Mental health issues are being recognised more, especially in the workplace however there is always more we can do. The Law Society have now implemented a survey for Scotland’s legal sector urging solicitors, accredited paralegals, paralegals, legal technicians, and all support staff working at law firms and in-house legal teams to get involved and complete the survey. For us working in the legal sector, we are often helping others and finding ways for them to solve and deal with their problems, sometimes forgetting about our-self in order to help someone else. Along with our mental healthextremely busy and sometime stressful work we all have commitments and strains to deal with in our personal life too. It is vital for all of us to take a step back when needed and deal with our own health. And even if we do not have any existing mental health problems, ensure that we are all looking after our mental health as we do our physical health.

Alison Atack, the president of the Law Society of Scotland has said: “At the Law Society, we want to understand more about mental health issues within the whole of the legal sector, which supports around 20,000 jobs in Scotland, and examine what we may need to do to tackle any stigma that exists around mental health in the workplace and ensure people can access support when they need it most. I’m proud that we are the first professional body in Scotland to initiate a sector-wide survey of this kind.”

At The Cashroom Ltd we think this is a fantastic initiative from the Law Society and would like to encourage everyone to participate in this survey – CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE.

Mental health is becoming extremely common within the workplace now and is now one of the main causes of sickness in staff members.  A massive 70 million working days are lost every year in the UK due to mental health issues which is costings businesses around £2.4 billion per year.

It is common for people not to talk about their feelings especially in the work place due to the fear of being discriminated, feeling ashamed and embarrassed or the not knowing how people will react. We should now be creating workplace environments for people to feel safe enough to be themselves and speak out about how they are feeling.

mental healthAt The Cashroom we have a confidential phone line available to staff which goes to trained mental health professionals that they can call 24 hours a day (you wouldn’t let yourself or even a colleague treat your cancer would you?).The Mindful Employer creates a safe place for staff to call and also has a lot of useful information on its website for staff. We also encourage all staff to look after their mental wellbeing by allowing time during the working day for staff to complete a daily mile outside in the fresh air and we have fresh fruit delivered weekly. We also have our mental health charter displayed in the office for staff to see.

It is also Mental Health Awareness week so what better time to complete this survey and take some time to think about you and others mental health.

TOP TIP: Ask yourself, would you know if you or someone else was being affected by mental health, could you recognise it? There can be a lot of different signs and symptoms related to mental health but no one should be afraid to get help if they are having difficult feelings. Things to look out for in work are, feeling more tired than usual, finding it extremely difficult to motivate yourself, short tempered, isolating yourself and avoiding colleagues.

Chloe McGinn

Marketing Assistant