It’s Mental Health Awareness Week and this years theme is loneliness. We all have a different perception of what this means or feels like, especially after the last two years.
Loneliness can often be confused with how many friends you have, who you live with or the amount of time you spend by yourself. But in experience, loneliness is a feeling that can be hard to describe.
You can be surrounded by loving friends and family, yet still feel alone. This is just what anxiety, depression or any other mental/emotional challenge we face can do. It’s isolating, and you can find yourself withdrawing from the people that can help.
At Online we want to build an open and supportive workplace and hope by sharing a little, it will open up some conversations. We spend so much time around our colleagues and this should become a regular discussion, just like the ‘what’s for lunch’ chat.
There’s a lot we can do during this week of mental health awareness. If you haven’t heard from someone in a while, use this week to check in. It may be small to you but it could be the exact thing they need. Slow down and take the time to really speak to people. We can all make a difference.