Eight mental wellbeing resources

A major issue for the labour market right now is long-term sickness. According to the most recent ONS numbers, 2.8m people are out of work with long-term illness, with a sizeable amount not working due to mental health conditions.

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to a gathering hosted by Top Tier Impact at the London School of Economics (LSE), leaders and entrepreneurs shared their journeys from personal struggles to making a positive impact on the world. It was eye-opening and refreshing to hear how their own breakdowns led to breakthroughs that are now making real changes in society.

Take Richard Martin from the Mindful Business Charter. He was a successful city employment lawyer for two decades before experiencing a major mental breakdown that forced him to take a two-year break from work to recover and reflect.

Or Alice Mayor, whose pop-up souvenir shop We Built This City on Carnaby Street was a massive hit. Despite its success, she found herself burnt out, losing interest and checking out mentally, even as the business thrived.

Oprah Winfrey once said, "Difficulties come when you don't pay attention to life's whisper." It's true – ignoring those little signs of trouble can lead to bigger problems down the line.

That's why it's crucial to listen to our instincts, set boundaries, and know when to step back to protect our mental well-being and sustain our careers.

When I was at Bloomberg I heard Mike didn't like people working from home but not for the reason you might think - I'm told it was because he wanted to know how people actually were by seeing them in the flesh...whether one believes that was the reason or not (!), there is some truth to the fact that you can hide a lot if you're only seeing your colleagues via Zoom and in person once in a blue moon.

Given all this, in my opinion it's vital to keep checking in with people and to seek out resources for ourselves and for our teams that help build resilience and self-awareness. Here are some recommendations that came from the super-engaged Top Tier Impact WhatsApp group for resources you too might find helpful:

• Dr Gabor Maté's "When The Body Says No" and Maté’s “Scattered Minds”
• Rick Ruben's “The Creative Act: A Way of Being” where Ruben’s talks about talent being the ability to allow ideas to manifest through you
• Manual of me is a tool to help articulate and communicate how to get the best out of us at work
• The Female Lead's Fulfilment Finder is a short survey that focuses on six dimensions important to women's happiness: Work, Self, Society, Money, Relationships & Health
• Unlocking Us with Brené Brown who has started a series of conversations on the costs - and possibilities - of living beyond human scale. The first conversation is with Esther Perel on AI, artificial intimacy: ‘I have 10,000 ‘friends’ but nobody to look after my cat’
• "How We Break: Navigating the Wear and Tear of Living" where he talks about how we are designed to tremble, but with too many challenges at the same time many of us crack
• The Institute on Character: A Yale course "The science of wellbeing" in which the idea is to assess whether you are practicing your top five character strengths regularly
• The Life Atlas a suite of instruments that will increase self-awareness, illuminate strengths, and guide you to what you can feel most passionate about

. This PRmoment Internal Comms Review is written by Naomi Kerbel, Communications Director at SEC Newgate and host of the Show Me The Way podcast, which profiles trailblazing women.