Mental Health at Work and Simply Business: supporting the self-employed and small businesses
When it comes to workplace mental health initiatives, self-employed people and small businesses are often overlooked. But the truth is, these groups need mental health support now more than ever.
Not only do they face unique challenges compared to bigger organisations, but the events of recent years (like Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis, to name a couple) have only made it more difficult to prioritise wellbeing at work.
Stress, anxiety, and depression are common mental health problems for small business owners and the self-employed. And, typically, these groups work long hours – at least 10 hours more per week than the average UK worker – holidays are few and far between, and insomnia is a regular experience. It’s a recipe for burnout.
But how can you look after your mental health at work? With so much information out there, it can feel overwhelming to know where to go and what works. So, what’s applicable to you? And where do you start?
Mental Health at Work, a programme curated by Mind, the mental health charity, is the first stop to help people at work find what they need for better workplace wellbeing. Plus, it’s free to use.
With plenty of tools and real-life stories, the website makes navigating the workplace mental health landscape easy. Mental Health at Work showcases original content that includes a range of tips, ideas, examples, and thought pieces on workplace mental health as it relates to different issues, people, and industries. Everyone’s experience is different. By shedding light on these struggles, the website seeks to normalise mental health, and support organisations of all sizes in making a positive change.
Mental Health at Work has partnered with Simply Business – one of the UK’s largest business insurers – to create a growing collection of resources to support you and your wellbeing at work. To kick off the partnership, over 700 self-employed people and small business owners were surveyed on their mental health right now, and truthfully, the results expose a mental health crisis. Something needs to change.
This Mental Health Awareness Week, Mental Health at Work and Simply Business are launching their respective wellbeing hubs. Learnings from the survey will shape new content to really support small business owners and the self-employed in making a positive change to their mental health at work, right now.
