Tag: mental health

Writing to boost health and wellbeing – Try reaching for the pen rather than your digital device.

Writing to boost health and wellbeing – Try reaching for the pen rather than your digital device.

Posted on by hwbinspiration

This blog from out HWBI Ninja, Rob Young and co-founder Su, considers how writing can boost your health and wellbeing.

Two perspectives – writing to improve health and wellbeing and writing to give voice and connect.

Next time that you feel under pressure or stressed it might be better to reach for the pen than reaching for the digital device.  The digital device may be a great displacement activity but may not be as good for your health and wellbeing.  There is a growing body of evidence that shows that writing can:

  • Encourage mindfulness
  • Help you to find perspective on difficult issues
  • Provide an opportunity for storytelling for self-exploration
  • Foster clarity and insight
  • Releases creative potential
  • Release anxiety or stress
  • Expand your creative abilities and work through blocks

A study by Robinson (2000) explores the connections between writing and wellbeing.  He discovered a number of studies that demonstrated how writing can have positive psychological and clinical benefits.  One study Robinson referenced, (Smyth, Stone et al 1999) found that participants who were asked to write about stressful life experiences for 3 consecutive days for a week reported 47% improvement in their clinical symptoms verses a control group who were asked to write about their general plans for the day, this group reported a 24% improvement.  Robinson goes on to explore if the quality of writing is also important….. perhaps for another blog in the future. 

Our Super HWBInspiration Ninja, Rob Young has brought his thoughts and experience of writing, not just for health and wellbeing, but also to give voice and communicate complex and often difficult subject matter.  He helps service users, clinicians and leaders find ways to communicated to engage, connect and no doubt to heal.  What follows is Rob’s account and hope you enjoy and take inspiration.

What good is a writer? By Rob Young

To answer that question, we must first ask ourselves, what writing is and more importantly, what it isn’t.

The ability to write is not a gift from on-high, it can be learned.  I have taught the craft of writing to a truly diverse range of participants from heart surgeons to ‘tower block kids’ some of whom were illiterate (the kids, that is!) yet their stories were sublime.

Writing is not something you take up when you retire. We do it every day, in texts, emails, notes, reports and so on.  Every time we speak, we are telling someone a story, yet we never learn the craft.

Writing is not just a hobby, a frivolous add-on once the ‘real work’ is done. It is our most efficient way of communicating what it is to be human. We can never truly relate to another person’s experience because even if we both stare at the same view; what we see is unique. The best that we can do is relate with the generic human condition and that is… a struggle.

We like to watch people struggle; it is how we learn to survive. From folk tales to Hollywood, lectures to books, the same format applies: the protagonist is dealt a problem, they investigate it, then find a solution. The old joke being, that in healthcare research, you don’t find an answer, you find ten more questions, but the basic format remains: we fail, we learn, we “grow some resilience”.

We watch our heroes fail and flounder, as they search for innovative ways to battle their demons. If their enemy is huge, they use speed. If their enemy is fast, they use stealth. And so on. They try, fail then try something else until they succeed. Time and time again its leftfield-thinking that saves the day. This valuable lesson is burned upon our retina as we all spend approximately 2 years of our lives watching movies, so the concept of innovation is embedded deep within our psyche. It is there for a reason, to help us survive.

As a writer, my ‘day job’ is helping people to communicate. The vast majority of my clients are intelligent, articulate professionals who are fluent in their craft. So why do they need me?

The questions they ask are often simple:

“Why don’t people come to my meetings?”

“Why is my PowerPoint so dull?”

“My specialist subject makes people wince but seriously, what can I do?”

Invariably, the answer lies with a fresh point of view.

Let’s take a look at the challenge. How is your meeting advertised? On what format? What is the hook? What will I gain from attending? These are all reasonable questions that require a perky response. If one way doesn’t work, then let’s try another. That’s all there is to it. We try, we fail, we try something else.

We have all sat through “Death by PowerPoint”, that sleep-inducing slideshow full of tiny text, meaningless pie-charts and 1980’s Clip Art, so please, let’s not do that. Let’s do something better.

What I find particularly interesting is the third question, because it is important. There are some issues in healthcare that are so dark, our natural response is to flinch, withdraw and ‘change channels’. It is understandable but it also a dangerous one because before we can even begin to solve the issue, we must open up a conversation. The challenge here is how to welcome people into a world that they find abhorrent.

Here are two examples of ways I’ve been able to help:

Giving voice

I met a clinician who did wonderful work helping victims of Female Genital Mutilation. Whenever she presented at conference, the audience were reticent, bracing themselves for an hour of upset and gore, while some did not attend at all.

