This week, 13-19 May, is Mental Health Awareness Week. Sarah Kidd, one of our project architects and our in-house Mental Health Champion recently attended a mental health first aider course outlines her thoughts:

There are many reasons that we may experience poor mental health in our Architectural careers, throughout our studies and in practice. On top of our own individual vulnerabilities, there is perfectionist culture, heavy workloads, and tight deadlines to name a few.

There is a point where before we know it, all this stuff can build up and results in burnout or more serious mental health issues and un-useful coping mechanisms are developed.

We feel that it’s important that a practice has measures in place - a first point of call where if needed, employees can express their concerns with the peace of mind that the conversations are confidential and that the person they are speaking to is equipped with the tools to point colleagues in the direction to seek the appropriate advice.

We strongly encourage finding a work life balance, however that may look for you, whether it’s prioritising more gym time, reading, meeting friends, cuddles with your dog. We recently organised a lunchtime boxing class for the ladies at Fuse and are planning to hold a drink and draw session. Stepping into a different environment and taking your mind off stresses you may be facing can break up the day and allow you to return with more energy and a refreshed outlook.

As with anything in life we can’t always control what’s happening to us, but we can equip ourselves with the tools to cope with tougher experiences.

The course highlighted how much stigma there still is around mental health and showed that people continue to find this difficult to open up about. It’s important for us to create a culture where this is not the case, and for people to feel able to ask for help without fear of being penalised.

With this in mind, I found the idea around frame of reference very important to share with the office. To reiterate that everyone has a completely different experience in life and understanding that your own bias is shaped by this. Not only is this important for a Mental Health Champion to understand in order to really listen to people but to remind us all that everyone has different levels of vulnerability and we cannot judge anyone’s thresholds as to what they can cope with. It’s crucial not to compare and to seek appropriate help when you need it.

We endeavour to be accommodating to anyone experiencing poor mental health and promote flexible working on the whole. Ultimately people are at the centre of what we do. Our designs are based around creating good experiences for people, and we want to continue building on the same concept for our colleagues and office culture.