We Help section of the website.