The traditional way to approach this subject is to focus on the condition.  We decided to change that view. Working with the clinician, we refocussed her presentation to pay tribute to the shy, fragile women who she treats every day.  We told the story in their voices, not ours.  Excerpts of verbatim text were read from behind a hospital screen.  The images we revealed were of crisp white cotton sheets that spoke of innocence and dignity.  In everything we did, we did not once mention anything dark until humanity had been given the priority it deserved.

The subsequent performance reduced many veteran clinicians to tears and post-talk, the doctor was surrounded by many admirers praising her work.  Though my part was minimal, I felt an immense sense of pride that we had shown respect for the patients, the work and the audience in a new and innovative way.

Helping people to connect

Perhaps the greatest challenge I have faced as a writer was to communicate the concept of pain. It is something that you cannot see, hear, examine or compare as every pain is unique.

Professor Bernie Carter is a former Great Ormond Street nurse who has devoted her life to helping children with chronic complex pain issues. It is a subject so dark that it makes you wince just to think of it, so to open up a conversation is a challenge in itself.

As the concept of pain is so universal, we decided to concentrate on one particular moment in time – when a child with chronic complex pain is brought into A&E. In this moment, three separate languages come into play: the informed language of the clinician, the silence or scream of the child and her mother who speaks in metaphor, “She’s like a rabbit in the headlights / I can see the pain in her eyes”. The fact that these three language styles almost, but don’t quite connect is as much of an issue about communication as it is about healthcare.

Together, we looked at this moment in time from a plethora of viewpoints, from families to clinicians, charity workers to theologians, we even worked with a contortionist. We recorded their voices and played them via rotating mobiles in a huge, dark room, so the voices swirled above your head, almost but never quite connecting. We premiered our work in a theatre, not a conference, where again, many people were reduced to tears, not because we were gunning for sympathy but the fact that they had ‘got it’. They understood the challenge and agreed, wholeheartedly, that something must be done.  

It is a personal bugbear of mine that many people raise awareness without acting upon it.  I was determined that would not be the case with our pain project. Based upon the success of our presentation, we were able to acquire Arts Council funding to tour pain conferences as far afield as South Africa. We created downloadable brochures and the animation below:

What strikes me about the project, looking back upon it now, is another axis point, another moment in time – the one where art meets science, when the heart of the clinician meets the brain of the artist to clash, flirt and tango. It is a thrilling moment in time when magical things can happen.

I have worked with Su and Claire (my HWBInspiration Ninja colleagues) for many years now and have always been impressed by the fact that they see the arts as a liberating force, in healthcare and beyond.  They value the role that the arts can play in communicating issues from management to research, leadership to personal empowerment.  The stories they tell are told in a voice that is warm, welcoming and accessible to all and in today’s noisy world, but their voice rings true as clear and authentic.  If you have a challenge, they can help.

Thank you for reading and good luck in telling your story.

To contact or follow Rob

Twitter:   @R0BY0UNG       

Website:   http://robyoung.info

Email:   rob@robyoung.info

Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/rob.young.587

Instagram: rob.the.writer

References

Robinson, M. Writing well: health and the power to make images.  Journal of Medical Ethics: Medical Humanities.  2000: Vol 26. p79-84.

Smyth JM, Stone AA, Hurewitz A, Kael A. Effects of writing about stressful experiences on symptom reduction in patients with asthma or rheumatoid arthritis. Journal of the American Medical Association 1999;281:1304-9.

HWBInspiration co-founders, Su & Claire, are grateful to our Associate HWBI Ninjas for sharing their knowledge, skill and insights.

G = Giving – Why does it make us happy?

G = Giving – Why does it make us happy?

Posted on by hwbinspiration

This blog is first in our series relating to the 10 Keys to Happier Living which reflects on how giving can boost our health and wellbeing.

In this time of ‘lock down’ I’ve been reflecting on a number of things, not least my own health and wellbeing.  Talking to colleagues, family and friends we have started to share more about what is important to us, what we are grateful for and during these challenging times, what gives us joy.  Often, it’s the very simple things that surface:

  • Having the time to have family meals together, eating, talking and reflecting on the day
  • Being able to connect to family and friends more frequently than perhaps we would ordinarily
  • Taking part in collective activities with family, friends and work colleagues – who knew that ‘Virtual Pub Quiz’ would take off in the way that it has.  It’s become a highlight of the week for many.
  • Having more time to do the things that help us to have space to be ‘mindful’, gardening, walking, painting, other household tasks that we’ve put off
  • Letting our minds wonder

One of the things I notice in myself is that ‘giving’ brings me happiness.  Over the years, I notice that I get that warm fuzzy feeling when I give, more so than when I receive.  It’s no surprise once I began to look into why that it is….. ‘common sense’ in so many ways and as I remind myself frequently, it only becomes ‘common sense’ once you understand more.

