World Mental Health Day 2024: 'How my workplace has helped my mental health' - The Yorkshire Post
The theme of World Mental Health Day 2024 is mental health in the workplace. Our reporter Sophie Mei Lan Malin wanted to share her genuine experience of finding work that works for her.
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00:00Now I know it's not a very orthodox thing to do in journalism is to talk about your workplace
00:06itself but as it's World Mental Health Day I really did want to talk about the workplace
00:11because that is the theme this year and I think sometimes we get a bit kind of
00:16distanced from all these different awareness days because believe you me there's a day for
00:21everything. I'm called Sophie, there's even a National Sophie Day now and they'll do out to
00:26sell stuff or do engagement posts or whatnot but World Mental Health Day is vital and crucially
00:34important especially to me. It wasn't too long ago that I was really really poorly with my mental
00:42health. I had postpartum psychosis and I also had a long-lasting psychotic disorder and severe
00:51anxiety and depression. I still take medication for a lot of those different conditions and I
00:57still manage myself through fitness but I've actually found I'm very grateful because I've
01:05worked freelance, I've worked four places and I've kind of tiptoed around and I've now found like my
01:13home in Yorkshire Post and I think the key thing for me because it's having one I get support from
01:21a support tutor who can help me like manage my time and manage my things but also giving me the
01:30confidence that it can be a positive thing that people are so different and diverse in the
01:35workforce like you can hear my washing machine because I'm actually working from home which suits
01:39me just fine because it means that I have my mental health appointments when I need them and
01:45worker aware when I go to mental health groups and I also have a community day on a Friday and so
01:52whilst I'm helping other people so to speak honestly those people at Co-Active Arts and
01:57Workfield are really helping me as well and it also to be honest having all these different activities
02:03and groups and things outside of work really not only helps my own mental health and well-being but
02:10I know it makes me a better journalist as well it gives me an empathy it gives me ideas for stories
02:17I think everyone no matter what your profession to be out in the community doing stuff can really
02:23give you a new lease on life it also makes you appreciate what you do have and rather than
02:29thinking oh this is so hard I've got all these deadlines and we do have a lot of hard days and I
02:34think in journalism because we're normally sharing the news not as much like this where we're sharing
02:41our story and people just think you're kind of totally distant to the world you don't care
02:48but most journalists I know are in it because they do care and they want to give
02:54they want to give a power to those who feel unheard they want to show and that they care
03:00and especially for somewhere local like I've worked nationally but I actually love the fact
03:06that I'm based in Yorkshire and I report mostly on Yorkshire stories and because for me that's
03:12really important that we know inside out our area and I was in a really bad place actually
03:19but when I first joined the Yorkshire Post mentally I was really really struggling
03:26but the more that I've been part of the team and I'm not just saying this they haven't even asked
03:31me to do this the more it's helped give me a structure in my life it's flexible around
03:39my own mental health and I don't think I've had any sick days to be honest when it comes to my
03:46mental health since joining because I feel valued and because I have that break to do
03:53my appointments I don't feel as guilty or under pressure all the time and I'm just honest I don't
04:00use it as an excuse at all if anything I use it to drive me and I get I build my own structure
04:07so I know that I work better on the morning so again I start the day at like 5am or 6am
04:13and I should finish it too but they're actually telling me to stop working which is very rare in
04:20the news industry because I could just work all the time because I really love it and I think
04:26once you're born as a journalist that is it your whole life is stories but they do actually help me
04:33manage that and I've also got different neurodiversity and gosh that gave me a shock
04:39I think I've got the house rocking then it's not an earthquake don't worry it's my washing
04:44machine going crazy but because I'm structuring my life around my different dyspraxia dyslexia
04:53ADHD or whatever I can stand to work that's the other thing but it actually makes me thrive and
05:01it's given me more of a confidence now to see any of my conditions on paper as an actual benefit
05:08because I get to understand how other people are and why people tick a certain way and everyone's
05:15unique as well and so when it comes to mental health at workplace it really can work I know
05:22we always hear the bad stories but it really can work and I'd love more like places in the media
05:30and everywhere organizations to do the right training so people understand I've done a lot
05:35of mental health first aid courses and Yorkshire Evening Post organized one and I've done it off
05:41my own back as well but not just the training but also just the empathy to have open conversations
05:50and also the flexibility of working and the feedback the positivity and seeing every
05:57individual is unique I think is vital because honestly the more that employers give you that
06:04breath to breathe to do your thing the more you do and the more that you want to do rather than
06:11it being like no we've got to micromanage because at the end of the day the beauty is we aren't
06:17robots do you know there's only so much AI is going to be able to do in terms of processing
06:23things and making things faster but we aren't robots and that's the beauty of the human mind
06:28and the human insight into journalism into news into everything but that also needs to be harnessed
06:34so don't forget we have all got mental health and and hopefully at some point most of us will
06:40be working and that's why it's so essential to talk about mental health in the workplace right
06:46on that note she's tired it's time for a nap and I'm about to clock off peace