{"id":17023,"date":"2019-01-21T15:44:06","date_gmt":"2019-01-21T15:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=17023"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:57:47","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:57:47","slug":"blue-monday-unite-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=17023","title":{"rendered":"Not only one ‘blue’ day"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

On Blue Monday today (January 21) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c popularly viewed as the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098most depressing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 day of the year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Unite is highlighting the importance of improving mental health at work and the \u00c2\u00a0challenges faced by mental health services amid an unprecedented NHS funding squeeze.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Blue Monday was first devised in 2005 by Dr Cliff Arnall, who was asked to come up with a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098formula\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for the January blues for a travel\u00c2\u00a0company aiming to sell holidays in winter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In his mock formula, which took into account factors such as the time that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s passed since Christmas, the days since many people have failed their New Year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s resolutions, the amount of personal debt that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s accrued after the holidays, cold weather and generally low levels of motivation, Arnall \u00e2\u20ac\u0098calculated\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 that the third Monday in January was allegedly the most depressing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although only a marketing stunt \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the pseudoscience behind Blue Monday has since been totally debunked — Unite and other organisations such as mental health charity Mind are appropriating the day by highlighting mental health issues that affect people from all walks of life \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not only on one Monday in January but all year round.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mental health in the workplace<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Improving mental health in the workplace is an aim that Unite has\u00c2\u00a0long been committed to.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This commitment was revamped last year at Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s policy conference in July<\/a>, when a unanimous composite was passed calling on Unite to ensure that every rep receives mental health training from day one, and that reps get the support they need when they shoulder the burden of helping colleagues who are mentally ill.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite Ford rep Andrew Kettlety is among those who has spoken out about his own personal struggles with mental ill health.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At a fringe event at policy conference, he shared his experience of supporting a colleague who died after struggling with alcohol addiction.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kettlety said it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t until eight months after the funeral that his colleague\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death finally hit him \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he was watching television when he suddenly broke down and sobbed uncontrollably.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He was lucky enough to get counselling but said access to help and education must be expanded to support reps and members alike.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m strong,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut I am not immune.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

#WheresYourHeadAt<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unite is also backing the #WheresYourHeadAt campaign<\/a>, which is aiming to change the Health & Safety at Work Act to so that workplaces must have mental health first aiders, similar to the current requirement for \u00e2\u20ac\u0098physical\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 first aiders.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The initiative was founded by author and campaigner Natasha Devon MBE, who also spoke at Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mental health fringe event over the summer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The campaign received a major boost last week<\/a> when MPs debated a motion on Thursday (January 17) to change first aid legislation so that mental health first aiders are a legal requirement. A cross-party group of MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of the motion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bToday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Parliamentary debate went in our favour which is a mighty step forward to be celebrated,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Natasha Devon tweeted in response to the vote. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not done. #WheresYourHeadAt won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t automatically become law \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00c2\u00a0there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a long road of lobbying ahead.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the meantime, Unite is facilitating workplace mental health first aid training for reps and members. At conference, Unite rep Paul Mooney from Glasgow highlighted the mental health first aid training he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s undertaken through Unite and the different initiatives he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s implemented at his workplace in construction \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a sector where stress and mental ill-health are common.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bEveryone can have poor mental health at some point,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe training helps you to spot the signs.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Funding and staffing crisis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unite lead professional officer for mental health Dave Munday said that it was also important to highlight the crisis in mental health services, which are now being doubly hit by funding and staffing shortages.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhilst it was good that the NHS Long Term Plan, launched earlier this month, promised an increase in the mental health spend in England by \u00c2\u01412.3 billion, all of this money must make its way in to improving mental health services in England — unlike previous promises which have often been diverted to cover overspends in physical health,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is also concerning that one area where mental health services need speedy intervention \u00e2\u20ac\u201c staffing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c has again been kicked into the longer grass with a promised workforce plan delayed till later in 2019. In just one profession, mental health nurses, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen a 4,795 cut since 2010.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Munday emphasised the fact that we should reject the marketing ethos that now dominates Blue Monday, which is often used by companies to pressure consumers into spending more.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bCompanies using a time when people are finding it difficult because they haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t got much money following Christmas is a terrible time to encourage them to spend more money,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said, as he highlighted that Unite has been a long-time supporter of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute<\/a> which, he noted, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bhas done some excellent campaigning on the links between money and mental health\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhilst\u00c2\u00a0Blue Monday can help to reduce the stigma around mental ill health, it shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t trivialise what can be a debilitating illness for some,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Munday added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bTheir suffering can happen every day, not just one day in January.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Blue Monday today (January 21) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c popularly viewed as the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098most depressing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 day of the year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Unite is highlighting the importance of improving mental health at work and the \u00c2\u00a0challenges faced by mental health services amid an unprecedented NHS funding squeeze.   Blue Monday was first devised in 2005 by Dr Cliff Arnall, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[665,404],"wps_subtitle":"On \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Blue Monday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, Unite highlights mental health in the workplace","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17023"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17023"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25618,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17023\/revisions\/25618"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}