What’s the science behind it?

There is much written about giving and generosity.  Researchers have had rich debates about the extent to which humans are innately generous, a great deal of research strongly suggests that generosity has deep evolutionary, biological and developmental roots.  Much of the research also suggest that human generosity might be deeply embedded in human behaviour and plays a vital role in our personal well-being and our survival.  A systematic review (Allen.S 2018) draws together some of the key research findings and highlights:

  • Positive effects on givers e.g. wellbeing
  • Individual factors linked to generosity e.g. feelings of empathy, compassion
  • Social and cultural drivers e.g. expectations of reciprocity, having strong social networks may influence generosity, parenting can cultivate generosity

The act of giving and charitable behaviour comes in many forms and during COVID19 there have been so many examples:

  • Tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of volunteers coming forward to help those that are being shielded – offering to phone those that are isolated, undertaking tasks such as shopping and picking up essentials
  • Colonel Tom Moore 100th Birthday sponsored walk to raise money for the NHS
  • Different businesses donating food and gifts to front line staff
  • Local communities coming together to support key workers
  • Free resources and learning being made available to individuals working from home

All of us ‘give’ in some way.  Often, it will be simple things, kind words, helping someone out when you notice they are struggling, random acts of kindness to friends, families and colleagues.  Doing something for complete strangers seems to be the ‘norm’ in our current COVID19 bubble and the world feels a better place for it.  It seems now more than ever we need to be generous in our thinking as well as in the way we behave.  A study into the benefits of charitable behaviour (Anik. L et al. 2009) highlights that people that give more are happier and happier people tend to give more.  Feels like a virtuous circle to me.

Looking for inspiration

Action for Happiness https://www.actionforhappiness.org provides ideas, insights, training (e-mail based coaching programme) and resources.  Something for everyone if you are looking for some inspiration.  What will you give today?

S, May. The Science of Generosity, White Paper, Greater Good Science Centre 2018 https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/images/uploads/GGSC-JTF_White_Paper-Generosity-FINAL.pdf

Feeling Good about Giving: The Benefits (and Costs) of Self-Interested Charitable Behavior Anik, L., Aknin, L B., Norton, M I., Dunn, E W. 2009 https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/10-012_0350a55d-585b-419d-89e7-91833a612fb5.pdf

HWBInspiration co-founders, Su & Claire, are grateful to our Associate HWBI Ninjas for sharing their knowledge, skill and insights.

Dancing in the Rain; International Women’s Day & Mental Wellbeing – guest blog by Lou Harris #HWBAssociateNinja

Dancing in the Rain; International Women’s Day & Mental Wellbeing – guest blog by Lou Harris #HWBAssociateNinja

Posted on by hwbinspiration

This year’s International Women’s day focused on “An equal world is an enabled world”. 

I was delighted to be invited to speak about Anxiety and Recovery at Manchester’s Cross Government International Women’s day event on 6th March which focussed on health and wellbeing.  It was a privilege and an honour to hear from so many inspirational women. These included Daisy Smith, Head of Performance Analysis and Modelling at Highways England, Alison McKenzie-Folan CEO of Wigan Council, Tessa Lewis, GP and NICE fellow and Rachel Copley, Health Transformation Team Leader at DWP.  

Thank you to all the amazing women who attended the event and to everyone including Daisy for your feedback, it has given me the courage to write my next blog… so here goes

#IWD2020 #eachforequal

Learning to dance in the rain

13.9% of the population will experience an anxiety disorder at any given time, Women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety disorders than men (Mental Health First Aid England).

However, recovery from mental illness is possible and very likely. Recovery means different things to different people. Nigel Henderson, President of Mental Health Europe’s notion of recovery personally resonated with me “It isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s learning to dance in the rain”. Recovery is much more than the absence of symptoms.

The mental health continuum can help us to understand this notion. Initially, people described the state of mental health as being on a continuum from mentally healthy to mental illness (medical language).  The favoured approach is to now think of two continua on a different axis.  The second axis (social language) can be described as minimum mental wellbeing/fitness to maximum mental wellbeing/fitness.

Image courtesy of togethertolive.ca

This model allows for people who have a diagnosable mental illness and who are coping well with the illness (for example they may have good coping strategies, a good medication regime, supportive friends etc) to have positive mental health. They have “learned to dance in the rain”.

