News

As part of our ongoing focus on health and wellbeing, CavanaghKelly are providing a series of workshops focusing on mental health to all staff across the Practice. The workshops not only help individuals become more aware of the importance of their own mental health, but also raise awareness of possible signs in those around us, whether it be family, friends or colleagues, who may be in need of some support.

The second workshop 'Mind over Matter' was delivered today by Nicole from Links Counselling, following the successful 'Mind over Stress'  in November 2017.  

For some people, controlling their worries and fears can be harder than for others and feelings of anxiety are more constant, affecting day to day life.  Examples can be:

• phobias (e.g. fear of heights, animals, insects, flying, small spaces)
• social anxiety (fear of appearing foolish, being criticised or rejected in social situations)
• panic disorder (panic attack - intense feeling of anxiety in which people can often think they are going to die or go crazy)
• PTSD or stress disorder (repeated memories of terrible traumas with high levels of distress)
• health worries (persistent worries about having an illness of physical problem, despite being found healthy

The workshop focussed on identifying anxiety and overwhelming feelings and introduced techniques on how to gain control over situations that induce heightened anxiety.

The third workshop in series will be delivered in March and will look at 'Mind over Work' and is designed to heighten our self-awareness and introduce long term strategies to maximise wellbeing and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

CavanaghKelly recognise that it's our people that make things happen and investing in our people (whether it's in career development, opening up new challenges and / or finding the correct work-life balance) is an investment in our overall collective succes.

Mental health is an important topic in today's society particularly in Northern Ireland where the statistics from Action Mental Health (AMH) show that:

• 1 in 5 adults in Northern Ireland will show signs of a mental illness
• when matched to 17 other countries, NI had the 2nd highest rates of mental ill-health
• prevalence of mental illness in Northern Ireland is 25% higher than in England

According to AMH, almost 50% of long-term absences from work are due to mental health issues suggesting it is a topic that employers cannot afford to ignore.