Raising awareness of good mental health in the workplace
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To continue Hunters’ programme exploring mental health in the legal profession, I was delighted to chair an evening with Jodie Hill of Thrive Law to explore what she refers to as ‘mental fitness’ and wellbeing.
The extent to which legal workplaces and their cultures promote wellbeing has been under intense scrutiny recently, with dozens sharing their experiences and stories in social media posts and news articles.
I think many of us can reflect on our own individual practices and conclude that the nature of our work takes its toll on our mental wellbeing.
It is important for us to recognise that our mental health is as important as our physical health and this should be promoted by us and for whom we work. This was the focus of Jodie’s talk, and it was really interesting to hear how she has incorporated self-care practices into her routine and her firm’s policies, and what benefits these changes have brought about.
The second part of our evening was a thought-provoking discussion exploring the intersection of mental health and neurodiversity, with Jodie sharing the story of her ADHD diagnosis and what this meant for her both professionally and personally. She spoke passionately about why neurodiversity is important to talk about, especially from a business perspective, and we closed our evening by sharing thoughts on what it means to be your ‘authentic self’ at work and how this is intrinsically linked to good mental health.
It was great to see everyone continuing the conversation after the Q&A had concluded. The key takeaway points for me were:
- Check-in with yourself and your colleagues: encourage yourself and those around you to set clear boundaries and work together to make sure that these are respected.
- Conversations are important: they raise awareness and foster a sense of belonging and community at work which cannot be underestimated.
- Educate and be educated: we are never perfect and there is always more to learn; take the time to try and work on any misconceptions you might have and to work together to remove the stigma surrounding mental health.
If you feel like you need support, please reach out to the following organisations:
- Law Care - 0800 279 6888 or support@lawcare.org.uk
- Mind - 0300 123 3393
- Samaritans - 116 123