There are many factors that can influence the recovery journey including:

  • Availability and access to treatments such as medication or psychological interventions
  • Having supportive social networks (colleagues, family, friends)
  • Playing a meaningful role in society (for example through education or employment opportunities)
  • Lifestyle (including eating well, exercise and sleep)
  • Stability (including home and financial)
  • Acceptance and control (focussing on what you can do)

Some other important features of the recovery journey can be described by the acronym CHIME (connectedness, hope and optimism, identity, meaning and purpose and empowerment). 

I like to think of my own recovery as a journey because it isn’t for me a linear process, I have had setbacks and I honestly don’t know when and if I will reach a destination. However, through increasing my knowledge of mental health and wellbeing and understanding of myself I  too have  “learned to dance in the rain”.  This has involved many of the factors listed above including:

  • Professional support – my GP has been amazing; she has given me choice and control over my treatments acting as a professional partner in my recovery journey.
  • A caring network of family and friends – who have increased their own awareness and understanding of mental health and walked beside me on my journey. They have helped me to set new goals and aspirations and pursue them.
  • Redefining my goals and aspirations which includes writing and talking about mental health and wellbeing which has given me a purpose and a new drive and passion 
  • Lifestyle changes – including exercise and eating healthier and growing new skills to support my wellbeing
  • Control – which has been fundamental to my recovery. Control over my treatment, control over finding ways to help myself and my wellbeing (CBT has been instrumental) and control over how and when I choose to work which enables me to cope with the symptoms of anxiety. 

However other factors can impact on a person’s recovery journey.  Nearly 9 out of 10 people with mental health problems say that stigma and discrimination have a negative effect on their lives. People don’t recover in isolation, social inclusion (i.e. being involved with society)  is key and through increased understanding and discussion of mental health, we can help to reduce the inequalities experienced by those who have a mental illness. 

So, let’s make mental health everyone’s business and take personal responsibility to look after our own as well as the mental health of others #eachforequal

Want to find out more about anxiety, ideas around how to look after your own mental wellbeing, or how to raise awareness of mental health within your organisation here are some suggested links below to help you get started or to share with others:

Information about anxiety:

Your Mental wellbeing:

Workplace Mental Health and useful Resources to raise awareness:

Image courtesy of http://www.togethertolive.ca/mental-health-continuum

Time to talk – guest blog by Lou Harris #HWBAssociateNinja

Time to talk – guest blog by Lou Harris #HWBAssociateNinja

Posted on by hwbinspiration

Thursday 6th February is ‘Time to Talk’ day, so it’s an excellent opportunity to choose to talk about mental health. Talking about mental health is really important because it has the power to change lives. There is a dedicated website with loads of great resources, hints and tips on how to start a conversation, which you can find here.

It’s essential that people make a personal choice about whether they talk about their mental health. I decided I would share my journey explaining how talking has helped me.

Here is a quick synopsis of my lived experience.  In essence, I was a successful leader working in Housing and Education until the age of 43, when I resigned due to severe anxiety which later developed into depression.  Talking has for me been a vital part of my continuing road to recovery. 

At my lowest times, I isolated myself from everyone, including family and friends, (which was very unlike me, I’m usually quite extravert and sociable) so my talking journey started with writing. I found keeping a diary of my feelings and experience strangely cathartic and therapeutic (I say ‘strangely’ because I had never written a diary, even as a teenager).  Writing helped me to clarify my thoughts and feelings and make a little bit of sense of the alien world in which I felt like I had entered. I didn’t realise it at the time, but I would later use my diary as the basis of sharing my lived experience with others… I will come on to this.

In some ways, I suppose writing helped me realise I needed more professional help to fully make sense of my new world (which I was increasingly becoming frustrated and resentful about).  In summary, my new world consisted of struggling to get out of bed, failing to wash my hair and put on my makeup (really not like me) and crying sporadically throughout the day. On better days taking the dog for a walk but then having a panic attack and having to quickly get home, unaware of the days and weeks that passed and panicking about when I will get better because I needed work and an income!  Yes, I needed a bit of help, so the next stage in my journey was talking to a counsellor.  The benefits of counselling are endless and can quite literally be life-saving.

