National Stress Awareness day – 4th November 2020

Common Signs of Stress:

  1. Headaches, stomach aches, and other physical discomfort that has no identifiable physical cause and does not go away with typical physical remedies.
  2. Irritability: We often don’t understand what’s going on inside ourselves. We may have poor concentration and feelings of emptiness and anxiety. This is a common manifestation of stress.
  3. General anxiety: Constant feelings of your heart racing and feeling nervous. Trying to alleviate those feelings with alcohol, food or drugs to mask what is happening.
  4. Fatigue: Many adults feel that being tired all the time is a hallmark of adulthood. However, that’s not necessarily the case. Believe it or not, there are millions of people out there who feel energized most days, and fatigued only sometimes. If you’re tired every single day – and you get enough sleep – then consider the fact that the cause of your fatigue may be stress, as opposed to ‘adulting’.
  5. Frequent illness: This is similar, but not identical to the headaches and stomach aches we mention above. The difference is that here we’re talking about actual illnesses, such as colds. Chronic stress compromises optimal immune function, which can increase vulnerability. This can make someone more prone to virus infections.

The first thing to do when under stress is to admit to yourself you are under stress. Then seek help and talk through your situation with wellbeingforus.com. Our therapists are trained to listen and to give advice. We hope you can find the courage to seek out support.

Here’s to a far less stressful 2021!

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World Menopause Day – October 18th 2020

Middle aged woman relaxing against a pillar

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Menopause Society have designated October as World Menopause Month. October 18th is World Menopause Day.

World Menopause Month was created as a means to raise awareness of the stage in a woman’s life when she stops menstruating. It helps women understand the possible health issues associated when approaching, during, and after menopause. It also allows us all to ask questions about our wives, friend, aunty, mother or sister.

Before we knew what we know now about menopause it was seen as a mental illness and up until the late 1980s in various parts of Europe. Under the law of marriage men could admit their wives into a mental hospital once they started to show signs of menopause. Which makes this day have even more significance, as still today in various developing parts of the world there
is little known or spoken about in terms of menopause. Many men still have full control over their wives in terms of cultural practices and varying country laws and this therefore puts women in a dangerous position in terms of their human rights, particularly when experiencing menopause.

Possible side effects can be hot flushes, mood irregularity and memory loss. This is because hormones within a woman’s body are changing and she is no longer ovulating and having a monthly menstrual cycle which therefore means she is no longer able to have children. For many women this can bring up a whole range of emotions psychological and physical.

The first World Menopause Month was in October 2014. The International Menopause Society promoted it and launched a campaign called ‘‘Prevention of Diseases After Menopause.’’ The aim was to bring awareness to chronic diseases that were more likely to affect women after menopause.


WORLD MENOPAUSE MONTH TIMELINE

​2001 - "​Menopause: The Musical" premiered
The play consists of 25 comedic songs about menopause, covering
topics such as food cravings, hot flashes, and memory loss.

​1942 - Premarin is introduced
​Ayerst Laboratories started selling Premarin, a still-popular estrogen
replacement therapy that helps with menopause symptoms.

1890 - The first menopause drug was introduced

​Merck begins marketing Ovariin, made of desiccated and pulverized
cow ovaries, as a remedy for menopause symptoms.

​​1821 - ​The term "menopause" was coined
​​A French physician named Charles Pierre Louis De Gardanne coined
the term la ménépausie (menopause) in 1821.

​350 BC - Aristotle noticed menopause
​Though the word menopause didn't yet exist, the philosopher
decided it started at age 40 and noted women couldn't bear children
after this age.

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World Mental Health Day 10th October 2020

This year has been an incredibly testing and trying time in particular for people living with mental illness.

Covid-19 and the national response have increased mental health issues for many and put a considerable amount of pressure on many services and organisations.  

So that’s why, every organisation needs to think carefully how they will support staff in the future particularly with their mental health. A key way to do that is to employ qualified people or an inclusive platform to do the task and to not ask a HR advisor to also start to support people with mental health. This can be dangerous and put employees at risk. Therefore having the right inclusive platform can make all the difference.

This World Mental Health Day is a time to come together worldwide and celebrate mental health in terms of removing stigma and providing access for all.

Please see the top 5 tips for maintaining healthy mental health:

  • Connect 
  • Be active 
  • Take notice
  • Learn
  • Give

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Why Use an Interactive Mental Health Platform?

The top three reasons for choosing an interactive mental health platform versus a traditional employee assistance provider:

1. Reputation

Never before has mental health been in the spotlight as much as it is in today’s modern world. If you see yourself as an innovative, diverse and inclusive company then you will care about your reputation. In particular focussing on the upcoming generations such as gen Gen Z and Gen Alpha. 

People not only expect their work to be forward thinking, innovative and interesting. They also expect the support they receive to be current and inclusive. Wellbeingforus.com offers a modern way of supporting staff compared to traditional EAPs that only offer phone counselling. Our platform is modern and interactive whilst being personal and unique. 

2. Retention

A successful business has employees that represent the brand and ethos of the company. There is nothing worse than when you pick up the phone or go to a meeting and there seems to always be a new member of staff that has little knowledge or understanding of what the company is about. In the last 5 years more and more staff expect much more from their place of work in terms of support particularly around mental health support.  

The difference between a traditional EAP is that it is steeped in a 1980s model of phone counselling and has not developed to keep up with new generations. A modern EAP platform such as wellbeingforus.com is more inclusive and diverse that can meet the growing needs of a socially inclusive and digitally savvy workplace. 

Mental health services in particular such as the NHS are reaching capacity. Staff more than ever are relying on their place of work to meet their emotional needs. Not only are they looking at what support is available at their place of work they are also publicising what their work offers on social media and to friends and family or networking groups. 

By engaging with a mental health platform you can safeguard your staff and your reputation whilst retaining your employees for the future.

3. Revenue

There are many streams to revenue and one is the quality and performance of employees. If an employee does not have support then it is likely their work will suffer which will result in loss. 

Another area of concern is in regards to employees who are at risk and who are not properly supported are highly likely to file legal grievances based on mental health discrimination. 

Many places of work are totally overwhelmed and unaware in terms of how and why they should start to support staff. It often feels like a minefield and many are looking for a quick one-stop solution. This can be achieved by having a fully inclusive interactive platform such as wellbeingforus.com. Which is supportive to each place of work and gets to understand and work closely with staff. 

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