Promoting wellbeing on World Mental Health Day

Today (Friday 10 October) is World Mental Health Day. It’s a reminder of the importance of good mental health and the need to prioritise and invest in it, removing stigma and reminding people that it’s ok to not be ok. This year the focus is on the mental health impact of repeated exposure to news coverage of crises and conflicts.

Turbulence isn’t limited to world events. Inside organisations, the pace of change has accelerated from a couple of major projects a year to multiple overlapping transformations. It’s normal to feel a degree of fear or anxiety during times of change but when these changes are stacked without sufficient time for adoption, they can have a profound impact on employees not just in terms of productivity, but in their emotional wellbeing, engagement, and sense of stability.

It’s estimated that poor mental wellbeing costs UK employers around £45bn every year through presenteeism, sickness absence and staff turnover.  Often the organisational response to wellness is to offer a mindfulness app or workplace yoga. Whilst well-intentioned this approach shifts the responsibility for wellbeing onto individuals asking them to manage stress rather than addressing the organisational causes of it.

The role of good internal communications in promoting wellbeing

Good internal communications play a crucial role in supporting wellbeing. When communication is clear, timely, and two-way, it creates a sense of trust and belonging. When people understand what’s happening and why, it helps cut through uncertainty, which is one of the biggest drivers of anxiety at work.

Why people-centred change matters

At True, we talk a lot about a people-centred approach to change doing change with people, not to them. Our brains are hard-wired to see change as a potential threat, triggering the same fight-or-flight response as physical danger. That’s why uncertainty often creates stress or resistance. By combining clear, fact-based communication with attention to people’s emotional needs, a people-centred approach helps calm that response.

Five ways to communicate with wellbeing in mind

1. Make space for emotion. Encourage leaders to acknowledge how people might feel: frustrated, anxious, uncertain and create safe spaces for dialogue. Involving people, listening to their concerns, and giving space for questions builds trust and makes change easier to navigate. 

2. Make the changes relevant. Be honest about what’s changing, what it means for people, and what support is available. Employees can process difficult news what they can’t handle is uncertainty.

3. Communicate what’s not changing. In the noise of transformation, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s not changing. Reminding people what remains stable helps reduce anxiety and reinforces continuity. It’s a powerful way to restore a sense of control when so much feels uncertain.

4. Support people managers. Help your leaders to communicate even when the path ahead isn’t clear and they don’t have all the answers. Silence is one of the biggest sources of stress during change. When communication stops, people start guessing and in the absence of facts, rumour rushes in to fill the space. Help your people managers to explain what’s known, what’s unknown, and when people can expect clarity.

5. Attend to your own oxygen mask. Finally, as communicators we need to look after our own wellbeing too. Just as airlines remind us to put on our own oxygen mask before helping others, we need to protect our mental health so we can support the wellbeing of others. That means setting boundaries, making time to recharge, and seeking support when we need it. By modelling these behaviours, we not only sustain ourselves, but also help create cultures where wellbeing is genuinely prioritised.

Supporting well-being can’t be a once-a-year undertaking. Real impact comes when organisations weave care, openness, and support for mental health into everyday communication and culture, not just on a single date in the calendar

Remember it’s OK not to be OK.