Despite the emotions and pain I have gone through, counselling has helped me make sense of and accept my new world.  It has equipped me with the knowledge and skills to take back control of my feelings and emotions in a way that I can now live with my illness and navigate my new world. In reality, this has meant setting up my own business, slowly starting to take on some work and living my life again. The most important thing it has done is give me the confidence to re-engage with family and friends whom I missed dearly. Interestingly, it also gave me the courage to talk about my illness with them. Not only has this been beneficial for me (I feel accepted for simply being Lou) but it also helped them understand why I needed to shut myself away for a while and that, it didn’t mean I loved or cared for them any less. How they felt about me avoiding them was always something I struggled with.  I felt a massive sense of guilt about the impact I thought I was having on my loved ones and still did until recently when I was talking to someone about the impact mental health has on family and friends. I explained I wanted to write a blog about it because it shouldn’t be underestimated.  She said she loved the idea about a blog on the role of family and friends in supporting recovery (an interesting interpretation of what I was saying) as long as I don’t give myself a whole load of guilt about it (lightbulb moment!). She explained people who love you will simply want to help and walk beside you on your journey. Metaphorically, I realised that this equated for me to the little text or the weekly card I would receive, the phone call to my husband to ask how I was or the little presents I received. It was their way of letting me know that despite not being in each other’s company they were still all there walking beside me and I hadn’t offended them by my actions, they understood. I had never thought about it in this way and needless to say, it led to shelving my original blog idea and writing this one!

So after writing, talking to professionals, talking to my family and friends, (I also started to speak to people in the park while walking the dog) I found myself delivering my lived experience to complete strangers (maybe 25 or so people in a room). This led to blogging (you will see from the first one how much courage it took me to “talk to” LinkedIn).  As I get asked more often to share my lived experience, and as I write this post I have been reflecting “Why do I talk about one of the darkest and hardest times in my life with potentially 1000’s of others”?  Because, being honest, I find it helpful to talk, but also do it in the hope that my lived experience and blog provides hope for others. If my talking and writing can help just one other person to gain the courage they need to talk to someone about their mental health, then its totally worth it. 

Who looks out for the Senior Leaders and what can we do to support their Mental Health? – guest blog by Lou Harris #HWBAssociateNinja

Who looks out for the Senior Leaders and what can we do to support their Mental Health? – guest blog by Lou Harris #HWBAssociateNinja

Posted on by hwbinspiration

This is the question that I have been asked several times and most recently at a Health and Wellbeing Event, where I shared my lived experience. When I started to consider this, I found quite a stark headline:

“Two-Thirds of business leaders have suffered from mental health conditions including anxiety, stress and depression with work often cited as a contributor to this” – Bupa 2018

Bupa’s study conducted with 1556 global business leaders found:

  • 58% of business leaders say that in their position it’s hard to talk about mental health
  • 1 in 4 people feel less support for mental health issues since becoming more senior
  • Sufferers fear that talking about mental health would affect perceptions of their capabilities and career prospects

So, who looks out for the Senior Leaders, and what can we do to support their Mental Health? I posed this same question at the start of the year to a prominent Professor and leader in wellbeing, and he too came to a similar conclusion. He found that there was literature that explores the impact of leaders on follower wellbeing. However, there was nothing that focuses on the support that is specific to leaders.  

While there appears to be an overwhelming lack of literature, I found some reference to:

  • Challenging perceptions around mental health and leadership
  • Ensuring there are services available to support senior people
  • Creating mentally healthy open workplace cultures where senior staff feel able to access support
  • Business leaders sharing their own experiences which can help to remove the stigma

It got me thinking about my own experience in an attempt to try and find some answers.

As you will know from my previous blogpost (https://www.hwbinspiration.com/lived-experience-blog-by-lou-harris/), I resigned from my job as a Managing Director. I didn’t realise or admit to it for a very long time, but I was suffering from severe anxiety and had been for about two years before resigning. The organisation I left had a clear commitment to mental health, visible leadership and support services that were accessible, fast and efficient and this created a culture of openness and acceptance which helped me find the courage to acknowledge I needed help and seek support. Despite the support I received (which was brilliant), I felt I could no longer continue working as a senior leader. I was absolutely exhausted. I felt unable to shoulder the responsibility that comes with a senior leadership role and unable to continue as a good leader should protecting the mental health and wellbeing of others when my own mental health needed more dedicated time and attention. 

So why did it take me so long to do something? I was reluctant first and foremost to acknowledge that I was struggling with my mental health and secondly to ask for help. Why was this? We will all have our reasons. For me (not justified) I felt like I had to wear an “I am doing great” badge constantly. I was the leader, and people looked to me for direction and support, I couldn’t possibly acknowledge I was struggling and ask for help because people would question my ability as a leader. So, I basically tried to hide the fact I was struggling. When I did finally acknowledge and seek support and take time out while the side effects of my medication subsided and returned to work, the response was quite overwhelming. My absence due to my mental health had not negatively impacted on people’s views of my ability as a leader; in fact, it almost seemed to encourage more open conversations with my team and colleagues. I believe this was because first and foremost, they saw me as a human being. 

