World Mental Health Day: our essential reads for creating healthy workplaces

Credit: Photo by Gabriel Lamza on Unsplash

World Mental Health Day is celebrated every year on 10 October. This year's theme set by the World Federation of Mental Health is workplace mental health. Places where people want to work, and can work to the fullest of their ability.

Mental health in the newsroom is a topic that is slowly but surely gaining more awareness of, and solutions to, many of the issues therein. Journalism.co.uk decided to round up the most essential reads from our reporting.

PTSD: what is it and what to do about it

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) happens when journalists are exposed to traumatic events over a sustained period of time, leaving them 'stuck' in a fight or flight response. These are the signs to look out for and what to do if you think you have been affected.

'Writing fiction helped me deal with my PTSD'

After witnessing the murder of a colleague, Leona O'Neill developed PTSD and found her career derailed by this event. She has since channelled her emotions and experiences into fiction writing as a way to manage her mental health.

The six components of burnout

The concept of burnout gained a lot of ground during the pandemic to describe the feeling of being stressed, exhausted and overworked. But it is important to remember that burnout does not just occur when we are overworked. That is just one part of the story, there are five other factors - from being under-appreciated to being isolated - that all add up to reaching burnout. It affects all generations of the workforce, too, but managers have been warned to keep a close eye on young journalists burning out.

Five tips to manage your screen time as a journalist

After a shift at the computer, it can be tempting to find downtime with another screen. But if you are feeling overwhelmed, try to limit your screen time. Here's some tips from a qualified psychologist on how to do that.

Newsroom managers have a key role in fostering resilient newsrooms

Resilience - the ability to withstand shocks, the ability to survive, to adapt usefully when crises hit - is an "essential" active coping strategy that reporters can employ to manage their mental health every day. But again, newsroom managers carry a lot of the weight to ensure this is being exercised daily.

Journalists worry opening up about mental health will impact their career

Admissions of vulnerability are still sometimes seen as admissions of weakness amongst journalists, as they are afraid it will cost them their next deployment or promotion, writes Hannah Storm, journalist, author and media consultant. But talking about our feelings is the only way to keep up the momentum around bursting taboos around mental health, coming from someone who has shared her PTSD diagnosis with the world openly and on stage in front of news industry leaders.

Do not underestimate the importance of supportive colleagues

Sky News producer and psychotherapist James Scurry is another journalist who has found the courage to talk publicly about the stories that impacted his mental health the most. He credits his colleagues for getting him through these moments and finding the strength to talk openly.

Pultizer-Prize-winning journalist Mar Cabra: "I felt unhappy regardless of all the awards. I felt empty. Nothing excited me in terms of work."

The combined forces of depression, burnout, trauma and stress of the job can affect us all. Even if you are a Pultizer-Prize winner like journalist Mar Cabra. So she launched The Self-Investigation in response - initially a stress-management tool, now a one-stop shop for consultancy, training, resources and events. Be sure to attend its free and online Mental Health in Journalism Summit this week (8 - 10 October).

A one-stop shop of mental health resources for journalists

So what can be done to improve mental health? There are so many resources, communities, sources of financial support, books, podcasts, guides and more. We did the digging and put them all in one place.

Proven strategies for managing the ups and downs

After more practical guidance? Here are three approaches we looked at for supporting journalists on an individual and managerial level, as backed up by leading academics.

• Emotional intelligence strategies, such as stepping: when feeling overwhelmed with your to-do list, break down each task into small manageable steps
• Early intervention: better education on the psychological risks of the job combat reluctance to accept help or seek support
• Workplace surveys: a simple and effective way to gauge the needs of the newsroom and help them feel supported by management

Workplace wellbeing intervention strategies: what (also) works and doesn't work

There are lots of tools nowadays to help keep our mental health at bay. But these make no difference to employee's mental health in the workplace when offered by employers, according to new research. Stress comes from not being adequately supported or developed, and that is where support must be targeted - properly trained managers, role clarity, feeling adequately staffed, being paid properly, proper performance review systems, etc.

Join us: Intentional peer support network – a preventative model for improving mental health in the newsroom

So much mental health support is reactionary. But what if there was a proactive and preventative solution? At our next journalism conference Newsrewired, we will explore exactly that in a workshop with James Scurry (mentioned earlier) and Lisa Archibald, creator of the Intentional Peer Support framework. Grab your place now.

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