Mental health is a sense of wellbeing, confidence, feeling good and being in control of your life.
If you start to feel emotionally flat and uninterested in the world around you, your mental health may be suffering. During challenging times, it is important to actively take care of your wellbeing.
Here are a few small effective ways to boost your mental health right now:
- Get some fresh air – getting a dose of nature and fresh air can help you get through the day and feel a little more centered.
- Stick to a consistent routine – simple routines like keeping your ‘normal office hours’ can provide a sense of normalcy to your day.
- Talk - Talking to friends, family or even your colleagues about your thoughts and feelings can help work through problems. It can also help relieve stress and anxiety.
- Eat, sleep and exercise properly - When anxious or under stress, we often neglect ourselves - we may avoid eating nutritious food, getting in some exercise and lose quality sleep. Pay attention to these areas as they can make a significant difference to your mental health.
- Relax - Most of us need to learn how to relax. There are a number of ways you can do this, so it’s best to find what best suits your personality and way of life. There are plenty of books, videos and courses available on relaxation.
Wellbeing support
A friendly reminder that all AFG brokers have access to mental health services through our AFG Broker Assistance Program (BAP).
Our collaboration with Mind & Matter Australia, a leading national mental health provider makes it easier for you to access mental health services. As part of the program, we will cover the cost of the first three sessions for all AFG brokers.
The BAP program gives you direct access to Mind & Matter's network of partner clinics via the toll-free number 1800 089 882. From there, you can coordinate the time and place of your confidential appointments with a local provider.
Mind & Matter recently featured on our Brokers Insights webinar to discuss some of the common issues that they are seeing reoccurring across clients using their services, primarily how the COVID-19 pandemic and current world events have affected people’s mental health.
"(COVID) has really impacted people. There’s been all the pressures around, there have been things like homeschooling, pressures at home, anxiety that's given rise, depression has been part of the story. Just recently there’s been a real upset about things like flooding and what's happening in the Ukraine.” John said.
“So then, reaching out to a service like ours, can be a really good thing to do, just to have a discussion, offload a little bit and look at some strategies that might help that person get back on track.”
If you missed the webinar, you can watch it here.
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