So, is looking out and supporting senior manager any different to what we would do for anyone else in our organisations? I have concluded that the answer to this question based on my own experience is NO. I agree that it is essential to challenge perceptions around mental health and leadership, provide accessible services, and if leaders feel able and want to disclose it can have a tremendously positive impact on an organisations culture. The organisational culture was absolutely at the heart of giving me the courage as a senior leader to acknowledge I was struggling and seek support. As we know, it is leaders who create the culture of an organisation. And so, maybe we need to pay more considerable attention to the role of Boards? How often do Boards consider Mental Health and Wellbeing? What culture are they creating for the Senior Leadership team around mental health?

Similarly, I believe that colleagues and peers can play a vital role. We often work as senior leadership teams on some of the most challenging and wicked issues our organisations face, we come into regular contact, we share experiences, and this puts us in a great position to look out for one another. So, as Board members, leaders, colleagues, peers and human beings let’s look out for and support one another, as doing so could have a significant impact on our colleagues’ lives. 

Aspiration vs reality in workplace mental health – guest blog by Lou Harris #HWBAssociateNinja

Aspiration vs reality in workplace mental health – guest blog by Lou Harris #HWBAssociateNinja

Posted on by hwbinspiration

Thank you to everyone who supported my first ever blog, it has inspired me to continue to writing and sharing my journey in the hope will help others to reach out and seek support if they need it and encourage leaders and managers to take action around mental health.  I recently read a report by Business in the Community.  They found a gap between aspiration and reality for workplace mental health:

  • 58% of senior leaders and board members think their organisation supports its staff but:
  • 42% of employees with no managerial responsibility believe that their organisation supports its staff and:
  • 20% of employees feel that their manager is not concerned about their wellbeing (BITC Mental Health at work report 2018).

In my experience…

Having spent the last 16 years working as and alongside managers and leaders I have been reflecting on this and what it was that helped me when I was struggling with my mental health while in work and crucially came to the conclusion that leadership is absolutely key because it creates the workplace culture.  I personally:

  • Felt able to disclose and discuss my mental health with my manager and other senior leaders in the organisation (which being honest was slightly scary – but provided a firm basis of understanding and trust when I did need support)
  • Felt able (for a period of time) to manage my mental health through support that was easily accessible and available. Being able to access counselling within 2 days was one factor that enabled me to continue in my role for a further 6 months (My wait for Counselling from the NHS was 4 months for computer based and 8 months for face to face and this is not a criticism in anyway, I will always be grateful for the services and support I have received)
  • Retained my dignity and respect from the continued belief I received in me as a person

And this was created by leaders in the organisation.  Because when you have leaders:

  • who demonstrate time and commitment to wellbeing and mental health
  • who make themselves available and accessible to talk to about it
  • who lead and champion wellbeing and mental health initiatives
  • who by their own behaviours lead by example and show it is acceptable and more than that important that you have a work life balance
  • who ensure that there is a focus on prevention and support is available 
  • who are aware of warning signs, confident to talk about mental health and aware of and can access organisational support available
  • who genuinely care because they ask you how you are doing and listen to you

…. it makes a huge difference

….it creates a culture of openness, acceptance and trust. 

This may not come easy to some of us and if I am being honest it didn’t to me (I wasn’t great at the work life balance – my own decision, drive and perfectionism) …. that is why I believe it’s so important that we:

  • Increase awareness and understanding of mental health across the whole organisation (not just senior leaders and boards)
  • Help develop leaders and managers confidence to be able to have discussions about Mental Health

So, on National Stress Awareness day, what can you commit to doing in your organisation to close the gap between aspiration and reality? 

Identity and wellbeing; the impact of transition – guest blog by Wyn Jones #HWBAssociateNinja

Identity and wellbeing; the impact of transition – guest blog by Wyn Jones #HWBAssociateNinja

Posted on by hwbinspiration

Who are you, who are you, who are you?

This is a familiar chant at football matches aimed at the opposition fans and one of the few repeatable chants! Over the past 12 months, I have had cause and opportunity to reflect – who am I and therefore how would I define myself?

In the past 12 months, I have changed roles, organisation and moved from leading 60 people across two teams to be a lone worker and subject matter expert. This meant moving from a large acute trust to an independent regional role in a national organisation. At times I know I have struggled to adapt especially as my impact is less tangible and less immediate than before.

So, who am I?

Well, it’s complicated; but that helps because I am not then defined by one situation, role or “thing.” If I defined myself solely by my previous role, I would have felt even more lost than I have been.  Now in my 50’s I have developed into a runner, or at least I run regularly; so, I define myself as an old, slow runner (see previous blogs). Currently, I am hobbling around having damaged my foot, just walking in a shop! It is frustrating but it’s not catastrophic because I am not just a runner.  In my 20’s when I was not able to play rugby due to injury it felt like a disaster until I could play again. In looking back, at the time I can see that this was because playing rugby was a large part of my self-definition, although I did not know this at the time. This appears to be one of the reasons why many professional players struggle to adapt when they have to retire; the loss of identity.

