Mental Health Awareness Week 2022
From 9 to 15 May, this annual event strives to help us all to look after our mental health throughout the year.
Hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, this year the focus is on raising awareness of the impact loneliness can have on our mental health and practical steps that can be taken to help address this.
The health and wellbeing of our staff is always a priority for the University. The past two years have brought challenges for all of us and the pandemic has increased a sense of loneliness for many.
Helpful resources
You’ll find useful resources on the Mental Health Foundation’s website, and can read a recent Bulletin article on helpful resources offered by the University which can help support yourself and others:
Mental Health Awareness Week | Mental Health Foundation
Mental Health Awareness Week - Bulletin (ed.ac.uk)
Our Staff Wellbeing Hub offers support on mental and physical wellbeing and provides access to a range of internal and external services and resources for you to help support your mental health. Also available are our Staff Counselling service, Employee Assistance Programme, University Listening Service and TogetherAll, an online support network, free to staff, available 24/7 and guided by trained professions.
Supporting your mental health | The University of Edinburgh
Speak to someone | The University of Edinburgh
Togetherall | The University of Edinburgh
For Mental Health Awareness Week, there are several activities running across the University which you could get involved in. Please access the Calendar of Events for more information:
Mental Health Awareness Week events
Supporting others
If you notice that someone you know, or have recently met, may be feeling lonely and it is having an impact on their mental health, it can be hard to know what to do.
The Wellbeing Hub has various resources on supporting others, including additional guidance for managers on supporting staff. A Mental Health Awareness online course is available to all staff, which will support your approach to mental health and explain how you could provide support to others.
Support for others | The University of Edinburgh
Mental Health Awareness Course | The University of Edinburgh
Our Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Toolkit is available to support HR and Communications colleagues, line managers, or any staff looking for guidance in this area. The toolkit outlines the key messages and University services, guidance on having wellbeing conversations, and useful resources for helping spread the word about available mental health support.
If you have any ideas on other ways we can encourage staff to talk about mental health, we would love to hear them. Get in touch via staffnews@ed.ac.uk.