Pathways to strengthening resilience

Reduce those risk factors

Feeling stressed?

• Try to identify the triggers for it and the best ways for you to cope when stress increases. 
• Make sure you talk about your worries with others.

Not sleeping well?

• Limit your intake of alcohol and caffeine and try a sleep app or fitness device to see how much sleep you are getting. 
• Not feeling a part of friendship groups, communities, or relationships? Plan to say hi to someone that you haven’t in a while or introduce yourself to someone in your local community if you’ve recently moved to a new area.

Amplify resilience

• Have a daily routine
• Nurture relationships and talk about emotions
• Take regular exercise and breaks to boost concentration
• Eat well with a variety of fruit and vegetables and make healthy swaps 
• Minimise screen time and social media 
• Contribute to your community and help others 
• Track progress over time to see improvements and increase motivation
• Celebrate your successes each day

Take some ‘me’ time

• Mindfulness, relaxation and breathing help us to pay attention to the present by becoming more aware of our thoughts and feelings so we can manage them rather than feel overwhelmed by them
• The CSP provides some useful resources on looking after your mental health and wellbeing including websites, apps and helplines.

Need support?

• Health and social care staff can access wellbeing support from Give us a Shout. Text FRONTLINE to 85258 to talk by text with a trained volunteer.
• Mental Health at Work provides wellbeing support via its helplines. Find the numbers for your country here.  
• For 24-hour support, Samaritans are on 116 123 or jo@samaritans.org;
• 90% of people who experience mental health problems say they face stigma and discrimination as a result (Mental Health at Work, 2021).
• one in six people in the past week have experienced a common mental health problem (Mental Health Foundation, 2021).
• Involving patients in the decision-making process increases their sense of self-efficacy and satisfaction (Thompson et al, 2021).  

This, in turn, increases their resilience to risk factors experienced and means they are better equipped to deal with negatively affected mental health

We all experience stress and feelings or symptoms of negative wellbeing and mental health. How often we have them and how long they last can help identify where we are on the mental health continuum.

Try some of the suggestions below to improve your mental health:

Negative Mental Health

In need of professional support and guidance: feeling worthless, having suicidal thoughts

Sub-optimal Mental Health

Impacting on work and life performance: not coping with daily tasks and relationships

Average Mental Health

Functioning well but not excelling: moods and emotions vary with up and down days

Positive Mental Health

Good work/life balance: maintaining relationships, participating in local communities

References:

• Mental Health at Work (2021). Supporting the Mental Health of NHS Staff. 
• Mental Health Foundation (2021). Mental health statistics: UK and worldwide. 
• Pratt, H., Moroney, T., & Middleton, R. (2021). The influence of engaging authentically on nurse-patient relationships: A scoping review. Nursing Inquiry, 28(2), e12388.
• Thompson, J., Gabriel, L., Yoward, S., & Dawson, P. (2021). The advanced practitioners’ perspective. Exploring the decision-making process between musculoskeletal advanced practitioners and their patients: An interpretive phenomenological study. Musculoskeletal Care.