One of the big advantages of my new role is that I travel more, and I use the opportunity to listen to podcasts, several of which have helped me think about a range of personal and management issues, including this one of self-identity.

What I’ve learnt about me

I think one of the reasons for my struggles in the new role was that I had been comfortable in my previous one and it had taken up too much permanence in my identity. As a result, I had not prepared for a move. Having worked for 30 years, mainly in the NHS, I should have been more prepared as individual opportunities and organisational change are normally “just around the corner” and after seven years in the single organisation, a move was likely for one reason or another. It was a mistake to get comfortable, but I am human, and mistakes are allowed. I have learnt from it and I am moving on trying not to beat myself up about making mistakes. This is another lesson from the podcasts. This is not to say I have got it right; I am a work in progress, so I have to regularly remind myself that mistakes are allowed.

Multiple me

So now my self-identity is more fluid, especially in terms of my work. I remain an older, generally grumpy, mildly geekish, Welshman, husband, father, co-owned by a dog, with an interest in workforce development, sport, reading and music.  Hopefully, with rest, I will return to dog walking before adding an even slower runner back into my identity. 

Missing the Gorge; an insight into being present and noticing in the moment – guest blog by Wyn Jones #HWBAssociateNinja

Missing the Gorge; an insight into being present and noticing in the moment – guest blog by Wyn Jones #HWBAssociateNinja

Posted on by hwbinspiration

Previously I have written about the personal benefits of running and how it gives me the opportunity to reflect on life, work and other pressures.  Being competitive with myself I found I was running to go faster and then check my running app to review my data.  Looking at other people’s run data I noticed they had deliberately slow training runs and several other people were stopping to take pictures on their runs which makes following them through the app even more interesting. 

One day I went for what I call a “head run” just to clear my mind and help my mental health. For the first time I had no planned route, no target for my pace and did not listen to any music.  I really enjoyed the run and enjoyed looking around me.  It was, even for me, a slow run but I was very happy with it and whilst reflecting afterwards I was reminded of a story I found years ago online called “missing the gorge.”

The story goes along the lines of three westerners decided to walk through a gorge whilst on holiday in Thailand.  They decided to walk it in a quick time.  Whilst on the walk they pass a group of Buddhist nuns one of whom calls out to say, “you are missing the gorge.” The writer is taken aback and asks the nun what she means; he has cuts and bruises to prove he is not “missing the gorge”.  The nun says she could tell that they were westerns by the way they were rushing and asks him to sit down. Once he has sat down, she asks him to close his eyes and to listen and to smell. He slowly begins to notice that he can hear birds, the flow of water, the wind in the trees and starts to smell the plants and flowers. He notices the heat of the rock he is sitting on. 

He thanks the nun for the insight and he starts to follow his colleagues who have not stopped.  However, the nun makes a further comment which stops him in his tracks – “I hope this is not a symbol of your life!” 

For most of my runs I will choose a musical playlist to fit my mood and look to achieve a certain time or pace, but for some runs I will not have any music playing and do not have a target pace.  This can help me to listen to my breathing and think about my running technique, or I will consciously think about a work problem or situation.  However, quite often I will deliberately not focus on work, but try to observe and enjoy my surroundings.

I know I am competitive with myself and as a data geek I am a slave to my performance and reports from my running app but before or after and (very) occasionally during a run I will now stop and take a photograph and load it on my app. I realised that I became “a bit obsessed” with my times, so recently I have deliberately run more slowly, concentrating on something else and not pressurising myself to achieve certain targets. 

Adjusting and being in the flow….

For my last half marathon, I did not aim for a specific time, I tried to concentrate on the course and to enjoy myself, which I did.  I did not achieve my best time, but it was my most enjoyable half marathon to date.

I regularly participate in Park Runs and always try to take and upload a photo at each one, especially at my local Park Run so I can see the impact of the changing seasons on the woods and on the number of layers I wear; clearly I feel the cold.  

I know running is not for everyone, but we all need some time to reflect and to observe our respective gorge. I know of friends who knit and as they are accomplished at it, they can relax and use that time to reflect.  Other friends use swimming or yoga for the same purpose. 

Finding what works for you

It is about finding what works for you and practicing it.  It will not always work and at first it might be hard, but the investment of time into yourself will be worth it. Importantly I have found that you should not be critical of yourself, keep trying, everyone struggles with a new task or skill, so enjoy the experience of reflecting, learning and improving.

