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The pandemic and the resulting economic uncertainty have negatively affected many people’s mental health and elevated concerns for those already living with a mental illness. World Mental Health day this year will take place on Sunday 10 October and the theme is ‘mental health in an unequal world’.

The goal is to help raise mental health awareness and each of us can make a contribution to ensure that people living with mental illness can live better lives with dignity. We have therefore shared some helpful resources and updates to help you look after your mental wellbeing.

• Tips for work life balance - Did you know that a year’s worth of lunch breaks equates to almost 6 extra weeks of annual leave? This is what Laura Archer (author of Gone For Lunch: 52 things to do in your lunch break) discovered when she decided to reclaim her lunch breaks for herself. The results were increased energy, happiness, and greater job satisfaction. Laura will help you identify the signs of “burnout” before they happen, and provide some practical tips for achieving a work/life balance, starting with walking away from your desk! Watch this 3 minute video for top tips.

• Talking about mental health at work - If we noticed a colleague had a bad cough or had started to limp we would ask them how they’re doing and show our support. But sometimes we can be nervous about asking someone how they are doing mentally if we’re concerned about them. Starting a conversation about someone's wellbeing can be difficult. Here are some pointers about how you might approach a colleague at work if you're worried about them. These tips apply if you are working from home too, talking about mental health at work.

• Updates from the Mental Health Staff Forum – A lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to improve the provision of mental health support across the University. Check out the latest updates here, including training 16 colleagues to become Mental Health first aiders and the launch of a new Wellbeing and Mental health policy. Thank you to Professor Clive Webb from the School of Media, Arts and Humanities, whose report on improving mental health support at Sussex included recommendations that have underpinned the Forum’s work on this policy. Access more Mental Health staff forum updates.

• Health Assured – This is our new healthcare portal for staff. Its vision is to support individuals and organisations and build resilience through raising awareness of wellbeing - mental wellbeing in particular. They have a range of webinars on topics such as suicide awareness, coping with change, BAME mental health awareness, managing return to work anxiety and lots more. Access their resources by visiting healthassuredeap.co.uk and using access code: worklife and password: worklife.
  Or you can call their helpline on 0800 316 9337.

• Wellbeing Hub - It can take some time to adjust to being back on campus, so please talk to your line manager about any concerns and remember that our University wellbeing hub also offers many tools and resources to look after your mental, physical and financial wellbeing.

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