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IoN hosted a programme of events centred around your wellbeing, including: sessions on managing work-related stress, LGBTQ+ and men's mental health.
We planned a diverse programme of events spanning from 15 to 19 May (please see below). You may also view a snapshot of our programme in our Mental Health Awareness Week poster:
Monday 15 May 2023
10:00 - 11:00: Third Wave Therapy for Anxiety
Professor Rebecca Gould (UCL Division of Psychiatry) presented psychological interventions for anxiety particularly "third-wave therapies" such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and mindfulness-based interventions.
Tuesday 16 May 2023
12:45 - 13:15: Mindfulness Webinar
A live, online mindfulness workshop and experience this science-based practice. Led by UCL's Andrew Waterhouse, Mindfulness Teacher and Lead mentor with Oxford Mindfulness Foundation.
13:30 - 14:30: Meet your Mental Health First Aiders
This event was an opportunity for our Mental Health First Aiders to connect with each other and to raise awareness to staff and students about the ways they can support them.
Wednesday 17 May 2023
12:30 - 13:30: Wild Bloomsbury Walk & Lunch
IoN/DRC Green and Wellbeing Champions along with a group of staff and students, walked-through green spaces around the campus area, finishing with a picnic lunch in Calthorpe gardens.
Thursday 18 May 2023
10:00 - 11:00: Mental Health Inequalities Between LGBTQ+ and Heterosexual People Across the Life-course
Dr Gemma Lewis (UCL Division of Psychiatry) presented evidence on the emergence and development of mental health inequalities between LGBTQ+ and heterosexual/cisgender people, from adolescence to older age. She discussed theory and evidence on the causes of these inequalities, and implications for preventing or reducing these mental health disparities.
Please click on the image below to view the event recording:
13:00 -14:00: Nurturing Healthy Friendships
Good friends enhance our well-being. They can enhance feelings of belonging, reduce feelings of loneliness and provide us with emotional support when we need. However, managing friendships over time can be tricky as we experience the ups and downs of life. This webinar led by Dr Suzette Shahmoon explored the various dynamics of friendship such as how to make friendships last, how to keep friendships healthy and when to let them go.
Friday 19 May 2023
10:00 - 11:00: What Worries Men in the Workplace and How Can We Address it?
The saying goes that 'Mental health is to work and to love'. To work and to love is crucial for everyone, and when there's little chance to do these well, the mental health of most men suffers. We discussed how the pressure to perform in the workplace affects men, and how, in the extreme pressures can feed suicidal ideas. Finally, we talked about the social networks and community which are so important to sustain men, and which were hit by the pandemic. The session was led by Ali-Mert Hazar, Clement Lam and Dr Michael Moutoussis (UCL Queen Square institute of Neurology).
You may view the presentation slides below:
11:30 - 12:30: Stress Briefing: Managing work-related stress
Ran by Jacky Bauer and Beth Allen, two of UCL’s wellbeing champions, this session looked at the signs and symptoms of stress, how we can minimise and manage our stress and what services are available at UCL to support stress in the workplace.
Please click on the image below to view the event recording:
14:00 - 15:00: Sharing your Mental Health Anonymously
Academia is hard to navigate, especially for students with intersectional identities, but we rarely talk about that in science. In this event, Sam Albatros (stage name of a UCL PhD in Neuroscience & bestselling novelist) took us first - anonymously - through the ups and downs of their own mental health journey, from a challenging early background to the pressures of life in Queen Square, as a queer, working class, foreign student. This was an opportunity for staff and students to discuss and relate to these experiences, and to share their own mental health journeys anonymously, and discuss them in a confidential, caring space.
Monday 22 May 2023
10:00 - 15:00: Dog Therapy
As part of the MHAW, we organised a Paws in Work event! The day started at 10.00 and finished at 3.00pm and participants were able to see the pups, have their photo taken (if they wished so) with them and just took half an hour out of their busy day to relax and play with the pups.