Head-run versus leg-run, the benefits of physical exercise on mental health: a guest blog by Wyn Jones #HWBAssociateNinja

Head-run versus leg-run, the benefits of physical exercise on mental health: a guest blog by Wyn Jones #HWBAssociateNinja

Posted on by hwbinspiration

And the winner is….. me

On the morning of 15th September 2019, I found myself with around 1,450 other people in a field in the middle of Yorkshire about to run a half marathon. Fortunately, it was a beautiful morning, but I would have run even if it was pouring with rain (honest). Many people were running with friends, running club colleagues, or were there with friends and family to cheer them on. Me, I love to run alone, music in my ear and updates from a running app through my earphone; the large crowds and large numbers of runners of the Great North Run are not for me. So why do I run? From about 8 miles onwards, believe me, it was a regular question in my mind.  

My reflections ….. one step at a time

Now having time to reflect, why do I run?  

  • Not for the glory – I am not going to win the race, or my age category.
  • I rarely run official events; I have completed 7 official runs this year out of 125 runs (according to my app)
  • Not for the camaraderie – I prefer running on my own at my own pace and with my own thoughts
  • I enjoy challenging myself 
  • I know it is easier to run when I haven’t gorged on take aways, cake, beer and I am carrying extra weight
  • Exercise helps me control my weight so I can occasionally gorge on take aways, cake, beer
  • Walking my dog is not enough to count as exercise, she stops and sniffs anything and everything
  • I get a sense of achievement from running, not the times, but just actually getting out to run. Therefore, I want to run until my legs, or a doctor, tell me physically I can’t do it anymore

Head runs verses leg runs

And yet, do I primarily run for the physical benefits? If I’m being honest with myself often, I run more often to benefit my mental health – what I call “head runs” rather than “leg runs.”

A “head run” gets me out of myself, gives me a sense of achievement and a level of confidence, even if it is a short, slow run.  Often a short, slow and frankly difficult run can give me a greater sense of achievement than one that is easy and flowing.  I can think about what is troubling me, reflect on my day, remember tasks I need to complete tomorrow all in the context of what I have learnt about resilience and problem solving and plan how to manage the tasks facing me, or just switch off. It helps me break out of the potential monotony of work, home, sleep, repeat. I must commit time to a run, so I have less time to complete other tasks, as a procrastinator, deadlines and time pressure help me get things done. I am possibly more effective with less time. 

Who knew what was possible?

In 2019 I have run four half marathons, one 10 mile and two 10 kilometre (Km) events, with three more 10 Km runs planned, before this year I had never run more than 10 Km. I have no ambition to run more than a half marathon.  I tip my hat to marathon runners; it just isn’t for me.  

Keeping on track

The social media and technology elements can be a force for good.  The app I use provides me with a lot of data which the data geek in me can analyse frequently and often – and I do like receiving and giving kudos for runs as it is great to get feedback.  Facebook alerts me to race opportunity and the social campaign for “this girl can” is a force for good and helps me think “this old bloke can” too.  

In resilience training and mental health support there is advice about noticing what negative triggers are can cause stress.  The reverse is also true, looking for positive triggers that help you physically and mentally. 

Overcoming your own personal resistance 

Now, I know running is not for everyone and I know that 15 years ago I would have totally refused to run unless it was last orders.  So, what are the positive triggers that make you feel good and help your health and wellbeing? It could be meeting with friends and family, reading a good book, listening to music, watching a play or film.  You need to be aware and “catch yourself in” the moment, not catching yourself out.  Then plan how to increase the opportunities for positive triggers. 

If you like the idea of social exercise, then I could not recommend Park Runs enough. They are not just for runners; walkers are very welcome and it’s free.  There should be one near you (in the UK). It is a 5 Km run, jog or walk on a Saturday morning, first timers are always made welcomed.  It can really set you up for the day. Having said I am an unsocial runner I really enjoy Park Run for the social element and camaraderie. 

My HWB cause… amongst many

In November, the Movember campaign will be running again.  This is an international campaign aimed at raising money and awareness for men’s health, including mental health support.  I will pass growing a Mo’ this year as I now have a beard and my wife has already suffered several Mo’s over the years.  I plan, however, to take up the run 60 Km in the month challenge (Google “Movember make your move” to find out more) and I plan to run the Leeds Movember 10 Km at Roundhay Park at the end of the month.

In conclusion find out what helps you and plan your time to invest in your health and wellbeing – because you are worth it. 

P.S. I finished the half marathon in a slower time than I hoped, but I had an enjoyable time, got a T-shirt, a medal, a chocolate bar, a bottle of water and lots of data on my app.  I am easy to please.